We're looking for community. And brands and creators are building some AMAZING community spaces, whether free or monetized.
But to create a community, you need an online community platform to bring people together.
And with so many options on the market, it can be hard to know which one to choose.
Ahead, we’ll talk about what makes a community platform, help you know what to look for, and show you the best online community platforms on the market.
We’ll help you find the right online community platform for your needs.
If you want more support in building your online community, come join OUR Mighty Community for free and meet other new and established community owners! We’d love to meet you. Join for free!
((toc))
What is a community platform?
A community platform is a dedicated virtual space where people who share the same goals, interests, or motivations can connect and build relationships.
The best modern community platforms bring together content, community, courses, and commerce in one place – without mixing and matching software. And if you’re running a paid community, the platform needs membership business tools.
But there’s a bigger answer.
What is a community platform?
In the brave new world we live in, with new AI tools and software every month, definitions get fuzzy.
But really, online community software is about people. Connecting us. Helping us make friends. Walking through a journey together. Learning. Growing. Evolving.
Once we sat around campfires telling stories. And the heart of an online community isn’t that different.
A great community platform gives us a place to belong.
The 5 best community platforms
- Mighty Networks: G2s top-ranked community platform with powerhouse community features, AI engagement built in, and options to sell memberships, courses, events, or bundles. (Try it free)
- Mighty Pro: Best for brands and businesses looking for community on your own branded apps. (Find out more here).
- Discord: Best free community platform for Hosts who never plan to charge.
- Geneva: Best free video chat platform for friends who know each other already.
- Hivebrite: Best for alumni networks and corporate forums.
Benefits of community platforms
Creating space to belong & transform
When you stop chasing customers, followers, subscribers, or whatever, and shift to the mindset of looking for members, it transforms what you're building.
People are looking for places where they can feel like they belong. That’s what an online community does at its best.
And at a time when 1 in 4 people say they are "very lonely," community is a human necessity.
But there's more.
The best communities often go through a transformation together.
Whether it’s the…
- Marketing managers who want to move up to VP
- Wanna-be scrapbookers learning to freeze memories in time
- First-time dads learning how to dad
- Rookie yogis learning the practice
The transformation journey is what makes communities work.
That’s why we use something called a Big Purpose as a mission statement for community. It’s a rock-solid plan for the people you bring together and the transformation they achieve.
The ultimate business model
We’ve watched thousands of communities grow and thrive. And we’ve learned something about what it takes to turn a community into a 6-, 7- and even 8-figure digital business.
In fact, the greatest opportunity in the world is staring brands in the face. Your competitors probably aren’t doing it.
Brands that give people a place to belong have the ultimate competitive edge.
And that’s why online communities are so powerful. McKinsey even identified a community flywheel as the best business model for the 2020s. When brands build community, it’s a flywheel. Members keep coming back and keep engaging, and selling becomes effortless.
Think about it…
- They ask for what they want and they trust you when you sell. Throw out the high-pressure sales funnel (Did it ever really work?).
- You create the same stuff whether you’ve got 100 or 10,000 members. It’s scalable.
Community Hosts evolve into facilitators of self-driving membership communities. It's a business model like no other.
Here are some examples from Mighty:
- An entrepreneurship org. launched to 5,000 members and made over $30,000 in 2 ½ weeks.
- A health-focused community launched to 100 high-ticket members and added $40,000 in ARR.
- An author & speaker launched a 4-week promotion in their membership community and saw an additional $30,000 in revenue.
- A podcaster and author sold 5,000 seats to a $997 course in 10 days to existing members.
- One community launched a 13-week add-on course and generated an additional $100k in revenue in 2 months.
The platform is your secret weapon
What role does community software play in creating spaces to belong? In creating businesses?
The single platform is where the magic happens. It’s the operations. The tech stack.
Your members engage with your platform every time they come on. In a perfect world, they don’t think about the tech. And they definitely shouldn't fight with it. They just start connecting and creating.
What happens when the community software gets in the way?
- When members face friction at checkout or accessing spaces?
- When members can’t find things like event links or courses?
- When using features isn’t intuitive?
- When members can’t access the community on a mobile app?
Best-case scenario, you end up with frustrated users. Worst-case scenario, you end up with churn and angry ex-members.
Nobody wants that.
That’s why the platform you choose really does matter.
Types of online community platforms
There are three types of people using community platforms, and platforms built for different uses. For example, Discord is a great (and free) platform that’s “just for fun,” but you wouldn’t build a business there.
You need to choose the right platform based on your needs.
Here are the three most common users of community platforms:
- Enterprise - “We’re a business and we need a brand community.”: Established businesses and brands looking for robust and brandable community platforms. They need customization, branded apps, advanced member features, and a powerful community engine.
- Digital Business - “I’m a creator or solopreneur starting a membership business.”: Creators and leaders (e.g. coaches, fitness instructors, mastermind leaders) planning to build a digital business around their community. They need good community features for their budget, and want to mix in payment gateways and bundling so they can sell memberships, courses, events, etc.
- Personal - “I want to bring people together for fun.”: There are Hosts looking for a free community for fun who won’t charge their audience. They’ll choose platforms like Facebook or Discord, which are free and easily accessible but don’t have robust community engines, monetization options, or branding.
Which of these descriptions apply to you? Once you know what level of platform you’re looking for, you can choose your community solution.
Pro tip: Give yourself room to grow though. It’s always possible to migrate a community, but it’s a lot of work.
What should you look for in an online community platform?
Great content options (e.g. discussion posts, polls, surveys, and Q&As). A community thrives on content that your members create. The easier it is to create what they want to, the better this will be.
Flexible Spaces or subgroups. Not every member wants the same thing. Spaces let you organize people and content (ex. A course Space vs an event Space).
Accessible on web, iOS, and Android apps. People can’t always run to a PC to log on. (“Mobile friendly web apps” don’t cut it).
Branded apps (under YOUR brand on iOS and Android). Established brands and businesses should consider branded community apps (that’s YOUR app in the App Store and Google Play Store).
Course platforms. If you have something to teach, make sure your community platform can host a live and/or pre-recorded course.
Multiple ways to monetize through events, paid memberships, subscriptions, and online courses.
What about communities and AI?
Since AI is the word on everyone’s mind, how does AI fit in with community software? Not everyone has adopted it yet, but here's how we’re using it.
We didn't just want AI to create more content. We asked, "How can AI help us build better communities?"
And we started with one data point.
We can predict with 93% accuracy whether a community will succeed or fail. Communities succeed when members connect or collaborate with each other.
- The question is NOT, “Do your hosts create enough content?”
- The question is, “Are my members making friends?”
Communities don’t just thrive because people show up. They thrive because people meet each other.
So we harnessed AI to make those meetings better…
- Tools to help you know what you have in common with other members
- Tools to get your creativity flowing (like member profile prompts or post help)
- Tools to start conversations (like discussion prompts)
And we automated the community-building process so that Mighty Co-Host™ can get a community up and running in minutes.
Mighty’s CEO, Gina Bianchini, wrote an article about this on LinkedIn if you want to read more!
Why communities fail
As you look at building a community, you might experience a specific fear. It’s common with new hosts. The fear is, “What if nobody shows up?” Or (maybe worse), “What if they show up and don’t like it?”
Let’s talk about it.
We host 12,000 communities on Mighty Networks. Here are the most common reasons communities fail:
They don’t follow the principles of Community Design™. Communities fail when they have no clear Big Purpose or Ideal Member. Letting everyone in and throwing content spaghetti against the wall is a surefire way to fail. Get clear on one person you can help and bring them together.
They don’t connect people to each other. If it wasn’t clear from what we said above, you need to connect people to each other for a community to thrive.
They drown people with content. “Welcome to our community. Here are the 47 hours of past course content and webinars you can consume.” Who the heck wants to do this? Communities don’t thrive from content alone. They thrive on connections and transformations.
They are struggling with tech debt. Mixing platforms, payment gateways, hacking together software. The more places your members have to go, the more they have to remember, the more likely your community is to fail.
They quit too soon. We can all get excited about 6-figure launches, but often a great community takes time. If you’ve done everything right, good things still take time to grow. Keep at it. Small communities can be amazing. And thriving communities can grow out of 5 founding members.
20 Top community platforms ranked
What are the best community platforms? Here are our top picks.
1. Mighty Networks
Ranked Best Online Community Platform by G2
Mighty Networks is G2’s top-rated community management software and it powers $370 million in community businesses and brand communities.
Mighty mixes content, courses, community, commerce, and events on a platform that’s intuitive yet powerful. And only Mighty has people magic, online community software that’s designed to create connections between members.
Here are some of the community features Mighty gives you:
The ultimate content engine for anything you or your members want to create: short and long-form text, video, livestreams, polls & questions, and discussions.
Customizable Spaces with features you can turn on or off.
Community management features with chat, messaging, and moderation tools.
Software that makes people magic: rich member profiles & profile assist, “things in common” and conversation prompts, “make it better” text editor, auto landing and sales pages, and more.
Sell memberships, courses, 1:1 or group coaching, masterminds, events, or bundle any of these in 135 different currencies. You can build memberships, bundles, one-time fees, and more.
Built-in ConvertKit integration to mix the best community platform with the best email marketing platform.
Here's an example of how people magic looks in the Mighty app.
On G2, Mighty Networks has a customer satisfaction score of 99 – the highest of any community platform.
A Mighty Network also has tons of customization options to build a thriving community under your own brand.
It’s the last community platform you’ll ever need.
No stitching together integrations to get courses and community and events–it’s all in one place. You can even upgrade to a branded app when you’re ready.
Mighty Networks features
- Discussion forums, video content, text & articles, polls, livestreaming, and more built-in
- Dynamic course platform with course communities, a versatile LMS, live events, course discussions, and all-member chats
- Tons of branding flexibility to customize–even light or dark mode.
- Enhanced analytics, with a custom dashboard
- Unlimited members, admins, and moderators on every plan
- Sell memberships, bundles, or one-time products in 135 currencies globally or with token-gating
- Integrated community AI with Mighty Co-Host™ that can instantly create course outlines, landing pages, and member profiles.
- Tons of free support in the Mighty Community!
Pricing
Starts from $41/mo. Check our pricing page for more info.
"As a host, Gina Bianchini and her team LISTEN!! I'll say that again, THEY LISTEN TO THE HOSTS! So over the last 6 years they have been asking us what we want and making changes to the platform in response to what the hosts, our communities and our members need. Yeah, that's cool!" Verified G2 Review
2. Mighty Pro
Best Community Platform on Branded Apps
Mighty Pro is G2’s top-rated community platform on your own branded apps.
We’ve built branded community apps for Tony Robbins, Mel Robbins, Jim Kwik, Drew Binsky, the TED community, Cambridge University, and Sadie Robertson Huff.
When you choose Mighty Pro, you’ll work directly with Account Executives and Community Strategists who have scaled 7-figure creator brands and 8+-figure subscription businesses.
If you’re an established brand or business, we’ll show you what we could build together.
Imagine saying, “Download our app!”
That’s what Mighty Pro does. And it adds to Mighty Networks’ powerhouse community features:
- Your brand’s apps in the App Store and Google Play Store
- Branded push notifications and splash screens
- Proactive upgrades, app submissions, and VIP support
- Premium Mighty Co-Host™ AI features
- VIP support before and after launch
Mighty Pro is the ultimate place to build member and customer communities on your own branded app.
Schedule a custom demo and we’ll show you what we could build together! This includes your own app prototype, your preliminary launch plan, and a custom business case.
Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a custom app, Mighty Pro’s white-label approach will give you more for less.
Mighty Pro features
- G2’s top-rated community platform on your own branded apps.
- Empower your Hosts with Mighty Co-Host™ AI features including community moderation tools, the Infinite Question Generator, and auto course outlines and profiles.
- Branded apps, splash screens, and push notifications.
- Proactive updates and App Store & Google Play Store submissions.
- VIP support from the Mighty Pro Team.
- Access to the Mighty Pro community.
Pricing
- It varies. Learn more below.
3. Discord
Best free community platform
Discord is a community platform that’s built for gamers, but hosts all kinds of free communities. It's got 150 million users. For its powerhouse features, plus its cool design and intuitive UX, Discord is the best free community platform on the market.
Discord has a community forum-type engine that supports different kinds of content, stickers, emojis, video, and more. But you can also livestream (+ screen share) and live chat.
Discord is perfect for free communities.
But it’s not made for paid communities.
Discord did recently create a paid subscription offer, but it's limited to American users right now. It takes a 10% cut of your revenue and isn’t robust enough to create a real community business. You can't really personalize Discord either.
Discord features
Pros
- Free community forum engine with chat options
- Good for streaming
- Popular among gamers
Cons
- Limited community features
- Almost no way to build a real community business (+ Discord takes 10% of anything you do earn)
- No branding options (here’s why branding a community is important)
Pricing
- Free
4. Geneva
Best free video chat platform
Geneva is a community platform and chat app with chat rooms, forums, video, and audio-only rooms. It’s great for hosting different kinds of video-based conversations. Geneva comes with an events calendar and virtual events (including RSVPs), application forms, moderation features, and the option to add admins. And it has DMs included for 1:1 conversations.
Geneva has decent membership controls: admin roles and applications. And it has post rooms for content creators (although there are better content creator platforms).
Geneva is free, which is great! But it’s missing monetization features–so it’s not good for a paid community of any kind.
And, while Geneva’s video chat features are cool and it’s good for organizing small groups, Geneva is not great for running large communities. And it’s bad at introducing people who don’t already know each other.
Geneva features
Pros
- Chat features with video, audio, and different rooms
- Virtual events hosting & traditional blog posts
- It’s free
- Good apps for every device
Cons
- Can’t be monetized
- Minimal member-management features
- Not good for a large community
Pricing
- Free
5. Hivebrite
Built for Alumni Management
Hivebrite is a community platform built specifically for alumni networks, although it can be used for other things. It includes a a content management system, dedicated subgroups where students and alumni can connect, a branded mobile app, and a job board feature.
Hivebrite also comes with a built-in event management system for in-person events, including calendars, invitation emails, ticketing, online payments, and integration with social networks. Finally, it can also run donor campaigns.
The downside to Hivebrite is that it’s missing a virtual event feature, which means that if you want to get your alumni together for virtual meetings, coffee hours, or training sessions, you’d need to pair it with a different event or virtual event app.
And the community platform feels pretty dated; it’s really just a simple forum.
Hivebrite features
Pros
- Alumni networking app with dedicated subgroups
- CMS + Custom feeds
- Live event management, ticketing, schedules
- Job board, data and analytics
- Branded apps
Cons
- Community-building features are extremely basic
- No livestreaming, video, or courses
- Very limited virtual event features
Pricing
- Starts from $8,000 yr.
6. Higher Logic Vanilla
Best Corporate Forum-Only Platform
Vanilla Forums is an online community platform for adding customer communities to corporate websites. It can be customized, and it has community management features. Members can publish content, create groups and subgroups, and add questions and polls.
While Vanilla Forums offers companies a chance to build customer support and engagement, access to a knowledge base, and useful integrations, it is only a forum feature. It doesn’t have options to sell memberships, subscriptions, or online courses. So, if you’re looking for a community that you can monetize, this isn’t the right choice for you.
It’s the best fit for companies looking to add a free, branded forum to a website.
Vanilla Forums features
Pros
- Corporate forum solution
- Some customization features, reporting, and gamification
- Moderation tools + integration with business apps like Salesforce and Zendesk
Cons
- No real features other than a forum (e.g. no courses or payments)
- Limited subscription tools
- No apps or white-label apps
Pricing
- Est $9,000 - $150,000/year
7. Disciple
Enterprise Branded Apps
Disciple is an enterprise community software with a community platform, things like an activity feed, discussion forums, Q&As, and content creation–text, videos, and images.
Like others on this list, Disciple has member management tools, analytics, and even a built-in email feature. And it can be used to monetize with subscriptions or gated content.
Finally, a Disciple community can be deployed on a branded mobile app. The app has features the website doesn’t have, including livestreaming.
Unfortunately, the app and the online community platform have different features and UX, so it's not a unified experience.
Disciple features
Pros
- Online community forum with good content options
- Sell subscriptions or gated content
- Branded mobile apps
Cons
- Different UX between the online platform and the app
- Outdated community features and feel
- Pricing increases the more members you have
Pricing
Prices start from £38/mo for the first 100 members (web only), £499/mo to include a mobile app (and up to 500 members), and £833/mo for a white-label mobile app. And virtually every feature is an add-on.
8. Kajabi
Best for Course Creators + Minimal Community Functions
Kajabi is well-known among course creators as a place to host an asynchronous course. It has an excellent course platform and marketing toolkit to sell courses with things like landing pages, email campaigns, and triggers.
In previous years, they weren’t on this list because of the lack of community options. But with many course creators wanting course communities, Kajabi recently bought a company called Vibely to improve this feature.
The result is "Community 2.0.," which moves Kajabi beyond a simple forum and adds a livestreaming feature and meet-ups. The new community feature is an improvement, but it’s still awkward for UX--especially compared to alternatives. You need a separate login to access your community–making it impossible to integrate well with a course. And if you wanted to teach a live course on Community 2.0, the LMS isn’t integrated.
It ends up feeling a bit like 2 separate products, which is basically what it is.
Kajabi features
Pros
- Excellent asynchronous course LMS with drip content, evaluation options, and customization features
- Integrated email marketing, landing pages, and other sales tools
- Some new AI features for course creation, landing page copy, and scripts
- Community 2.0 adds livestreaming and video conferencing features
Cons
- Community 2.0 needs a separate login, doesn’t connect to the LMS, and still has limited community functions.
- One of the most expensive options on this list.
- No branded apps, which many successful communities need.
Pricing
- The basic plan is $149/mo for 3 products, the growth plan is $199/mo with up to 15 products. The pro plan is $399/mo with 100 products.
9. Bettermode
The Forum Platform for Corporations
Bettermode (formerly Tribe) is another white-label community platform for adding community spaces on brand websites. Its forum tool gives brands a place to create discussions, post content, and reach customers on a mobile app. The content options are flexible, you can add blogs, Q&As, and videos.
On Bettermode, customers can connect by asking questions, participating in polls, and posting images and videos. And these members can create profiles and you can assign member roles.
You won’t get access to standard community features like connecting members by location or common interests, and more. There’s no way to create and host online courses or live events, which limits how you can connect members.
This means Bettermode is best for a certain kind of community: a customer community on a corporate website.
Bettermode Features
Pros
- Forum-based community with an explore function
- Organize conversations with “spaces”
- Custom domain & website builder
- White-label app options
Cons
- Limited community functions
- No courses or live events
Pricing
- Starts from $599/mo with custom enterprise pricing
10. Circle
Circle is a community platform with features like discussion forums, livestreaming and events, and different ways to create content. It also has member profiles that let your members showcase themselves and find like-minded people.
Circle lets you create memberships and bundles, giving you a way to monetize your community. You can create spaces and dedicate them to either discussions, chat, courses, or events.
The downside to Circle is that you can’t put multiple things in the same space. You can’t chat in an event space. You can’t have a discussion in a course space. This segmentation can hurt engagement.
With additional costs to add many extras (things like admins, spaces, etc), it’s a more costly option than an all-in-one like Mighty Networks.
Many of Circle’s features are also really early in development, with apps and courses added in the past year. They’re still working the bugs out and it’s hard to say how these features will fare long-term.
Circle features
Pros
- Create discussions, chat, events, and course spaces
- Monetize memberships with subscriptions or bundles
Cons
- Only one feature per space. Courses can’t be mixed with events, with chat, etc.
- There are limits on seats for admins, members, spaces, etc. with additional costs to add more
Pricing
- Pricing starts from $89/mo for the community features, $199/mo to add workflows and customizations, and $360/mo for an enterprise plan with all features, dedicated services, and priority support.
11. Facebook Groups
Let’s talk Facebook Groups. Since Facebook has a huge user base, and it's free and easy to build a Group, some people host communities there.
It might be a good place to start.
As far as free online communities built on social media platforms go, Facebook groups work okay.
For larger communities or paid membership communities, Facebook is probably not the right place to host though.
- There's no payment integrations.
- It doesn't do well for large groups.
- You'll fight the algorithms.
- Plus, some people are hesitant to put their data on Facebook.
But if you’re just starting out, or want a really simple and free community option, it can work.
Facebook Groups features
Pros
- Free & easy to use
- Good apps that integrate with a Facebook account
- Well-known and popular
Cons
- It’s a constant fight with the algorithm
- No monetization options
- You pay to reach your members
- No real branding options
Pricing
- Free
12. Slack
Slack is a platform a lot of people know. Built for the workplace, it helps teams organize work.
It’s got channel and messaging features and basic member profiles–meaning it can host discussions. With mentions, different content features, and “huddles” for quick calls, it does have some of the features that make online communities work.
But in the big picture, Slack isn’t great for online communities. It’s got limited member roles and limited content types, and it lacks the types of features to build out a full community business (events, courses, content gating, etc.) Slack is also missing monetization, so you can’t start a paid community on it.
It’s basically like Discord. Most Hosts outgrow it OR find that their community fails from lack of engagement options. Let’s not forget that Slack works for the virtual office because people HAVE to be there.
Slack features
Pros
- Good chat & messaging features (it replaced email for the office)
- Organize conversations, tag relevant people
- Mix 1:1 chat and group conversations.
Cons
- No monetization
- Missing features for a vibrant community (content, courses, events, etc.)
- No personalization
Pricing
- From $8.75/mo per user up to enterprise-level pricing
13. Wild Apricot
The Community Platform for Nonprofits
Wild Apricot is a community management platform created for nonprofit organizations. It has community engagement and discussion tools. But it's really made to manage members in an organization or association. With Wild Apricot, you can create, organize and manage your member databases, use the platform’s website builder to create a professional-looking website, securely accept online payments, and manage virtual events. Plus, you can create subgroups for regional chapters, so that each can have its own website and community.
This software works great as a nonprofit membership platform. It's not great for paid, robust communities.
Wild Apricot features
Pros
- Forum platform & website builder
- Member databases
- Regional chapters & subgroups
- Live event functionality for ticketing
- Branding options
Cons
- Dated look and user experience
- Limited community features (courses, gated content, etc. missing)
- No branded apps (despite being an enterprise solution)
Pricing
- From $60-$900/mo
14. Discourse
Best Open-source Community Platform
Discourse is a community software with an open-source community code that they post for free on Github. Discourse gives you a discussion forum that’s simple, but effective. You can organize conversations and replies, and add moderators.
The downside to Discourse is that you do need to pay for hosting somewhere. Discourse will do it for you, but it ends up starting from $100/mo, which is more expensive than several of the community platforms on this list.
Basically, Discourse is an okay forum engine if you’re a developer, but otherwise, you’re better to go with an all-in-one that’s done for you (and potentially cheaper).
Discourse Features
Pros
- Forum with comments and moderation
- Custom code that’s open-source
Cons
- Extremely dated feel and user experience
- No community features other than a forum
- Requires development
Pricing
- From $50/mo
15. Memberium
Best WordPress Community Platform
If you’re a diehard WordPress fan and looking for a community platform that’s a WordPress plugin, you could look at Memberium. It works like a content gate, barring off sections of your site to make them members only, and includes a community component. You can also pair it with an LMS plugin like LearnDash if you want to add a course.
Memberium features
Pros
- WordPress plugin
- Gated content and member-areas
- Forum features
Cons
- Very basic and dated user experience
- Likely requires development to customize
- No apps
Pricing
- From $37 or $57/mo depending on your CRM.
16. Memberful
Memberful is another WordPress option. It’s a plugin that turns your WordPress website into a basic membership platform, opening up the option to charge for a community. Memberful is not a community platform, however, but can be used to gate other community platforms like Discord and charge for access. It can also sell digital goods–including online courses–and even physical goods. And there are sales options like coupons, discounts, and promotions.
Although you don’t technically need WordPress to start a community with Memberful, it’s weak as an all-around community platform. It’s best as a plugin.
Memberful features
Pros
- Membership plugin for adding content gates to WordPress.
Cons
- You would need to mix platforms together to get the functions of a good community.platform (and it still won’t work as well).
Pricing
- $49/mo + 4.9% transaction fees
17. BuddyBoss
BuddyBoss is the last WordPress plugin we’ll list here. It comes with the tools you need to add community dashboards, profiles, posts, comments, and messaging. And you can even add events, job boards, or an online store. If you want to add a course to this offering, you’d need another plugin like LearnDash.
BuddyBoss features
Pros
- WordPress community plugin with gated content
- Good community features like discussions, profiles, chat & messaging
- Options to add a white-label app
Cons
- WordPress plugins are often glitchy, and you need multiple plugins to get all the features
- The app is really basic
Pricing
- Web theme only from $299/yr. Adding an app starts from $179/mo
18. Skool
Skool is a new forum platform created by Sam Ovens. Recently, influencer Alex Hormozi has been heavily involved selling the platform too--he's part owner.
Skool is really a community-style social media platform–and people usually love it or hate it. It features really basic forums that feel something like reddit–conversations you can join and respond to. There are also user profiles and a live event feature.
There are two things about Skool that seem to resonate with the people who like it.
- The “discoverability” - Skool lets people search for and find communities in the way [Substack](https://www.mightynetworks.com/resources/substack-alternatives\) lets people find newsletters, and that may help people get found.
- The “gamification” - Skool has marketed its gamification features hard, and they may be useful to some communities. The best feature is a “leaderboard,” which shows who has engaged the most and gives members a ranking based on engagement.
However, Skool has a lot of weak points which push it down this list.
- Unlike Mighty Networks, Skool’s community features aren’t in line with a modern community platform. It’s a clunky discussion forum, with a running post list a bit like a Facebook Group.
- The features are ridiculously basic. You can schedule an event, but you need to host on a different platform. You can “Create a course” in the settings tab. But the “course” is only a series of gated posts.
- There’s almost no way to add your brand to anything.
Skool encourages its Hosts to sign up other Hosts to the platform–if someone gets you to join Skool through an affiliate link they earn 40% of your membership fees.
Skool features
Pros
- Discoverable, simple discussion forums
- Leaderboards
Cons
- Extremely basic UX
- Almost no native features
- It’s still more expensive than full community platforms
Price
- $99/mo + transaction fees
19. Telegram
Telegram is something in between a community platform and social media, although it’s better for broadcasting than turning strangers into friends. It does mix chat functions and email with the option to send files, voice, and video messages.
The main community feature Telegram has is its Channels: themed groups people can join. The admin(s) can broadcast up to 200,000 people.
You can monetize a Telegram channel with paid subscriptions–although you need an integration to do it. And Telegram has good apps for all devices.
Telegram doesn’t let you build an interactive community where members can get to know each other. It’s built for top-down broadcasting and messaging.
Telegram features
Pros
- SMS and chat app
- Broadcast features for reaching thousands of people at once
- Can be monetized (with an integration)
Cons
- It doesn’t have the features of a proper community platform. It’s built for top-down communication.
Price
- Free
20. LearnWorlds
We’ll round out this list with LearnWorlds–a great course platform with a basic community platform attached. LearnWorlds is a SCORM-compliant course platform with a website-builder attached. It also has some useful marketing tools, things like sales funnels, email, and affiliate programs.
LearnWorlds has a good mobile app and you can livestream a course too.
The community functions as a generic discussion forum, and you can create Spaces for individual courses. For course businesses with multiple teachers and admins, the instructors can follow the discussions in their course Spaces without seeing the whole community. It's really basic as a community platform, but good as a course platform.
LearnWorlds features
Pros
- Good SCORM-compliant LMS that can create courses and websites
- Integrated marketing tools for emails, funnels, and sales
Cons
- The community features are extremely basic
Price
- Basic version from $24/mo, but most features are on more expensive plans
Conclusion – Ready to start building?
These 20 community platforms have different strengths and weaknesses. But there's something here for almost any type of community builder.
And if you want to try G2's top-ranked community management software, you can try it free for 14 days! No credit card required.
