When choosing a platform, you need to consider the two kinds of users:
First, for coaches (like you!). This is where the business takes place, so it has to be easy to use and packed with online tools. Cost efficiency is also a major factor to keep in mind.
Second, the community members. It’s important that the members can engage, share their progress, and spend time with each other. This is a place where they can share their progress, and goals, and express opinions about the topics.
Every virtual coaching business needs an online community to keep it going. And you need a reliable community platform to manage them.
So which one should you use?
Today, we’re comparing two platforms: Skool and Nas.io. We’ll compare their features, pricing, user interface, and coaching tools integration for online community hosting.
Table of contents:
Navigation and User Interface
Let’s discuss each platform’s user interface from the get-go and compare the overall user experience after.
Skool
A community platform for creators who like to stick with interactive and self-paced learning. You can see six tabs as soon as you open their landing page.
Our favorites:
- The Community tab is for interaction and engagement where you can post content with links, attachments, videos, polls, and shifts.
- Leadership board for gamification feature.
- Community members can share their info and upload their pictures on the Members tab.
Other tabs:
- Classroom tab where you can upload online courses
- Calendar for scheduled events like live streaming only outside the platform.
- The About page is a description page and the only landing page for private groups that can’t be customized.
Nas.io
Dedicated to creators and online coaches who want to run a serious business. Nas.io has an intuitive interface for beginners.
Our favorites:
- Get Started tab redirects you to the simple steps of building your community
- The Home tab shows a lot of things so you can find all the information you need, like membership count, earnings, and current activities on the platform
- Content lets you host one-on-one sessions, upload courses, ebooks, and other resources for the community
- You can launch your own events on the platform and it will show on the Events tab
- It has the Magic Reach email marketing tool for community managers, online coaches, and businesses can send emails to their members
- On the Members tab, you don’t only see your current members. You can also review sent invitations and unfinished sign-ups. You have the chance to nudge them to join your community.
Other tabs:
- The Settings tab has powerful integration tools for messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord.
- The Money tab shows all your earnings for the current and past months
- Community managers can publish blogs and updates on the Feed
Verdict: Navigation and User Interface
On the other hand, Skool allows you to do a lot of things, but each step is on a separate tab. The interface needs a modern web update for easier navigation. The features on this platform are also limited to just community discussions and online courses.
Nas.io can seem overwhelming at first glance with all nine tabs available. But it seamlessly guides you through the next steps. The itemization strategy actually makes the platform intuitive.
The interface from Nas.io also looks smoother and is designed for both desktop and mobile app displays. It’s easier to use for those who are just starting their community.
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1:1 Coaching Sessions
Online coaching is not complete with one-on-one sessions. It’s tailored to the needs of each community member.
And for coaches, you can jump right into your coaching business even if you don’t have the time to create a course yet.
Let’s see what these two platforms have!
Skool
While you can schedule events on their calendar tab, Skool does not have a one-on-one coaching feature.
Scheduled meetups, live-streaming events, and video conferences can only be done outside the platform.
Nas.io
One-on-one coaching is a new function that Nas.io has added to its platform and it includes everything your members need, from booking to payment.
On your landing page, they may see your open slots and make a reservation. Following that, a confirmation and a meeting reminder will be sent to the members.
You can opt to offer it for free, paid, or at a discount.
Verdict: 1:1 Coaching Sessions
While you can still schedule meetings on Skool, all other steps from booking to payment are manually done outside. Whereas, Nas.io has automated all these processes.
If you plan to offer one-on-one coaching sessions, Nas.io is the right platform for you.
Online Course Builder
Online courses are one of the pillars that build a community of learners together. Let’s see how hosting works for each platform.
Skool
Creators can upload their online courses and require simple navigation for anyone. It has a basic learning management system for texts. While video resources need to be embedded from an external source like YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms.
However, for creators, these courses are not for monetization.
Nas.io
You can build your online courses inside the Nas.io platform in the content tab.
This builder can host both text and online courses that you can organize into modules and different segments. The native video player securely your media content and you can choose which are free or paid courses.
Verdict: Online Course Builder
Skool offers basic online course hosting for your available content. However, developing a new one needs to be done with other tools. It also has no native video player.
Unfortunately for creators and coaches who want to start a business, courses in Skool can’t be monetized.
Nas.io has a simple and easy-to-use online course builder with secure video hosting. This platform is best for coaches who want to make money from their digital products.
Payment
How much should it cost you to start an online coaching business for your community? It’s important to know the numbers from your investment to returns.
Skool
You can enjoy all features from Skool at $99 per month for the basic plan. And because you can’t monetize your courses, you can only earn through referrals and their affiliate programs.
Nas.io
You can start your online community and use all the features for free with Nas.io.
You will only need to pay an 8% platform fee when you start earning. The good thing is you can choose to shoulder the platform fee or be paid by members as a top-up.
The verdict: Payment
Paying $99 monthly with limited and unstable monetization options on a platform like Skool is underwhelming.
If you’re an online coach who wants to build a career in coaching, Nas.io can be a great start. It doesn’t have an upfront fee, and provides a variety of monetization streams, with localized payment gateways for easy and hassle-free transactions.
Analytics
Scaling up on your community and coaching business requires the right strategies. Having clear data with analytics will help you strategize.
Let’s see the insights both platforms can provide.
Skool
Nas.io
Nas.io helps you track members’ growth and lets you see active community members on your integrated chat groups like WhatsApp. Despite your community size, you can stay in the loop through a weekly WhatsApp group summary using AI.
They also have in-depth analytics where you can track your sales, monthly earnings and payouts, discount usage, and best-selling products.
Verdict: Analytics
Between the two platforms, Nas.io is equipped with better analytics compared to the basic insights Skool has.
Solid analytics helps you optimize and grow your community. You’ll have a bird’s eye view of everything that’s happening which helps you prepare for the next season.
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Conclusion
Skool is fun, interactive, and on a mission to connect creators to their community. However, it’s not designed for a full-on online coaching business.
While Nas.io doesn’t have the leadership board for a gamified learning experience, it is built for a serious online coaching career. The variety of monetization options gives you more opportunities to scale up your business in the online coaching industry.
You can check out how Joselo makes it happen in their community, Sin Pretextos | Coaching Ejecutivo.
The in-depth data lets you see effective courses, events, and one-on-one consultations so you can consistently create better experiences for your community. It takes as many administrative tasks off your plate as possible.
If you find this comparison helpful, you can check out other platforms we’ve reviewed on the Best Online Coaching Platform in 2024.
