11 of the best online community software solution platforms

You are looking for the best online community platform for hosting your business's branded community?

Choosing the right online community software can feel difficult, considering that aspects like user-friendliness, service support, platform flexibility as well as many other aspects are at stake. To alleviate the stress that comes with this major selection, we've reviewed the best 11 community software solutions that are available.

Find out the full details, including the good, the bad and the ugly of the top solutions in the marketplace. We've shared tons of insights on what you should be looking for in an online community platform so you're able to make the right decision for your company.

What is the these companies?

Community platforms online are software solutions which allow you to build an electronic space for users to interact, share knowledge, and connect with other members.

Each platform has its own strengths. Knowing your priorities can assist you in narrowing down the options as we review the top communities on the internet and their functionality. Let's dive in!

What to look for in a community-based platform

Community software products have core community functionality with other features that add value and assist with specific goals. To choose, look for a solution that will work with your organization today and in the near future.

Focus on the whole package, not just on particular functions. Instead, think about the whole package and consider how the program integrates into the longer-term goals of your company.

Here's what to be looking for in a quality community-based software product:

Intuitive and easy to use. It's likely that you'll spend a great deal of time building and managing your community. It is important to have a pleasant user experience. Be sure that the platform has a user-friendly interface that allows you to work efficiently. Of course, you would like it to be simple and enjoyable for your members to use as well!

Easy to use. Members should be able to quickly log in when you're hosting an event or they want to engage. If there's less hurdles for logging in to the platform, the more likely members will want to take part.

Integrates with the rest of your organization. A majority of communities belong to a larger ecosystem of products that include online classes as well as coaching and other training materials. Everything needs to have the same branded style and look, as well as it should be easy to move from one area to another.

Includes marketing and sales features. It is impossible to build the community of a person that no one has any idea about. Ideally, the platform will provide tools to promote your membership, selling memberships, and increasing sales for other products.

Informative analytics. To provide a excellent experience for your members that draws them in and keep them interested, it is important to know what's working and what isn't. Analytics tools can provide all the data you require on your customers' behaviour and preferences so you can target your efforts in the best ways.

11 best online community software solution firms

Now, let's review the top online community softwares currently available.

1.

Benefits of this include:

Simple. makes it super simple to build and run your community online. It is possible to make your community a standalone product or use it as an added value to your coaching or courses.

Multiple tiers. You can create free and paid communities for creating an "membership funnel" for your company. The free membership you offer can draw prospective customers with the help of providing them an opportunity to connect with your company and other peers. Use's extensive marketing toolsets to promote the paid-for community where members will have access to exclusive content and benefits.

In-depth integration into your sales and marketing technology platform. One of the things that sets apart the HTML0 suite is its comprehensive set of business-building tools. Users get access to the entire range of tools, which include:

• Builder for websites
• Build a landing page
• Marketing software for email
• Funnel builder
• Payment processing and order pages
• Podcast host

With , all your tools are built to be integrated which means you don't have to deal with problems with creating tech integrations or diagnosing issues. Just sign in, and you're set to roll.

It is a complete solution that will also save you cash. Investing in one-off products and creating your own technology stack, you could easily invest hundreds of dollars each month. By paying just one cost per month that will cover everything you need to run a successful online business.

The Basic plan costs $119 a month and comprises 3 digital services (a community and two others) as well as more than 10,000 contacts. If you are unable to use the basic plan, you are able to upgrade to the Growth plan, which costs one-time payment of $159. This gives you 15 items and up to 25,000 contact.

Try for 14 days for no cost.

Everything your business online will require. All in one place.        Yes! Let's go!

2. Facebook groups

If you're an avid Facebook user most likely, you have a connection to at least at least one Facebook group. Facebook allows users to set up private groups that allow you to communicate with your followers either for business or personal reasons.

Facebook groups are free, but there are costs hidden regarding the trust of users and their reputation. Trust in the company has dropped 66% in recent years.

For example, after building a Facebook group to host the community Kathryn Aragon discovered that many of her members were no actively making use of Facebook. To boost engagement her community, she decided to shift her community over to another site.

The main benefits for Facebook as a community platform arethe following:

Private. The content within the group may only be viewed by other members.

Discussion. Posts and comments allow members to discuss subjects in real-time. Any group updates are sent directly to the members. This can help streamline communications.

Member management. Administrators of groups can manage group members as well as the permissions.

Some of the negatives are lack of ownership (that's a biggie) and no member directory or website management. Members aren't really Facebook'scustomers. They're Facebook's customers. Let's not forget the huge Facebook downtime that occurred in the month of October in 2021 that led small companies across the world to instantly lose access to their communities and customers.

Another big complaint from community members is the absence of support that is direct, as there are only support forums offered to help troubleshoot.

3. Discord

After gaining popularity in the realm of gaming, Discord has become a popular community platform for all types of users. The goal is to provide spaces where people can connect around common interests.

As an online community software solution company, Discord offers real-time video and audio conversations. Also, the platform offers customized roles for distinguishing members from administrators.
 Due to its gaming and techno-related roots, its style is dark, which may or may not match your business's style. Discord does not offer many options for branding your member area.

It includes the following functions:

AI-Powered Bots. Bots can be programmed to welcome new members and make the experience more personal. The members will be aware that it's a bot interacting with them, but you can make it fun to interact with the bot while also providing valuable details.

Reliable, secure private channels. Discord doesn't have a time-lag and therefore it feels as if you're part of the same space. It's a popular choice for security and all channels are private, allowing participants to feel comfortable during their conversations.

Moderator Academy. This is a comprehensive source for veteran and novice moderators looking to upgrade their skills in community management.

However, setting up your Discord community could be a bit difficult. It's a steep learning curve that could mean you won't achieve the most out of the platform. The Discord server you use Discord server will also be alongside all of the communities that your users are participating in, meaning you'll be competing for their focus.

Discord is available free of charge. Just install the application and then set it up. You can also upgrade to Discord Nitro ($99.99 annually) to get access to more emojis, bigger uploads, high-resolution video, and a few other improvements.

4. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks offers an online learning platform that has an integrated community feature. It's a robust platform that lets you customize branding as well as features that encourage community engagement.

The Key Mighty Networks features include:
 

Mobile access. This community site online has an app for mobile devices that makes it easy for members to engage when they're at the move. In fact, it's simpler to interact via your smartphone than on the internet.

Email alerts. Members are notified via email when there's new community activity. This gives them a quick reminder to sign in and see what they might be missing.

Branding. Mighty Network allows you to make a brandable area that shares the same style and appearance to your site. Apply your brand's colors to tabs, buttons, actions, and text icons.

It is important to remember the fact that Might Networks is a community-focused platform. If you want to create other types of products for your company, you may need to invest in other apps and software to host them.

5. Hivebrite

Hivebrite Hivebrite HTML0 is an all-in-one community management platform designed for nonprofits and education organizations. It serves more than 500 institutions like Vanderbilt University, WWF, and Sabin Vaccine Institute.

The company doesn't list their pricing on their website. To test Hivebrite for yourself, you'll have to sign up for a demo--a strong signal that they only offer price plans for corporations.

That said, they do come with attractive functions. Your community is able to be branding. Additionally, it allows you to manage your community's content, and marketing tools from one location.

Some of Hivebrite's standout features:

Live stream. It's possible to livestream to community members and organize real-time gatherings.

Access rights. With Hivebrite, you are able to assign access rights to different categories of users like students and alumni. You can also create tiers of membership that offer greater access to paying members.

Modular features. As your community evolves, you can switch on various features. There are options for forums, events networks, group, messaging center, media center and a job board or directory.

The biggest challenge is the integration with your database and other tech. In most cases, you'll need to hire an IT expert to set up the APIs to sync it to other software.

6. Tribe.so

Tribe is a programmable community platform with an app ecosystem that allows direct integrations with third party companies, as well as ways to integrate the community in other applications as well as websites. Examples of use cases are customer education and customer satisfaction, as well as customer support, customer relationship with brands, brand management, as well as customer feedback on products.

With Tribe The core features take care of the essential community components. Apps extend your capabilities. For example:

• Slack gives admins and moderators alerts of different activities.
• Zapier is a way to connect your group with the other technology tools within your stack.
• Google Analytics helps you measure the activity of your community.

Tribe includes the following features:

Social Sharing. Tribe includes Open Graph tags to facilitate social sharing. It is easy to share content outside the community, and to draw attention from prospective members.

Integration. Third-party integrations with over 30 different apps let users to connect their community using the tools you're already using.

Modification Panel. Tribe gives you the option to let users alter, or deny posts made by users. It also allows you to archive older content in order to keep your feed free of clutter.

Tribe is free for up to 100 members. The Plus Plan costs $59 per month, lets you use Plus apps and more than 2,500 members. However, to benefit the most out of the app, you'll need upgrade to the Premium Plan with a monthly cost of $299. It will let you remove the Tribe branding, access its API and webhooks, as well as increase membership to 25,000.

7. Circle.so

Circle allows you to build a community around your courses, coaching, or assistance for customers. It's goal is to streamline the community building process, allowing members with content creation tools and private areas, facilitate discussions, and monetize your membership. It has rich options and lets you build a brand-named space which is compatible with your site.

A few of the most memorable features offered by Circle include:

Easy integrations. Circle is compatible with third-party tools, including email marketing software, Slack, Wordpress, and , so you can market your community or merge it with other products.

Secret and private spaces. You can create distinct areas for various categories in your membership. In this case, for instance, you could be able to create one area that is for core members, and another for premium members.

Searchable member directory. You can help members network to one another by creating profiles that are customized and also search filters.

Circle is priced at $35 per month, plus a 4% transaction fee per user. The basic plan provides all the basic features for the community you have created, which includes conversations and private messaging. Make the upgrade to the Premium Plan ($89 per month, and 1% transaction fee per user) to access classes, live streaming as well as advanced analytics.

You may need to cover the cost of additions like additional administrator spaces, more spaces, email white-labeling, and a custom single sign-on (SSO).

8. Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums has been created to enable mid-sized and enterprise organizations to offer exceptional customer experiences. It is frequently used to provide the support of customers, customer experience along with product marketing, as well as branding awareness.

Vanilla provides a good user experience, integration into your current tech stack as well as flexible customizations to suit your branding.

Key features of Vanilla Forums are:

Knowledge Base. You can create Self-Service Help Centers within your community that houses your user guides and help documents.

Surveys can be customized. With Vanilla Forums, you can send out customized surveys to your audience for directly comments.

Open source community. You can download Vanilla's Open Source code at no cost and manage your own community. Are you tech-savvy? It is possible to contribute the source code.

The platform may not be ideal for creators who are independent and entrepreneurs on their own, as pricing is not listed on the website. But if you're interested, you may schedule an appointment with an agent for sales.

9. WildApricot

WildApricot can be described as an integrated system that was originally created specifically for associations and non-profit organizations. Its users now include clubs, associations, and local and state chapter associations.

Wild Apricot has a self-serve design that lets you customize each aspect of your community. Its reputation and gamification systems helps you promote good content, let members access features and even automate moderation.

It has these essential features:

Event managing. Plan events such as online auctions, virtual conferences, and webinars--and get sponsors for your events. Also, you can make your calendar public and set up event registrations.

Donations. With WildApricot, you are able to accept donations as well as share progress towards your goals for donations. You can also export your donation records so that you can monitor and track the donations.

CRM. Like , WildApricot provides a CRM (customer relationship management) tool that includes the most comprehensive member directory, which can be used from anywhere.

You'll need third-party tools for marketing and running your company. They will most likely integrate with WildApricot such as WordPress, Mailchimp, and Zapier. Also, payment processing is available only to U.S. and Canada residents.

You can test WildApricot for no cost as long as you have 50 contacts. The cost will increase as your community grows:

• A month of $48 for 100 contacts
• A month's rent of $60 for 250 contacts
• $110 a month for 500 contacts
• A month of $190 for 2000 contacts

10. Disciple Media

Disciple Media is a platform for community interaction that consists of three parts: a console for managing your content on mobile or desktops, an app for mobile which allows users to interact, and the web community that gives users the opportunity to interact on their desktops.

The platform is designed to be used by creators, founders and influential personalities who wish to build their own fully-branded social media platform.

Disciple Media includes the following characteristics:

Different layouts. You can store and distribute content from a central place. Utilize groups, folders, and lists to build a custom structure for your users.

Mobile app. Disciple Media is like a social networking site by the fact that its mobile application experiences are geared toward users. There is a web app, but it has limited capabilities compared to the mobile app.

In-app purchases. Disciple lets you make in-app purchases as well as sponsorships, so you can make your users customers.

Cost of Disciple will depend on the amount of members and your choice of mobile or web or both.

• Only on the web: $46 a month for 100 members
• Only mobile: $458 a month for 500 subscribers
• Mobile and web Mobile: $504 per 500 members

The add-ons are API white labeling, API additional administrative users. Additionally, you'll pay to get community coaching, member support, and mastermind features.

11. Vibely.io

Vibely.io was created by two ex- Asana employee, Teri Yu and Theresa Lee who wanted at disrupting the community of creators in a positive way. Their tagline "Built with women in mind, not by gamer guys," gives you an idea of the vibe they're going to create.

Vibely.io is an online community platform that lets creators interact with users and gather the content that users create.

Vibely.io's most popular features include:

The commitment to positiveness. Vibely is committed to not allowing spam, trolls, or any kind of violence. The goal is to provide an environment where everyone feels welcome.

Accountability tools and challenges. The app includes challenges, leaderboards, and trackers that keep everybody in the loop and motivated.

Ambassadors. Vibely lets you appoint leaders in your community to help you welcome and manage your members.

Create your own Vibely community at no cost without a limit on the number of members, ambassadors and super administrators. However, on the free plan, you can't accept the recurring payment. The Mastermind plans allows for payments, and takes 10% of revenue.

The top online community software solution company

There are a variety of factors to take into consideration in deciding on the ideal online community-building platform. You need tools to build markets, sell, and build your group, as well as the platform must be user-friendly to both your community members.
 
 Based on our review, there are plenty of good options - but one stands out as a complete business platform.

Only allows you to develop and monetize a active community, along with other digital products such as online coaching and courses. And, only gives you all the resources you require to sell and market these items, so you can expand and grow a profitable knowledge business.

If all you want is to create a forum, it's possible to choose any of the forums we've examined. According to the size of your community, that alternative could be affordable (or perhaps free).

But free software solutions will subject you to outside rules and algorithms, while also limiting the growth possibilities. The software doesn't have the features you'll need, and they often limit the number of participants you can be able to accept.

The community you create is yours. Your rules, conditions and cost of membership, you pay or not.

If you're looking to build an online social network, this is an all-in-one answer. With videos, tutorials, and video walks that will help you get started fast. Through University You have access to training on fundamentals of running and an online community. It is available for free to everyone who wants it.

Begin your no-cost 14-day trial as of now!