What a branded app can mean
Platforms use the words "branded app" for quite different things, so the first job is to know which one you're being offered:
- Their app, with your content inside. Members download the platform's own app and find your group or course in it. Your name is on the content, not on the icon.
- A members app installed from your website. Members add it to their home screen in a couple of taps and it opens like any other app, with your name and your icon. No App Store needed.
- Your own listing in the App Store and Google Play, under your name, published from developer accounts that are yours.
All three can work well. They differ in cost, in whose name members see, and in what happens if you stop paying.
Course platforms and their apps, compared
| Platform | What members get | App cost shown | Whose name on the icon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi | A branded mobile app as part of its plans | Included; Kajabi values it at ~$199 a month. Plans are ~$179 to ~$499 a month | Yours; Kajabi points to Pro for the App Store |
| Thinkific | A branded mobile app as an add-on | ~$199 a month on top of a plan (Start is ~$109 a month) | Yours, with the add-on |
| Circle | Branded apps on its top plan, Circle Plus | Custom price, through their sales team | Yours, on that plan |
| Mighty Networks | Branded apps on its top plan, Mighty Pro | Custom price, through their sales team | Yours, on that plan |
| Skool | Skool's own app, with your group inside | Included with Skool (~$99 a month for Pro) | Skool's |
| Deedmade™ | Your own members app, installed from your site, with your name, your icon and push alerts | Included. App Store and Google Play listing optional, $99 a month | Yours, and in the stores under your own Apple and Google accounts |
Features and plans change often in this area, so check each company's current pricing page for exactly which plan includes what.
Questions to ask before you pay for an app
- Whose developer account is it published from? If it's the platform's, the listing may not move with you if you leave.
- Who pays Apple and Google? Apple charges developers $99 a year and Google $25 once. Some platforms cover this; with your own accounts, you pay them directly.
- Do members pay inside the app? If they buy through Apple or Google, the stores take a cut. Apps where members join and pay on your website, then sign in, avoid that.
- Does new content need a new app version? It shouldn't. Lessons and posts should appear in the app by themselves.
- Are there push notifications? They're one of the main reasons to have an app at all.
- What happens if you stop paying for the app? Ask whether members are sent to the web version or simply lose access.
Do you need an App Store app at all?
Often, no. An app installed from your website opens full screen with your icon, keeps members signed in, and can send push alerts. On iPhone, those alerts arrive once the member has added the app to their home screen, which the members area walks them through.
A listing in the App Store and Google Play is worth it when your members expect to search a store for you, when you want Face ID sign-in and real iPhone notifications without the home-screen step, or when "download our app" is part of how you sell. It's a nice-to-have for most course creators, and a must for a few.
What an app costs over three years
| Setup | Year 1 | 3 years |
|---|---|---|
| Thinkific Start + branded app add-on | ~$3,700 | ~$11,090 |
| Kajabi Growth (app included; check the plan) | ~$2,990 | ~$8,960 |
| Kajabi Pro | ~$5,990 | ~$17,960 |
| Deedmade™, members app included | $2,499 | $2,499 |
| Deedmade™ + App Store and Google Play listing | $3,687 | $6,063 |
Card processing and your own running costs are left out of every row, since you pay them on any platform.
What you get with Deedmade™
- Your members app, with your name and icon, a tab bar along the bottom and push alerts, installed from your own website on any phone.
- Passkey sign-in with Face ID or a fingerprint, so there are no passwords to forget or leak.
- Courses that work on a phone: progress saved on every device, lesson notes, quizzes and PDF certificates.
- Everything else in the same app: community, live sessions, booked calls, events, downloads and announcements.
- A website on your own domain in any of our over 90 styles, and an Owner's Portal to run it all, including from your phone.
If you want the store listing too, the optional add-on is $99 a month. We build the iPhone and Android apps, sign them, upload them, write the listing and take the screenshots, under your own Apple and Google developer accounts. Members join and pay on your website and sign in to the app, so Apple and Google take no cut. Lessons and posts update inside the app by themselves. Cancel any time: the apps keep working until the end of the month you paid for, then point members to the web version, which keeps working as always. More in your own app in the App Store and Google Play.
The platform itself is $2,499 once (the early-bird price until December 31, 2026; the regular price is $3,900), with 0% of your sales. Build yours free and open your members app on your own phone before you decide.
Prices of other companies are approximate, from their own pricing pages on October 11, 2026 (yearly-billing prices, add-ons and plans not in our calculator were checked on November 6, 2026), and they change. Where a page shows a monthly price that is billed a year at a time, we say so. Check their websites for today's prices.
Questions people ask
Which course platforms include a branded app?
Kajabi includes one in its plans. Thinkific sells it as an add-on of about $199 a month. Circle and Mighty Networks offer branded apps on custom-priced top plans. Deedmade™ includes your own members app, and listing it in the App Store and Google Play is an optional $99 a month.
Is an app installed from my website as good as an App Store app?
For most members, yes: it opens full screen with your icon, stays signed in and can send push alerts. An App Store listing adds store search, Face ID sign-in and iPhone notifications without first adding the app to the home screen.
Do Apple and Google take a cut of my course sales?
Only if members buy inside the app. When members join and pay on your website and then sign in to the app, as with Deedmade™'s store apps, Apple and Google take no cut.
How much does it cost to have my own course app?
Renting, often several hundred dollars a month for a plan that includes one. With Deedmade™, the members app comes with the platform ($2,499 once (the early-bird price until December 31, 2026; the regular price is $3,900)). The App Store and Google Play listing is $99 a month, plus Apple's $99 a year and Google's $25 once, paid to them.
Can I add the App Store app later?
Yes. Start with the members app installed from your website, and add the store listing whenever your members ask for it.
Stop renting. Own it.
Build your platform free in early access and see it working, usually within the hour. You pay only if you approve it, once, and keep today's price.
- No card
- Pay once, no monthly fee
- 0% of your sales
- On your own accounts