10 of the best community platforms for online entrepreneurs

Facebook and Slack used to be the best community platforms for online businesses: they are free, everyone is using them, and they are easy to use. However, new online community platforms emerged to offer better interface, more customization opportunities, and the chance to create your own mini social network.

In this article, we will cover what online community platforms are, why software companies should build communities, how to get started, and which solution to choose out of hundreds of options.

What is an online community platform?

Online community platforms are tools that allow users to create profiles, share content and connect with other people. These platforms are often used for exchanging information about topics of interest, connecting groups with similar interests, or bringing the same product users together.

Similar platforms are usually used by community managers, marketing managers, customer support managers, and product managers to engage users, retain customers, facilitate the support process, and gather product feedback.

Why should SaaS startups build communities?

Online communities are a way for people to come together and chat about topics of common interest. They form a dynamic social network that is both engaging and informative, as well as users on online community engagement platforms are more likely to convert and stay loyal to the brand.

For users, communities are an ideal place to go and get advice from people who have been in their shoes.

How do I start an online community?

Starting an online community is more than just creating a Facebook group or a Slack channel. Online community platforms are designed to help you organize, grow and manage communities of people around shared interests. They come with the tools that can help you create and manage a community, like:

– A discussion forum with the ability to start new threads and reply to existing ones,

– Ability to provide incentives for members such as badges and points.,

– Opportunity to send private messages,

-Organize events, and more.

All you need to do is to pick a solution from the best community platforms we list below, sign up for a free trial or a demo, and understand which one meets your requirements.

Which are the best online community platforms?

Every business that is planning to launch a community is unique and gives importance to a unique set of features. Below we are discussing the 10 best community platforms and comparing them in terms of

•         key features,
•         onboarding,
•         support,
•         pricing,
•         free trial opportunity.

Let’s start comparing!

Further reading: How 13 SaaS Companies Use Community Marketing to Grow

#1 Higher Logic, Member and Customer Engagement Platform

Higher Logic is the best community platform software for membership organizations and software companies who prefer a highly customizable solution. They don’t offer fixed pricing plans but instead, they offer use cases and scalable solutions just for your industry.

Key features

•         Mobile app
•         Discussions
•         Libraries
•         Ads
•         Polls
•         Event calendar
•         Directory
•         Admin- and user-created blogs

Pros

•         Webinars on Youtube
•         Email, phone support

Cons

•         No free trial
•         No free version

Pricing

Customized pricing, no pricing plans

#2 Tribe, Customizable Community Platform

Tribe is one of the best free online community platforms that offers paid plans with advanced features as well. It’s for businesses in different industries and helps engage and delight customers.

Key features

•         Unlimited spaces
•         Theme customization
•         Custom domain
•         Analytics
•         Moderation

Pros

•         Free version
•         Email and chat support

Cons

•         No phone support
•         No live webinars
•         No onboarding for Basic and Plus users

Pricing

•         Basic $0
•         Plus $49/m
•         Premium $199/m
•         Enterprise

#3 Vanilla Forums, Online Community and Customer Forum Software

Vanilla Forums is one of the best community platforms for

•         customer support leaders who want to enable self-service and minimize support costs
•         customer experience executives who want to level up customer experience,
•         products managers who want to gather product feedback,
•         marketing and brand champions who want to build loyalty and increase revenue.

Key features

•         Pageviews
•         Staff users
•         Community Essentials Bundle
•         Integration Bundle
•         Developer Bundle
•         Analytics
•         Forums
•         Knowledge Base
•         Q & A
•         Ideation
•         Gamification
•         Themes
•         Moderation
•         Groups
•         Events

Pros

•         Email, chat, phone support

Cons

•         No free trial
•         No free version

Pricing

Customized pricing, no pricing plans

#4 Ning, Online Community Building Platform

Ning helps users create their own social network and stay connected.

Key features

•         Up to 100,000 members
•         Up to 100 GB storage
•         Drag & drop builder
•         Photo & video
•         Events & posts
•         Activity feed
•         Multiple blogs and forums
•         Customized groups and members onboarding
•         Analytics & GA tools
•         Broadcast messages
•         Integration with social networks
•         Social sharing
•         SEO tools
•         Ability to run ads
•         Custom domain mapping
•         Custom HTML design
•         RSS feeds on homepage
•         API access

Pros

•         14-day free trial
•         Feature demos on Youtube

Cons

•         No live chat and call support for Basic and Performance users

Pricing

•         Basic $25/m
•         Performance $49
•         Ultimate $99

#5 Mighty Networks, Community, Course, and Membership Platform

Mighty Networks helps businesses create communities, build online courses, run events, live stream, and more.

Key features

•         Native live streaming and video
•         Chat and messaging
•         Events and Zoom integration
•         Paid memberships
•         Live cohort course creation
•         Analytics and Member data
•         Zapier API & workflows

Pros

•         14-day free trial
•         Feature demos and workshops on Youtube

Cons

•         No analytics for Community plan users
•         Support mostly via Help Center

Pricing

•         Community plan $33
•         Business Plan $99
•         Mighty Pro

#6 Plush Forums

Plush Forums builds discussion forums for everyone.

Key features

•         Real-time everything
•         Integrated blog
•         Private conversation
•         Live notifications
•         Mobile app
•         Free SSL
•         Simple editor
•         Powerful search
•         Events
•         Questions
•         Polls
•         Smart history
•         Custom profiles
•         Member directory
•         Paid subscriptions
•         Image gallery
•         Document repository
•         Pre-moderation
•         Professional localization

Pros

•         Free 14-day trial
•         Email support
•         Unlimited pageviews
•         Unlimited members and staf

Cons

•         No phone or chat support
•         No webinars

Pricing

•         Small $49/m
•         Medium $75/m
•         Large $120/m

#7 inSided, Customer Success Community Software

inSided combines customer community content with a knowledge base and integrates across the platform.

Key features

•         Q&A
•         Knowledge base
•         Product updates
•         Gamification
•         Events and registrations
•         In-app embeddable
•         User groups
•         Ideation and customer feedback
•         CRM and ticketing integration

Pros

•         Webinars and podcasts
•         Email and community support for all plan users

Cons

•         No free version or free trial
•         No chat or phone support for Professional and Business Plan users

Pricing

No pricing information

#8 Hivebrite, Online Community Platform

Hivebrite is a solution for community managers and helps them build, manage, and engage their audience.

Key features

•         Import and export member data
•         Powerful search and targeting filters
•         Mass updates
•         Profile-update campaign
•         Profile update tracker
•         Full moderation
•         Integrated CMS
•         Visibility
•         RSS feed
•         Up-to-date content
•         Calendar
•         Invitation emails
•         Ticketing
•         Online payments
•         Social networks integration
•         Email campaigns
•         Powerful targeting
•         Automatic newsletter
•         In-app notifications
•         Mobile push notifications

Pros

•         Email support

Cons

•         No free trial
•         No free version

Pricing

No pricing plans

#9 Muut, Discussion system

Muut is a discussion system and allows businesses to organize lively discussions and make users happy. Muut is one of the best community platforms in terms of free trial as they allow you to try all features for free for 14 days without credit card.

Key features

•         Unlimited traffic
•         Unlimited users
•         28+ languages
•         Ad-free
•         Customized style
•         Private messaging
•         Additional admins

Pros

•         Free 14-day trial
•         Email support
•         FAQ / Forum / Demos / Documentation

Cons

•         No onboarding
•         No phone/chat support
•         No webinars

Pricing

•         Mini $16/m
•         Small $36/m
•         Medium $96/m
•         Large $486/m

#10 Panion, Community Engagement Platform

Panion helps businesses invite people to a private social network, build connections based on common interests and goals, enable activities and events. This is one of the best community platforms that offers a free trial with no credit card required.

Key features

•         Landing page
•         Activity board
•         Events and member gatherings
•         Member searching and filtering
•         Detailed member profiles
•         Direct messaging
•         Public and private groups

Pros

•         30-day free trial
•         Tech/community support
•         Platform onboarding
•         Migration assistance
•         Email support

Cons

•         No live webinars
•         No phone/chat support

Pricing

•         Starting $38
•         Growing $79
•         Scaling

Conclusion

Now you are familiar with the best community platforms in the market and know how they are different from each other. If you are a startup, you might want to get started with Ning, Panion, or Mighty Networks because they offer a free trial. Or if you don’t plan on investing in a solution for now, you might use Tribe’s free version for a while.

Growing businesses and enterprises will probably pay attention to other factors like support, onboarding, and a set of features.

If you don’t know where to start and don’t have time to try multiple products, reach out to me for a free consultation call. We will create a roadmap that will help you launch the dream community for you and your users.