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Maker School Alternative: Stride AI Academy Compared
Looking for a Maker School alternative? A side-by-side of price, live calls, guarantee, software and sales training, from both communities' public pages.
If you want a Maker School alternative, Stride AI Academy is a paid Skool community with four courses (automation, AI coding, client operations and sales), weekly live calls and plans from $97 a month. Maker School is $184 a month and built around one goal: landing your first paying AI client in 90 days. Both teach the business side, so the choice comes down to price, structure and what's included.
Side-by-side
Every fact about Maker School below comes from its public Skool page, read logged out on November 6, 2026. Where a fact wasn't public, the cell says so.
| Maker School | Stride AI Academy | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Skool | Skool |
| Run by | Nick Saraev | Josh Pocock |
| Price | $184/month, with a listed rise to $194 | $97, $197 or $297/month; yearly plans with 2 months free |
| Members (as shown on Skool) | 2.8k | About 1.2K (free community) |
| Main goal | Your first paying AI automation client in 90 days | Build AI systems, then sell and deliver them to businesses |
| Lessons | 218 videos and guides on a day-by-day roadmap, plus full courses | Four courses: automation, AI coding, client operations and sales |
| Live help | Daily Q&A and weekly calls | Weekly live calls on every plan; an implementation lab on Premium; a monthly hot-seat call on VIP |
| Stack named | Claude Code, Codex, n8n | Claude Code, Codex, MCP, GitHub, Vercel, Supabase, StrideOps |
| Sales training | Lead generation methods, proposals and scripts | Stride AI Sales Process: outreach, scripts and offer structure from Executive Stride (400+ clients) |
| Software included | Discounts on automation platforms | StrideOps (CRM, pipelines, voice agents, AI follow-up): a trial on Standard, the Operator plan on Premium |
| Stated guarantee | First paying client in 90 days or your money back | See our refund page |
How they differ
Maker School is one focused path. A day-by-day roadmap to one result suits you if you want to be told what to do each morning. It also states a money-back guarantee tied to that result, so read its conditions before you join.
Stride AI Academy covers the whole job. Beyond building and selling, the Stride AI Operations course teaches how to run client work once you've won it, and StrideOps gives you the software to do it in.
Price. Stride's Standard plan is $97 a month, about half of Maker School's listed price. Premium is $197 a month and adds the agency course, client acquisition playbooks, the weekly implementation lab and the StrideOps Operator plan.
Which one fits you
Pick Maker School if your only goal right now is a first client, you want a daily roadmap and daily answers, and the guarantee matters to you.
Pick Stride AI Academy if you want building, coding, client operations and sales in one place, a lower starting price, and software to run client work.
Sources
- Maker School, Skool about page, read November 6, 2026: https://www.skool.com/makerschool/about
- Stride AI Academy: this site's homepage, courses and pricing
Prices and member counts change. If something here is out of date, the source pages are the authority. See all alternatives.
FAQ
Is Stride AI Academy affiliated with Maker School?
No. They're separate communities run by different people. This page uses public information only.
Which is cheaper?
Stride AI Academy's Standard plan is $97 a month. Maker School is $184 a month, as shown on its Skool page on November 6, 2026.
Do I need to code for either?
Neither public page asks for a coding background. Stride's AI Coding course is written for non-programmers.