CompareCircle alternativeUpdated October 2026
Your own app, in your look. Not Circle’s app in Circle’s theme.
Circle saves your own app for Circle Plus, and the Circle app your members use keeps Circle’s theme. Drate gives you a website and app made around you, with memberships, members-only posts and video, courses and a community, ready in minutes.
Why creators leave Circle.
Your own app takes a sales call.
Circle’s branded iOS and Android app comes only with Circle Plus, at a custom price you get from its sales team.
Circle’s app, Circle’s theme.
Without Circle Plus, members use the Circle app. Your theme only changes how your community looks in a browser, and the app keeps Circle’s own.
$89 a month to start.
Circle’s plans start at $89 a month, billed yearly, and Professional also takes 2% of every sale.
What you get on Drate.
Your website and your app.
A site on your own domain, in your look, and your own iOS and Android app on Pro, for $12 a month.
Passes and Discord roles.
Sell fixed-length passes beside memberships, give members Discord roles by tier, and keep your Patreon patrons connected, on the same site as your courses and community feed.
Plans from $9 a month.
Your site, courses and community feed come with Regular, for $9 a month or $60 a year. Pro is $12 a month or $99 a year, and both plans take 5% of membership sales.
$12 plus 5%, not $89 plus 2%.
What you’d pay on $1,000 a month in memberships.
- Drate
- $62Drate Pro: $12 a month plus 5%
- Circle
- $109Circle Professional: $89 a month billed yearly, plus 2%
How switching works.
Your members’ Circle subscriptions keep running until they cancel, so switching is something you invite them to. Keep your Circle community open while they do.
Start your site.
Pick a starting point, add your name and choose your look. Your site is ready in minutes, and nothing is public until you publish.
Set up your memberships.
Recreate your paywalls as monthly or yearly memberships, add passes, and map each one to Discord roles.
Bring your courses and posts.
Upload your lessons, video and downloads, group them into courses, and open your community feed.
Invite your members.
Share your new site with your members. They join on your site and cancel on Circle when they switch.
Side by side.
Everything below is included in Drate’s Regular plan unless it says otherwise.
| Feature | Drate | Circle |
|---|---|---|
| Your home | ||
| Your own website, domain and look | Included | Included |
| Your own iPhone and Android app | On Pro | Circle Plus only, custom price |
| Memberships & content | ||
| Monthly & yearly memberships | Included | Included |
| Fixed-length passes | Included | Lifetime, or timed by workflow on Business |
| Members-only posts, video & downloads | Included | Included |
| Courses & content library | Included | Included |
| Members community feed | Included | Included |
| Paid coaching & bookings | Included | Paid events |
| Discord roles by membership | Included | Not offered |
| Keep Patreon connected | Included | Not offered |
| Merch | ||
| Merch store | Included | Not offered |
| Print on demand, no inventory | Included | Not offered |
| Money | ||
| Monthly price | $9 or $12 | From $89, billed yearly |
| Fee on membership sales | 5% on every plan | 2% to 0.5%, by plan |
| Who pays you | Your Stripe, directly | Your Stripe, directly |
Circle details are from its public pricing and help pages, checked October 2026. Prices exclude payment processing, which applies on every platform. Plans change, so check the latest before you decide.