Social media is a hamster wheel. Your Facebook Group gets ignored. Email open rates hover around 30%. And AI feels like it’s making the spam worse.

The business case for a creator is simple. You can’t win attention by screaming into these crowded mediums.

You need an online community. It creates a focused space to create valuable conversations. But what happens if your community ONLY lives on the inter-web?

Simple, really. Engagement is low. Mobile ownership is at 98% in America. It’s dominant.

So why would you build on an online community platform that doesn’t give an amazing mobile experience?

People building communities on apps see better engagement and growth.

So if your members keep asking, “Is there an app?” This guide is for you.

The best community apps aren’t afterthoughts wrapped in a “mobile friendly” web-wrapper. These companies are all building to help creators win on mobile.

A community app is a software solution that brings the features of an online community–things like discussion forums, member profiles, and content–onto a user’s mobile device.

In less formal terms, it’s an app that runs a community! Online communities are booming, and community apps turn these experiences into native mobile. But we see a boost in engagement from native apps. Here’s why:

• Apps are easy. People are already on their phones (and let’s be honest, looking for things to click on).

• Mobile notifications work. Emails aren’t always opened. Social media is often ignored. Apps boost return visits and engagement in a community.

• Native apps have platform-specific UX. Those “mobile friendly” community websites aren’t actually designed for phones, even if the fonts shrink!

What a community app is not

• A web wrap that shrinks a website to be “mobile friendly.”

• A Facebook Group, Discord Server, or other social networking platform that happens to have an app.

• A messaging tool like WhatsApp or Telegram.

• A course platform with a “discussion forum” bolted on.

1. Custom-developed: Hire professional custom app developers to build your app. It will take 6-18 months and $100-500k plus. For obvious reasons, this isn’t the best approach for most people.

2. Platform apps: Some community platforms have great native apps. You’ll use their app in the App Store and Google Play Store, but people will get your community through the app. It works great, but it’s not under your brand.

3. The DIY branded app: More of these services are popping up. This promises an app under your brand from as low as $50/mo. However, it’s DIY, you need to do all the building, submissions, maintenance, etc. I

4. The branded community app: This is a purpose-built community platform deployed on a purpose-built native app with your own branding. For established brands and creators, it’s a great option.

A community app isn't for everyone. It's for creators and brands who've outgrown free platforms and are ready to own their audience.

You’re ready for an app if…

• You’re a creator trying to sell products and fighting algorithms and software platforms that don't talk to each other.

• You want to see member transformations and boost retention.

• People keep asking you, “Is there an app?”

• You’re running a Facebook Group or Discord Server and feel like nobody’s listening.

• You want to offer everything in one place: courses, events, communities, chat & messaging, and content.

The short answer is, if your business has a community or membership function, it can be a great idea. Branded apps in particular have an awesome value proposition:

• Branded notifications: Push notifications get opened around 70% of the time, making it the best way to contact your members.

• Retention goes up: We see brands with 90+% retention on branded apps–apps unlock community-led growth.

• You’ll earn more: Branded community apps boost revenue, we frequently see 6+ figure revenue increases with branded apps.

• You see transformations: When a business offers a transformation (e.g. health, wealth, or life transformations), branded apps boost the effectiveness. Members see the transformations more often!

• Support gets easier: It’s a customer community people love hanging out in, which means your tickets go down.

• Acquisition gets easier: It’s time to kill your sales funnel. Stop pushing customers through blatantly obvious steps toward a “BUY NOW” button. Community apps boost growth via the metrics that matter: word of mouth, raving reviews, and transformed lives.

Usually, when we think about what to look for in a community app, we’re talking about features. The community features are what make up the daily experience of your community app and all you can do with it. It’s the features that will delight and engage your members.

Here’s what we’re thinking of when ranking:

• Native app quality: Can you get real iOS and Android native apps (not websites).

• Push notifications: Does the app notify your members properly (with options to customize).

• White-label options: Can you deploy under your brand–either now or in the future?

• Community features: Can you run a thriving community business with lots of offers and tools?

• Courses & events: Can you add in things that bring people together for learning experiences or live moments?

• Monetization: Can you sell, collect money, offer sales, bundle features together, and get business intelligence?

• AI & automations: Does it use tools to grow engagement, simplify your life, and build better member journeys?

• Track record: Does the company have good reviews and/or a track record of successful builds?

Whatever your vision is for an online community app, there are a lot of options to make it work for you. Here are some of the best community apps for your brand.

The best community platform app from $79/mo

App Store Rating: 4.8 stars (66k ratings)

Google Play Rating: 4.7 Stars (18k ratings)

Mighty Networks is G2’s top-rate community management software, and that software comes with a beautiful, responsive native app. And you can upgrade to branded apps when you’re ready (see below).

Mighty is used by Tony Robbins, Mel Robbins, Marie Forleo, Seth Godin, TED, and Cambridge University

App Experience

• Powers $500M+ in creator revenue (2025). More $1 million communities than any other platform.

• Native iOS and Android Mighty Networks apps on every plan with great ratings.

• Offline access, fast load times, and community push notifications.

• Admin power built into the app too (not every platform has the same admin experience)

Features

And here are some of the things Mighty Networks gives you in its community apps.

• AI for engagement: Prompted member profiles, AI-powered "similarities" tool, 1-click conversation starters, auto-generated discussion questions, and re-engage lapsed members with 1 click.

• All-in-one community platform: Flexible Spaces means any community features you want, all together: discussions, courses, livestreams, events, challenges, chats & DMs, and member profiles.

• Best-in-class gamification: Designed by Dr. Jane McGonigal, add streaks, points, badges, leaderboards, and milestone celebrations.

• Unlimited automations: Add welcome sequences, course completions, streak rewards, upsells, & re-engagement DMs.

• Add branding: Make your community look and feel your own: custom branding, logos, URLs, landing pages, fields, and more.

• Powerful monetization: Sell memberships, courses, events, challenges, coaching, or bundle any of these in 135 different currencies or token-gating.

Mighty Networks Pros

• Real native app on every device (G2’s #1 rated community software)

• Can start on Mighty Networks and upgrade to premium branded apps without switching platforms.

• All-in-one building: community, courses, events, challenges, livestreams, and payments.

• People magic: AI actually boosts connection, doesn’t just create more content.

• Push notifications

• Gamification designed by a world-class game designer

Mighty Networks Cons

• Branded apps requires Mighty Pro (below)

The best branded community app

Mighty Pro is a premium, white-label community app builder that puts G2’s top-rated software under your brand.

Mighty Pro has built 500+ branded apps for major brands and creators like Tony Robbins, Marie Forleo, Mel Robbins, Matthew Hussey, Dr. Mark Hyman, Jim Kwik, Whole30, The Home Edit, and more.

App Experience

• YOUR app in the App Store & Google Play Store; YOUR icons, notifications, splash screens.

• 59% more weekly active members and 33% higher monthly engagement vs. non-branded apps.

• Launch in 4-6 weeks or less from kickoff.

Features

• Community, courses, livestreaming, events, payments, and automation. Mighty Networks’ best-rated features under your brand.

• Setup is done for you: app store branding, feature setup, configuration, and design, plus ongoing proactive submissions and support.

• Full migration included: members, courses, and content moved for you.

• Community Design™: Strategy support with learnings from 500+ 6 & 7+ figure businesses.

• Mighty Pro Insights™ automatically delivered plus membership in the Mighty Pro community.

Mighty is the ONLY brand that lets you build and monetize an online community and upgrade to white-label apps when you’re ready.

If you’d like to learn more about what we could build together, schedule a call with us.

Mighty Pro - Pros

• G2’s best-rated community platform… white-labelled.

• True white-label, it’s your brand everywhere.

• Dedicated strategy team and premium analytics.

• A company with a 500+ branded apps track record for some of the world’s top creators.

• Proven ROI: Hosts often report 90% engagement and 2-3x revenue increases.

Mighty Pro - Cons

• It’s a premium service (but users can start with a Mighty Network instead)

Branded community apps from a web app

Price: From $399/mo

Disciple is a UK-based company with a premium app plan. Unlike Mighty Networks, it has no included platform app. Disciple only offers a branded app.

App Experience

• White-label only. You can have a web community too, but the app is standalone.

• Disciple has positioned itself as mobile first, if anything the app has better UX than the website communities.

Features

• Community features like activity feeds, groups, member directory, DMs, livestreams, and in-app events.

• Courses and content functionality means you can sell learning and gate content behind tiers.

• Sell subscriptions or one-time purchases, and manage your admin from desktop or mobile.

• Customizable home screen with events, posts, groups, and/or custom menus.

One of the downsides to Disciple as a community app is that there are different user experiences between the app and the web app.

This might not be an issue for those who only use the app, but if you have a community that can be accessed through both a website and an app, it could be an issue. For example, live streaming is only available on the app, not on the website.

(Here’s a full comparison of Disciple vs Mighty Networks.)

Pros

• A true white-label app option.

• Mobile-first design focus with notifications.

• Good content features and forum functions for building a text-based community.

• Member engagement features like livestreaming, groups, and polls.

• Monetization through subscriptions, in-app tools, sponsorships, etc.

Cons

• Different experiences between web and mobile app (limited web-app features).

• Weak feature set for communities: no gamification, limited automations, no AI engagement features.

• Pricing is modular, it can scale a lot as you add things.

• Smaller ecosystem and a limited track record.

Kajabi Communities - App Store Rating: 4.8 Stars (3.4k ratings)

Kajabi Communities- Google Play Rating: 4.5 Stars (2.9k ratings)

Kajabi is a course platform that has marketing and funnels built in. It also acquired Vibely, and relaunched the chat app under its brand as Kajabi Communities 2.0. This means Kajabi’s main community app was separate from its course app.

In Fall 2025, Kajabi announced it was merging these apps which may improve UX.

App Experience

• Kajabi currently has 3 different apps: Kajabi Courses, Kajabi Communities, and Kajabi Creator (for admin).

• In Sep. 2025 they announced merging of these–it remains to be seen how the new unified mobile app is (plans to launch iOS first).

• Kajabi also offers a basic, branded app on its Pro plan from $399 (or as a $199/mo add-on).

Features

• Courses with custom landing pages and assessments.

• Customizable communities with access tiers,in-community offers, activity feed, and livestreaming.

• Visual builder with branching logic, blueprints, DM automations, auto transcriptions.

• Marketing funnels, checkout pages, up- and down-sells, and integrated email marketing.

• Simple branded app that brings your community or course to the App Store or Google Play Store.

Kajabi's strengths are with funnels and digital products. Its community platform is missing things like advanced member matching, AI engagement tools, and the gamification is quite basic.

Pros

• All-in-one platform with courses, communities, and funnels.

• Good marketing tools and website builder.

• Auto-transcription and automation builder.

Cons

• Communities have not been integrated into the platform from the beginning.

• Currently requires 3 different apps to run a course and community business.

• No advanced community features like member matching or AI engagement.

• White-label apps are basic and don’t offer the support of a premium option

Community platform and app

Google Play Rating: 4.5 Stars (52.8k ratings)

App Store Rating:4.8 Stars (5.4k ratings)

Circle is a well-known community platform that has platform community apps included.

App Experience

• Native Circle app for iOS and Android with regular updates.

• Branded apps with Circle plus.

• Limited in-app features for admin, building Spaces, scheduling, and creating courses.

Features

• Choose from community, courses, or event Spaces. Build out memberships and learning experiences and livestreaming.

• Simple design with landing pages, websites, and sales pages for monetization.

• Gamification tools: points, levels, leaderboards, badges–all based on “likes”.

• AI admin tools to support members, manage an inbox, and tag members.

• Branded apps for established communities with Circle Plus.

Circle Pros

• Good feature set for building communities, courses, and events.

• Apps for all devices and branded options.

• Website builder and basic email.

• AI for member support.

Circle Cons

• Can’t have community, courses, or events in the same Space.

• AI isn’t built to boost engagement.

• Hidden costs as a community grows.

• Lots of limits to admin functions in-app.

Community platform app for nonprofits and associations from $66/mo/100 contacts

Members App - App Store Rating: 4.7 Stars (2.7k ratings)

Members App - Google Play Rating: 4 Stars (609 ratings)

Admin app - App Store Rating: 4.6 Stars (107 ratings)

Admin App - Google Play Ratings 4.3 Stars (206 ratings)

Wild Apricot is a membership software specifically created for nonprofits and other similar organizations. It does also feature a community app option.

App Experience

• 2 Separate apps: an admin app (managing members, events, and payments) and a member app (directory, event registration, profile updates).

• Wild Apricot app only. There’s no branded app options.

Features

• Strong live event features, with QR codes, waitlists, registrations, and attendee emails.

• Built for membership organizations, not robust online communities.

• Member directory app with browse, contact pages, and even registration.

• Admin app can add contacts, approve members, process payments, and manage even registrants.

• Set up recurring payments, renewals and self-serve admin options.

• Although not app related, the platform also has a website builder that works for nonprofit and association websites as well as local chapter websites.

Pros

• Good member database features

• Built specifically for associations and nonprofits

• Mobile event management + ticketing (with the app)

• Website-building features

• Options for regional chapters and subgroups.

Cons

• Very basic forum features

• No branded apps

• No livestreaming or virtual event hosting

• Dated interface

Best free community app

Discord is a well-known platform for gamers, that’s mostly free–making it one of the best free community apps.

App Experience

• Discord’s apps are good, but they’re entirely Discords. You run your servers under their brand.

• Native apps for iOS, Android, desktop, and web.

• Decent for free, fun communities.

Features

• A forum-style community (AKA “server”) and brings people together for conversations.

• Discord gives you the capability for live streaming and chat, plus game-play sharing.

• Communication channels: text, voice, threads, screen-sharing, and live audio stages.

• Some moderation tools, but very limited and manual.

• Not built for monetization: missing payments, courses, digital products and experiences, etc.

Discord is great for friends who want to get a conversation going, and it’s a good free community app. The primary form of communication will be via text or voice chats–each of which happens in their own channels.

But if you’re looking for a community app you can build your own brand on, charge for access, or create courses, it’s not the right option.

Pros

• Free to use

• Apps for every platform

• Engaging forum platform with cool features

• Solid text and voice chat tools

Cons

• Difficult to monetize a community or grow a business

• No courses, challenges, or structured content.

• No real member profiles or discovery features.

• Features are limited (ie. you can’t teach a course or host a planned virtual event)

• The membership features are limited (especially for a growing community)

• Barely any branding, much less white-labelling.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, or just curious to see what sort of community apps people are building, here are some examples we’ve built with Mighty Pro!

• Mindbody One (Customer Community)

• Code Red (Coaching and fitness)

• Wealth Builders Community (Personal finance)

• Slow AF Run Club (“Back of the pack” runners)

• FearClub (YouTube Fan Community)

• Artofed (Community for art teachers)

• Marie Forleo (Business training)

• Kabila (Entrepreneurial community)

When you build with Mighty Pro, the best community app is... YOURS! Let us help you create an amazing community, under your brand. Schedule a call with us and we’ll show you what you can do!

• A community platform is software that’s built to Host an online community, regardless of whether it’s accessed via a website or an app.

• A community app is the app version of community software.

TLDR; Every community app is built with a community platform, but not every community platform has a community app.

It depends. For a lot of creators starting out, the platform app is perfect. Often it doesn’t cost any extra, and lets you test and grow your community with an awesome app.

At some point, many successful communities move to branded apps. Branded apps increase retention and earnings, while offering a truly custom experience (your app and notifications in the App Store and Google Play Store).

As a community business gets big enough, a branded app often becomes a no brainer.

• Custom development often costs multi-six figures and takes months or even years to develop.

• White-labeled branded apps have a lot of variation–usually dependent on the level of support and done-for-you options the software has. Ie. Kajabi and Disciple offer white-label app options for $199 (+ your base plan)-$399/mo, but offer less support, strategy, design help, and ongoing updates and submissions than a premium branded app . These premium branded apps have custom pricing–for example, learn more here about Mighty Pro.

A push notification is when an app sends you a notification (e.g. that icon that pops up on mobile to let you know you have a new Facebook message, Gmail, SMS, etc.). Email means you get updates on what’s happening with a community in your inbox.

Both can be important parts of keeping members engaged and active in an online community, but push notifications have a higher response rate. (40-70% open rates vs. 30% for email).

Yes, absolutely! A community can always be migrated. Here are a few things to think about.

• Platforms vary by what they offer departing Hosts to take with them. Some platforms let you download all member data, others (like Facebook Groups), probably give you nothing.

• If you can, download member data, payment information, contact info, and any relevant old content you want to keep and/or repurpose.

• Some branded app options offer migration support. This is the case with Mighty Pro. Click here to apply for a free migration!

Must haves: Push notifications, native iOS/Android apps, member profiles, content, mobile-first UX.

Should haves: Engagement tools, virtual events, livestreaming, member discovery, moderation tools, payment processing and flexibility.

Nice-to-haves: AI features for engagement, gamification that works, white-label options, course building.

Most offer integration with a platform like Stripe. Some platforms offer native payment processing. Apple and Google often take a cut from in-app purchases. For example, Apple charges a 15% transaction fees for iOS payments on an app (for businesses under $1 million).

A lot of course platforms have tried to add communities, but the communities are an afterthought. For example, Teachable and Thinkific both have communities that feel a bit out of place within the course platform.

The problem is, turning these into an app then creates an extra level of awkward UX. Software built for courses and not communities is now an app built for courses and not communities.

But the main difference is, some platforms do both. Mighty Networks seamlessly connects courses and communities in flexible Spaces. This makes for awesome UX and courses and community can live seamlessly together.

Yes, ideally members should be able to access the community from both mobile and desktop. As always, check with your software.

The bigger challenge is whether all of the admin, member management, and community-building features are available on both web and apps. For example, Circle ‘s apps are missing some of the core community building features, you need to access these on the web app.

With great on-boarding! A platform like Mighty Networks lets you create a customized New Member Experience. Make sure that downloading the app is one of the steps for new members. You can also encourage it in your emails, as well as in-community posts and events.

• Platform apps launch immediately. As soon as you launch your community, it will be available in the platform app (e.g. the Mighty Networks app).

• White-label community apps usually take anywhere from 4 - 12 weeks. For example, Mighty Pro launches branded apps in as little as 4 weeks.

It varies by platform. Many apps offer the ability to download and watch some content offline (e.g. courses or pre-recorded livestreams). Most require internet connections for posting, real-time features, accessing new content, etc. Native apps generally offer better offline experiences than “mobile-friendly” websites.

Sure! Most offer a free trial, although several platforms require a credit card to try.

Mighty Networks offers a 14-day free trial, no credit card required at sign-up.