C 
Circle
Communities, courses and paid memberships under your own brand.
NOT REALLY
why this verdict
Keep paying — OpenAI has not replaced it
OpenAI's version overlaps, but does not finish the education job, so this one still earns its $89/mo.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- AI tutors answer the questions members used to ask each other. OpenAI, February 1, 2025 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers not the job editorial call
- Parts of it. The job still needs the tool to get finished.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 1 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: Discord.
- What the call is worth $1,068/yr
- $89/mo at the entry paid tier — $1,068 a year per seat.
Reason composed from the fields above missing: announcement linked recorded: free replacement listed recorded: two or more escape hatches
- Threatened by
- OpenAI
- Since
- February 1, 2025
- List price
- $89/mo
- Per year
- $1,068
The backstory
Circle bet that creators want their audience somewhere they control rather than in a Discord server. AI chat does erode one reason people join a community — getting an answer — but not the others: access to a specific person, accountability, and the other members. Circle now ships its own agents trained on the community archive rather than fighting the trend.
Escape hatches
S 
Skool Flat price, stronger gamification.
skool.com open_in_new D 
Discord Free, if you accept the chaos.
discord.com open_in_new M 
Mighty Networks More course-native.
mightynetworks.com open_in_new1 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.