If you’re trying to build an online community, you might have come across Circle.so.

If you’ve been thinking about trying Circle community or are currently using it and have outgrown it, this post will talk through 13 alternatives to Circle.so and walk you through some pros and cons of each one.

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What is Circle.so?

Circle.so is a community platform that includes features like discussion forums, chat & messaging, livestreaming, and courses. It also gives users different ways to host and organize content created by both hosts and members.

The Circle platform also has monetization features, like adding paywalls to different spaces to sell memberships, courses, and/or events.

Circle.so starts from $49/mo for the basic plan, but accessing the full features requires at least a professional plan ($99/mo).

Circle community was launched by three former Teachable employees who wanted to create a product to host online communities to supplement Teachable courses.

Benefits of a Circle community

Building a Circle community has some disadvantages, but first, here are some of its advantages:

• Interactive discussion forums


• Build event, chat, content, or course Spaces


• Member profiles


• Charge for memberships, courses, and events with gating


• Livestreaming


• Workflow options


• Good iOS app (and they just added an Android app)


• Customization tools


• Branded apps

Cons of the Circle platform

• You're stuck creating different kinds of content in different Spaces. You can only have one feature per space (e.g. you can't add a discussion forum to a course space).


• It's hard for members to meet each other. The member list is often off by default. Even when it's on, profiles are basic and aren't designed to bring members together.


• The course LMS is very basic, missing things like assessment tools. It's better for cohort courses.


• There's almost no option to create landing pages for selling courses, community, and events.


• There are limits on everything: max 100 livestream attendees, max 10 Spaces--you constantly hit the wall, which leads to...


• There are hidden fees for extras like additional admins or moderators. There are extra costs for additional Spaces too or more live attendees at events.


• The Android app was only just released and users report bugginess.


• Customization is limited to colors and logos.


• The analytics feature is really basic.


• Event spaces are really just posts--you can't add RSVPs and meeting links (e.g. Zoom) have to be in the text.


• The calendar integration doesn't work well and it can be hard to find events and add them to an external calendar (e.g. GCal).

What to look for in a Circle alternative

When we're ranking features that you should look for in a Circle alternative, here are some of the ones to watch for!

• More ways to create and host the features you want. Find a platform that doesn't dictate what you can create.


• More ways to help members meet each other. They don't only have to make friends in the comments. Look for better member profiles and more between-member engagement tools.


• Lots of options to communicate with your members like discussions, chat & messaging, livestreaming, etc.


• Better course integration with a more robust LMS. You may need more power to create live or pre-recorded courses.


• Real event spaces that let you RSVP, post event details, and add proper calendar integrations


• The ability to charge in your own currency (if applicable)


• Trustworthy apps for iOS and Android


• White-label apps (under your brand) (if applicable)

The 13 best alternatives to Circle

1. Mighty Networks

The Best Circle Alternative

Mighty Networks is ranked the #1 community management software by G2 (Circle is #4). And Mighty will power $370 million in creator businesses this year.

Mighty mixes a powerhouse community platform with courses, content, commerce, and events.

Here's what makes Mighty the best alternative to Circle.

More content control

Mighty gives you flexible Spaces -- each one works like a container that can hold community discussions, live streaming, virtual events, courses, and more.

And, unlike Circle, Mighty lets you do all these things in the same Space, choosing which features to toggle on or off.

Dynamic spaces in a Mighty Network

While Circle gives you a platform in which the 4 Space options basically look the same, Mighty's Spaces are yours to design what you need. You can choose from templates like Chat, Feed, Cohort Course, Content-Only Course, Event, Conference, Page, or Resource Library. Or, you can build your own Space with any features you want.

This boosts engagement and makes UX easier. For example, on Circle you would have to host course content, discussions, and course events in separate spaces. With Mighty, you can do all this in one Space.

Designed for better engagement

1 mindset shift for EXPLOSIVE community growth

We can predict with 93% accuracy whether a community will succeed or fail.

It's not how often you post, how much content you have, or how slick your sales funnel is.

Communities thrive when members make friends. Great communities need members to connect to each other.

That's why Mighty builds engagement everywhere: into member profiles, content, and even AI tools.

Mighty uses AI to boost connection.

Mighty's people magic software is designed to boost and grow real human connections, not just to spit out content.

Here are the AI features that make Mighty's engagement second to none.

• Profile assist and show similarities with another member


• Icebreaker questions and conversation starters


• Automatically re-engage members who have dropped off


• Text boosts like the "make it better" editor and instant course outlines.

Plus, there are new features being dropped all the time.

The AI community Co-Host designed to make your life easier. But you can turn all of the AI features off if you prefer. You're in the driver's seat.

Here's what the "show similarities" tool looks like in action.

Your new members need to meet people to stay.

And that's what these tools do.

Finally, Mighty Co-Host™ can help you create a Big Purpose, generate a community name, define your brand, create landing and sales pages, and more.

It's designed to skyrocket your engagement while simplifying your community management work. These tools let you run a thriving community on as little as a few hours a week.

Start Your Free Trial

Better membership tools

It's really hard to meet people on Circle.

Circle's member management software is still basically a member list (that's not even turned on by default in your main community). It's hard to even see who's in a community.

Mighty's member management is 10X better.

Mighty Networks has a set of member tools to keep members engaged, meeting each other, and coming back to the community.

Mighty starts with member bubbles with a visual layout of members you may know, with features like "members near me" & sorting by interests.

If you're stuck on a member profile, Mighty Co-Host™ can create one with a few questions.

And if you want to talk to someone who looks interesting, Mighty Co-Host™ can instantly start the conversation.

On the backend, you can manage member plans, see which members are in each plan, and check their activity.

A better community business

Mighty gives you more ways to monetize too, you can sell memberships, courses, events, premium access, and bundles.

You can offer discounts, build different kinds of packages, and charge in 129 more currencies than Circle or even monetize with token-gating.

Plus, Circle has a lot of hidden fees.

While Mighty's Business Plan offers the same features as Circle, Circle.so charges you extra to add more Hosts, members, moderators, and spaces -- On Mighty ALL of these are unlimited.

For example, Circle's Professional Plan has courses. But they are limited to 20 Spaces, 3 mods, and 100 livestream attendees. If you need more than this, there are extra costs.

And Circle's AI features are only available on a $219/mo plan. Even Mighty's cheapest plan comes with 5 core AI tools: text editor, profile assist, suggested hashtags, icebreaker suggestions, and activity assist.

Circle's add-ons add up.

More for your brand

Finally, Mighty gives you much more customization power than Circle does:

• Build your network under your brand, use light and dark mode, and customize themes, landing pages, network identity, labels, and more.


• Great apps for every device. Mighty has a track record of well-rated apps in the App Store and Google Play Store. Circle only launched an Android app last year, and it's glitchy.


• Mighty has built hundreds of branded apps. It's a feature Circle launched last year: branded apps. Mighty Pro has been building branded apps for years, with hundreds of successful examples (more below).

Since you get all the same features and a ton more for the same cost or less, Mighty Networks is the best alternative to Circle.so. (If you want to go deeper, we have a full side-by-side comparison of Mighty Networks vs. Circle.)

Mighty Networks features

Pros

• Has all of Circle's core features: discussions, forums, chat & messaging, profiles, Spaces, livestreaming, polls, Q&A, group chat.


• More flexible Spaces with better UX, plus more Space templates and build-your-own custom Spaces.


• AI-boosted community management: Instant Big Purpose statements, auto-community building, landing page and course outline generator, the "make it better" text editor, and member re-engaging tools, + Mighty Co-Host™ teaches you how to build.


• People magic software designed to boost connections between members: profile assist, conversation starters, show similarities, icebreaker questions.


• Reliable apps for every device type (Circle only recently launched an Android app)


• Charge for memberships, courses, subscriptions, events, coaching, and bundles in 135 currencies or token-gating


• Unlimited members, Hosts, and moderators on every plan


• Built-in ConvertKit integration for connecting your email list and community together.

Cons

• Doesn’t integrate directly with Teachable (because you can host your course on your Mighty Network without paying for another platform)

Mighty Co-Host™ can build your community in the next 60 seconds! And it's free to try for 14 days--no credit card required.

Try it!

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2. Mighty Pro

Best Circle Plus alternative for branded apps
Learn more about Mighty Pro

Mighty Pro is the best alternative to Circle Plus. It puts G2's #1 community platform on your own branded apps.

And Mighty Pro has built branded apps for brands and creators like: TED, Tony Robbins, Mel Robbins, Jim Kwik, Matthew Hussey, Cambridge University, Sadie Robertson Huff, Inc 5000, and Drew Binsky.

Mighty Pro puts your branded app (not ours) in the App Store and Google Play Store. Our team will work with you to design an app that meets your needs and fits your brand.

Imagine, your courses and community with:

• Your branded notifications in members' hands


• Your branded livestreaming


• Your detailed brand analytics

Here's what we build:

Branded membership apps

• Discussions, forums, Q&As, chat & messaging, discovery feed, short and long-form content, and other best-in-class tools under YOUR brand.


• Build and sell membership packages in 135 currencies, and bundle with masterminds, coaching, events, courses, and more.

Branded course apps

• Sell pre-recorded courses in your branded app, or teach a live course, and/or add the recording to the LMS after.


• Add audio, video, text modules, PDFs, discussions, questions, and integrate with memberships or a branded virtual or live event if you want.

Branded coaching apps

• Build your coaching program with live + pre-recorded content, livestreaming, downloads, branded notifications and reminders, and private Spaces.

Branded conference apps

• Bring your live or virtual event to the App Store and Google Play Store, and keep the conversation happening before and after.


• Add event schedules, bios, sponsors, session reminders, event chat, and running conversations and chat + branded livestreaming for virtual or hybrid events.

Mighty Pro's team has your back

Building on Mighty Pro means both tech AND strategy support from our Mighty Pro team: Account Executives and Community Strategists who have scaled 7-figure creator brands and 8+ figure subscription businesses.

Here are some of the awesome results of Mighty Pro customers:

• One personal finance app launched a course and generated $130K in five days.


• A podcaster sold 5,000 seats to a $997 course in under 2 weeks.


• One community launched a 13-week add-on course and generated an additional $100k in revenue in 2 months.


• A non-profit onboarded 9,000 national members.


• A YouTuber launched a live challenge and 4,000+ members joined.


• A faith-based community expanded to 470 leaders in 67 countries.


• One social impact SAAS company mixed Pro with their regular conferences and saw a 70% increase in contributions & engagement.

Pro comes with advanced Mighty Co-Host™ AI features, including auto course outlines, icebreakers, profile assist, "make it better" post edits, and the Infinite Question Engine.

In fact, with Mighty's engagement features, you can successfully run a community with just a few hours a week.

And, if you're an existing Circle customer, we'll take care of the migration.

Let us show you what we could build together!

Learn more about Mighty Pro

Mighty Pro features

Pros

• Branded app for memberships, courses, challenges, coaching, chapters, non-profits, and conferences


• Discussion forums, chat & messaging, LMS, flexible Spaces, branded livestreaming + every kind of content you can build


• App Store marketing, phone + notification branding, mobile strategy support


• Support by a team of experts on migration, strategy, and brand

Cons

• It's for established brands and businesses. If you're just getting started, start with Mighty Networks first. You can grow into Mighty Pro when you're ready.

Learn more about Mighty Pro

3. Kajabi

Good Circle alternative for pre-recorded courses + funnels

Kajabi is one of the best-known online course platforms. If you're looking for a Circle alternative that gives you a pre-recorded course with built-in course marketing features, Kajabi might be a good option. It has a powerful set of marketing features, things like upsells, email targeting, funnel/landing pages, and more.

But Kajabi is a bit weak on online communities and even teaching a live course. It used to have 0 real community features. But Kajabi recently launched a new product to address this: Kajabi Community 2.0.

It is an improvement on their former (extremely basic) community function, that adds "Circles" (topic clusters), discussion forums, messaging, and live events.

The downside to Kajabi Community 2.0 is it still doesn't compete with Circle or Mighty Networks as a community forum. People taking your course have to create separate logins and access a separate community area -- it doesn't work well with the course functions.

This means Kajabi isn't the right alternative to Circle for standalone communities or cohort courses (live courses), but it can be a good choice for marketing and hosting a pre-recorded course.

Kajabi features

Pros

• Great async LMS with course delivery, dripping content, assignments, etc. built-in


• Integrated marketing funnels, landing-page builders, and email marketing

Cons

• Community 2.0 requires separate logons and separate apps from the Kajabi platform


• No branded apps


• Kajabi is extremely expensive—almost 2x as much as Circle or Mighty Networks.

4. Disciple

Branded enterprise community apps

The next Circle alternative we'll talk about here is Disciple. It gives you a community platform with branding options and good content tools. Members can share text, videos, or images, and Disciple has discussion forums, Q&As, and even an activity feed.

Disciple gives you tools for mobile app monetization -- it is app-based first and foremost. You can monetize with gated content and subscriptions, manage memberships, and even use a built-in email feature to reach your members.

Disciple has two main weaknesses:

• First, it's an app-based solution. The web app is missing a lot of the features (e.g. livestreaming), creating access issues for desktop users.


• Second: The pricing model is really strange. Instead of a flat fee, you end up paying by the feature. This has pros and cons, but generally adds up to being more expensive than Circle or Mighty Networks.

Disciple features

Pros

• App-based community forum with a (limited) web app.


• Build a digital business that sells subscriptions or gated content.


• Customization and branding features


• Good member management tools: lists, email, groups, topics, friends, messaging, etc.

Cons

• Missing monetization features for courses and live events


• Different UX & features between the app and web app


• Feature-based pricing (can get expensive)

5. Bettermode

Corporate forum platform

Bettermode was formerly called Tribe, and it's a decent alternative to the Circle platform.

Tribe was just a corporate forum platform, but they rebranded and relaunched with some better community-building features.

The forum function lets you host and sort discussions with content and spaces, plus member management tools (profiles, roles, etc.). And it has content creation options, things like images, videos, and polls.

Bettermode has apps that can be white-labeled, multilingual support, email white-labeling, and customization.

It's a good tool for a corporate community-only build. It's missing monetization features of any kind, so it's not the best Circle alternative for a digital business. And it has no courses and no live events.

Bettermode features

Pros

• Forum-first community with spaces and some member options


• Build under your own brand and white-labeling (apps, email, etc.)


• Custom website builder

Cons

• No monetization features


• Missing courses and live events


• Community is limited to a simple discussion forum

6. Discord

Good free Circle alternative

Discord is another popular team chat platform. It’s similar to Slack in that it creates a text-based communication solution that helps community members have conversations. Also, like Slack, Discord allows you to create dedicated channels for discussion topics. It also has easy options for voice chatting since it was created for gamers to collaborate.

As an alternative to Circle.so, Discord is comparable to Slack. It’s a good option to create channels for discussions and has the added bonus of easy live calling between members—which could be helpful in some situations. But it’s not really a good platform to build an engaged community on, and doesn’t have nearly the capability of an alternative like Mighty Networks.

Discord features

Pros

• Free & easy to use with a good UX


• Add voice and video chats


• Has many of the same conversation functions as Circle.so


• Great apps for every device

Cons

• Limited tools for growing a community, and would be almost useless for growing a business (very few monetization options)


• The options to charge for a community are almost non-existent, and you can't create your own brand.


• No course functions


• Not functional for organizing a large community

7. Slack

Slack is another alternative to Circle.so. With Slack, you can create specific channels for dedicated conversations, which replicates one of the main features of Circle.

Slack is common, and a ton of companies use it. So, there’s a good chance some of the members will know Slack already from work.

Slack also has a dedicated app that works well and is available across all devices. While Slack channels can work for small, free communities, they aren't designed to turn strangers into friends. Remember, Slack works for work because people have to be there. There is no native monetization or branding, and the more comprehensive Slack plans are really expensive.

Slack features

Pros

• Intuitive and familiar to users


• Available on mobile and web


• Works well for groups that already know each other

Cons

• No custom branding


• No direct monetization options


• No options to create online courses


• Charges per member


• No subgroups

8. Higher Logic Vanilla

Customer Community platform

Higher Logic Vanilla is another Circle.so alternative that gives you features for creating and managing customer communities. It can be branded under a corporate brand and gives you some good membership management tools; members can be organized into different groups and you can add polls and questions.

As an online forum solution, Vanilla is made for customer support, companies can engage and answer member questions, connect it to their knowledge base, or even to CRM and customer experience platform (CEP) solutions like Salesforce or Zendesk.

Higher Logic is an alternative to the Circle platform for brands looking for customer communities. It's not a full community solution for brands looking to monetize and sell digital products and memberships.

The other downside to Higher Logic is that some of the branding is extremely outdated--for example, here's the UX for booking an event:

Higher Logic features

Pros

• Build customer forums under a corporate brand


• Add member management features and customization


• Integrate with knowledge base and tools like Zendesk and Salesforce

Cons

• Not a full community solution


• Extremely limited subscription and monetization tools


• No apps or white-label apps (web app only)

9. Hivebrite

Alumni alumni management alternative

Hivebrite is an alternative to the Circle community platform that's built first and foremost as an alumni management platform.

Hivebrite includes features like dedicated subgroups, forum functions, and even a job board for students to explore. And it's one of the few options on this list other than Mighty Pro that gives you a branded mobile app.

Hivebrite's best connecting feature for alumni networks? Its tools for events--including event apps. It can handle invite emails, tickets, and event calendars. And it has some monetization features like event ticketing and donor campaigns.

Although the live event features are cool, the lack of comprehensive community features bump Hivebrite down the list of Circle alternatives.

It's really missing the type of comprehensive tools you'd expect in a community platform. And the limited virtual event options with no livestreaming or video tools knock it down the list even more.

Hivebrite features

Pros

• Live event management and useful alumni features


• CMS tools with job board


• Good live event tools


• Apps under your brand

Cons

• Underwhelming community experience


• Missing features to run virtual events


• Doesn't have livestreaming, native video, or courses

10. reddit

reddit is a popular social network that is dedicated to discussions, and millions of people are already there. Like Circle.so, reddit allows users to create “communities”—formerly known as “subreddits.”

Functionally, a reddit community has many of the same features as Circle.so, including an interactive discussion forum. Users can create posts, comment, and get notifications. They can also upvote their favorite posts or comments.

Like the other options on this list, reddit has a solid app for every device—which Circle doesn’t.

One major drawback of reddit is that you need to have been a user for a while with enough “karma” to get approved to start a community. This means that, if you create a reddit account today in the hopes of starting a community there, you’d need to wait for at least a month and work hard at engaging with other posts before you even have a chance of starting a community—and it’s no guarantee. Plus, you’re bound by a set of rulescreated by reddit, so you don’t have a lot of freedom to just build whatever you want.

reddit features

Pros

• It’s free & widely used

Cons

• Must be a reddit user for 30 days and need “positive karma”


• Not much more than a forum


• No ability to monetize


• reddit owns and controls everything

11. Discourse

Another alternative to Circle.so is Discourse. Discourse lets you create a simple discussion board and organize conversations. It also has basic engagement tools that you can use to respond or react to posts.

Discourse can be expensive, plans on the website start from $100/mo. Although the code itself is marketed as “free,” and you could theoretically use it to build a community, you need to pay for hosting somewhere. You would also need coding knowledge to set up the free code from Github if you choose that route. In fact, you might even have to hire a developer to help you set it up. It’s definitely not a simple option. This means that Discourse will either be expensive or extremely complicated.

Discourse features

Pros

• Easy moderation & flagging inappropriate content


• Clean, simple design


• Good notification system & discussion organization

Cons

• Expensive and complicated to set up


• No chat functionality

12. Thinkific

Thinkific is a good course platform, and they've recently added some community features that make it a decent alternative to Circle.so.

As an e-learning solution, Thinkific is strong--much better than Circle. It has good curriculum-building features with advanced quizzes, webinars, surveys, and feedback.

Thinkific is a bit like Kajabi, but it's quite a bit cheaper. However, it's also missing the marketing features that Kajabi has. The tradeoff comes at a price.

Like Kajabi, Thinkific has tried to create some community options to accompany its courses. The result is a basic community platform that actually feels a lot like a more basic version of Circle--with a similar layout and feel.

Thinkific features

Pros

• Good course platform with really strong LMS options


• Some integrated marketing features

Cons

• The community feature is pretty basic


• Thinkific recently launched a mobile app--but the reviews are terrible

13. Facebook Groups

A Facebook group is a well-known and free alternative to Circle.so, and works to connect people. People with existing Facebook accounts can join in and take part in a conversation.

While you’d think that Facebook would be a solid alternative to a product like Circle.so, it’s actually a terrible place to host a community.

Engagement is limited. Features are limited.

You’ve probably joined Facebook groupsthat had thousands of members and never thought about it again. Facebook often won’t notify you when there’s activity in the group. And the fact that the group may be free to join—unless it’s monetized through another platform—probably means that people don’t actually care about taking part.

Add to this the way that Facebook is making money off of your community—by collecting and selling your users’ data—and you’ve got a recipe for a group that probably won’t go very far. As more and more people boycott Facebook, you don’t want to start a community on a platform that potential members will refuse to use.

Facebook features

Pros

• Widely accessible & easy to use


• World-class products, apps, etc.


• Many people are already on Facebook

Cons

• Limited engagement features


• You’re competing for attention with every other group, post, and cat video


• Monetization is complicated


• Some members may refuse to use it

Conclusion

There are a lot of great options on this list. But none of them do what Mighty Networks does, allowing you to create a vibrant community, host discussions, sell memberships, go live, build dedicated subgroups, and create elegant courses.

Come try it for yourself! It's free for 14 days--no credit card required.