11 best community software online solution platforms

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

Choosing the right software for your community can be overwhelming, as elements like user-friendliness, customer support, platform flexibility as well as many other aspects are on the line. In order to ease the burden of making this important choice, we've examined the top eleven online community software companies available that are available.

Check out the article to learn all the information--the good, bad, and the ugly -- of the top-rated solutions available there. We've provided a wealth of information on what you should look for in an online community platform , so you'll be able to make the ideal option for your needs.

What exactly are these companies?

Online community platforms are software solutions that let you create a digital space for members to learn, connect, and interact with each others.

Different platforms have different strengths. Understanding your needs will help you narrow down the options as we review the best communities on the internet and their functionality. Let's dive in!

What to look for in a community platform

Community software has a basic community function, along with additional options that are beneficial and assist with specific goals. To choose, look for the right solution for your business today and in the near future.

Do not focus solely on specific aspects. Instead, think about the whole package and consider how well the software is integrated into the overall vision of your business.

What to seek out in a great community software program:

Intuitive and easy to learn. It's likely that you'll spend many hours building and managing your community. It is important to have a pleasant experience. Make sure the platform is intuitive and allows you to work efficiently. Also, of course, you want it to be simple and fun for your users to utilize!

Simple to access. Your guests should be able to quickly sign in when organizing an event or are looking to participate. There are fewer obstacles to getting into the system and the easier it is for members will be to participate.

Integrates with the rest of your organization. Most communities are part of an entire ecosystem of goods such as online courses or coaching materials. Everything needs to share the same brand style and look, as well as it should be easy to get from one place to the next.

includes sales and marketing functions. You can't grow the community of a person that no one knows about. The ideal platform would have tools to help you promote your group, selling memberships, and upselling your other products.

Insightful analytics. To provide a excellent experience for your members that draws them in and keeps them engaged you must know what's working and what's not. Analytics tools give you all the data you require regarding your member's behaviour and preferences so you can focus your efforts on the most efficient ways.

11 best online community software solution companies

Let's take a look at the most popular online community software that are currently in use.

1.

Key benefits of include:

Simplicity. makes it super simple to set up and manage your community online. You can make your community an independent product, or utilize it as an added value to your courses or coaching program.

Multiple levels. You can create both paid and free communities in order to design an "membership funnel" for your business. Your free membership can attract potential customers by giving them a space to interact with your company and other peers. Then, use 's robust marketing toolsets to promote the paid-for community where members can access premium content or benefits.

Deep integration into your sales and marketing technology system. One of the features that distinguish it is its complete suite of business-building tools. When you sign up as a user, get access to the entire toolset, including:

• Web Builder
• Landing page builder
• Marketing software for email
• Funnel builder
• Payment processing and order pages
• Host of the podcast

Your tools are designed to work together to eliminate the headache of building tech integrations or diagnosing issues. Just sign in, and you're set to rock and roll.

It is a complete solution that can also help you save money. Investing in one-off products and developing your own technology stack, you can effortlessly invest hundreds of dollars each month. You only pay one monthly fee that covers all the things you require to run an online company that is successful.

The Basic plan costs one hundred dollars per month, and it comes with 3 digital items (a community and two others) as well as up to 10,000 contacts. When you outgrow the Basic plan, you can move to the Grow plan at one-time payment of $159. You get 15 different products and up to 25,000 contacts.

Try it for free for 14 days

It has everything your online business will require. All you need to know.        Yes! Let's go!

2. Facebook groups

If you're a Facebook member, you probably belong to at the very least one Facebook group. Facebook allows you to create private groups in which you are able to connect with your audience for personal or business reasons.

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

For example, after building the Facebook group that would host the community Kathryn Aragon discovered that many of the members no longer engaging on Facebook. To increase the number of members who joined her community, she decided to shift her community over to another site.

The key advantages that come with Facebook as a platform for community arethe following:

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

Discussion. Posts and comments permit members to debate issues in real-time. Group updates are distributed directly to the members. This helps to streamline communication.

Management of members. Group administrators can easily manage the group members and the permissions.

The downsides are that there is no ownership (that's a biggie) and there is no member directory or website management. The members aren't Facebook'scustomers. They're Facebook's customers. Let's not forget the huge Facebook downtime that occurred in the month of October in 2021, which caused small businesses around all over the globe to shut off access to their networks and their clients.

Another major issue cited by community members is the absence of support that is direct, as there are just support forums available for troubleshooting.

3. Discord

Since it gained traction in the realm of gaming, Discord has grown into a very popular social network that is accessible to all kinds of players. The goal is to provide places where users can meet around the same passions.

A community-based online software solution company, Discord offers real-time video and audio calls. Also, the platform offers customized roles for distinguishing members from administrators.
 Due to its gaming and geeky roots, the aesthetics have a dark theme and may not match your business's style. There aren't numerous options to brand your membership space.

It offers the following features:

AI-Powered Bots. Bots can be programmed to greet new users and make the experience more personal. The members will be aware that it's a bot interacting with them, but you can create fun experiences with it while providing useful facts.

Reliable, secure private channels. Discord does not have a time-lag which makes it feel like you're in the same room. It's a popular choice for privacy and the channels are private, allowing members to feel safe when they talk.

Moderator Academy. This is a comprehensive resource for first-time and veteran moderators to level up their community management skills.

The downside is that setting up your Discord community isn't easy. This means that you'll have to learn which means you may not achieve most value from the platform. Your Discord server will be in the same group as communities that your users are involved in, which means you'll be competing for their attention.

Discord is free to download. Simply install the application and set it up. You can also upgrade up to Discord Nitro ($99.99 annually) for access to more emoticons larger uploads, higher-quality video, as well as a couple of additional upgrades.

4. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks offers an online learning platform that has built-in community features. The system is robust, and allows for personalized branding and functions that foster community involvement.

It is the key to Mighty Networks features include:
 

Mobile access. This community site online has a mobile app which makes it simple for users to connect with members on the go. It's actually simpler to interact with your mobile device than via the web.

Email alerts. Members get email alerts when there's new community activity. They get a brief reminder to sign in and check out what might not have noticed.

Branding. Mighty Network allows you to create a branded website that is similar in look and feel to your website. Just apply your logo's color on tabs, buttons hyperlinks, and icons.

It's crucial to know that Might Networks is a community-focused platform. If you want to create other types of products to grow your business, you may need to purchase other applications as well as software for hosting them.

5. Hivebrite

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

Their prices aren't displayed on their website. To evaluate Hivebrite for yourself, you'll have to register for Demos, which is an indication they only offer price plans for corporations.

They do come with attractive functions. Your community can be fully branded. And, it lets you manage your community's content and tools for marketing in one place.

A few of the most notable features offered by Hivebrite:

Live feed. It's possible to livestream to community members and hold real-time events.

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

Modular capabilities. As your community evolves, you can turn on different features. There are options for forums, events and networking groups. media center, messaging, and even a job board or directory.

The biggest challenge is connecting it to your database and other tech. In most cases, you'll need employ an IT expert to complete the APIs to sync the platform with various tools.

6. Tribe.so

Tribe is a customizable community platform with an app ecosystem that allows direct integrations with third party companies, as well as ways to integrate the community within other products and websites. Examples of use cases are customer education and customer satisfaction, as well as support for customers, customer relationships branding, leadership in brand, and customer feedback on products.

With Tribe the main features take care of the essential community components. Applications can enhance your abilities. Examples:

• Slack provides moderators and admins the ability to receive notifications about various events.
• Zapier links your network to other tools in your tech stack.
• Google Analytics helps you measure the activity of your community.

Tribe includes the following features:

Social Sharing. Tribe includes Open Graph tags which allow social sharing. It is easy to share content with others in the community to generate interest from prospective members.

Integration. Third-party integrations with nearly 30 apps allow users to connect their community and the tools that you already use.

Modification Panel. Tribe gives you the ability to allow, modify, or even reject content made by users. You can also archive old posts to ensure your feed stays free of clutter.

Tribe is free for the first 100 members. The Plus Plan is $59 per month, lets you use users to use Plus applications and more than 2,500 members. To get the best from the app, you'll be required to move to the Premium Plan at $299 a month. This allows you to remove the Tribe logo, utilize its webhooks and API, and expand to 25,000 members.

7. Circle.so

Circle lets you build communities around your classes, coaching, or assistance for customers. It aims to simplify the community building process, allowing you to create content and private areas, facilitate discussionsand make money from your membership. It comes with a variety of capabilities and lets you make a space with a logo which is compatible with your site.

The most notable features of Circle are:

Simple integrations. Circle works well with other tools from third parties, such as email marketing software, Slack, Wordpress, and , so you can market your group or integrate it with other products.

Spaces that are secret and private. You can create separate spaces for different members within your membership. For instance, you might be able to create one area to accommodate core members while another is reserved for premium members.

Searchable member directory. Members can connect to one another by creating custom profile fields and search filters.

Circle is priced at $35 per month and includes an 4% transaction fee per user. The basic plan provides only the essentials of your community, including conversations and private messaging. Make the upgrade to the Premium Plan ($89 monthly plus a 1% transaction cost per user) to unlock Live streaming courses, online classes and more advanced analytics.

It is possible that you will have to pay extra for add-ons such as extra administrators, extra spaces, email white-labeling, and custom single sign-on (SSO).

8. Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums is developed to allow mid-sized as well as enterprises to deliver extraordinary customer experience. It's often used for the support of customers, customer experience along with product marketing, as well as the promotion of brands.

Vanilla offers a great user experience, a seamless integration with your existing tech stack, as well as flexible customizations to suit the style of your business.

Principal aspects of Vanilla Forums include:

Knowledge Base. You can create a self-service Help Center in your community. It includes user guides and assistance documents.

Survey customization. With Vanilla Forums it is possible to send customized surveys to your audience for direct responses.

Open source community. You can download Vanilla's open source code for no cost, and then host your community yourself. Feeling techy? It is possible to contribute the source code.

This platform is less ideal for creators who are independent and solopreneurs, and pricing is not displayed on the website. If you're interested in the platform, it's possible to schedule an appointment with an agent for sales.

9. WildApricot

WildApricot offers a complete platform initially designed for nonprofits and associations. Now, its users include clubs, associations and chapters of local and state level.

Wild Apricot has a self-serve layout that allows you to customize every aspect of your community. Its reputation and gamification systems allows you to promote quality content, unlock member features, and automate moderation.

It contains these important characteristics:

Event management. Plan events such as virtual auctions, online webinars, conferences and more. You can also find sponsors for your events. Also, you can create your own event calendar and set up event registrations.

Donations. With WildApricot, it is possible to accept donations and communicate progress toward your donation goals. You can also export your donation records to make it easier to track and manage the donations.

CRM. Like , WildApricot offers an CRM (customer relationship management) software that comes with the most comprehensive member directory, which is accessible from any location.

It is necessary to use third-party software to help you market and run your business. Most will integrate with WildApricot, including WordPress, Mailchimp, and Zapier. Also, payment processing is available only to U.S. and Canada residents.

You are able to test WildApricot no cost with up to 50 contacts. The cost will increase in the event that your audience grows

• $48 a month for 100 contacts
• 60 dollars a month for 250 contacts
• A month's rent of $110 for 500 contacts
• $190 a month for 2 000 contacts

10. Disciple Media

Disciple Media is a community platform that consists of three parts consisting of a console that manages your content on mobile or desktopdevices, a mobile application where members can engage in a web-based community offering users a desktop space to engage.

It's designed specifically for creators, founders, and influencers who want to create their own brand-name social media platform.

Disciple Media includes the following attributes:

Different layouts. You can store and share content from one central location. Utilize groups, folders, and lists to create an individual structure for your users.

Mobile app. Disciple Media is similar to a social network because the mobile experiences are geared toward the users. There is a web app, but it has limited capabilities compared to the mobile app.

In-app purchases. Disciple lets you drive in-app purchases and sponsorships, so you can turn your members into customers.

Cost of Disciple is dependent on the number of members and your choice of mobile, web or both:

• Only on the web: $46 a month for 100 members
• For mobile only, $458 per month for 500 users
• Mobile and Web: $504 for 500 members

The add-ons are API, whitelabeling, and whitelabeling, and. Additionally, you'll pay for coaching in the community as well as member support and mastermind features.

11. Vibely.io

Vibely.io was created by two former Asana employee, Teri Yu and Theresa Lee and they wanted to disrupt the creator communities with a positive approach. Their tagline "Built by women, not gamer dudes," provides a sense of the vibe they're going to create.

Vibely.io is a creator-controlled online community platform that allows creators to communicate with fans and collect user-generated content.

Vibely.io's top features include:

Commitment to positivity. Vibely is committed to not allowing spam, trolls, or any kind of violence. The goal is to provide an environment that is inclusive of everyone.

Challenges and tools for accountability. This app offers challenges, leaderboards, and trackers to keep everyone engaged.

Ambassadors. Vibely allows you to appoint individuals in your community who will aid in the welcoming of and management of members.

Create a Vibely community free of charge without a limit on the amount of ambassadors, members or super administrators. However, on the basic plan it is not possible to accept regular payments. The Mastermind plan unlocks payments as well as takes 10% of the revenue.

The best online community software business

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

Only allows you to develop and market a vibrant and lively community as well as other digital products such as online coaching and courses. And, only gives you all the resources you require to promote and sell the products so that you can grow and scale an effective knowledge-based enterprise.

If your goal is to create a forum, it's possible to choose any of the communities we've looked at. Based on the size of your community, that alternative may be reasonable (or perhaps free).

Free software options can make you subject to other algorithms and rules while limiting the potential for growth. They lack the capabilities you need and often cap the number of members you can be able to accept.

With , your community is yours. Your terms, conditions, and cost of membership, either paid or free.

If you're trying to establish an online presence, is your all-in-one solution. With videos, tutorials, and video walks that will help you get online quickly. Through the University, you have access to training on the basics of running an online community. It is available free to all users.

Start your free 14-day trial from right now!