Looking for alternatives to Circle.so? Check out our list of the 10 best alternatives, plus a breakdown of what makes each one unique.
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If you're looking for a community platform but find that Circle doesn't quite meet your needs, you're not alone. While Circle offers a solid set of features for building online communities, it may fall short when it comes to customization, scalability, or the enterprise-grade integrations that B2B SaaS companies require.
That's why we've rounded up the 10 best Circle.so alternatives, each offering unique features and advantages to help you find the perfect fit for your community-building goals. But before diving into the list, let's take a look at some eye-opening statistics on community engagement.
As of early 2023, a survey showed that 40% of respondents share content online at least once a month, highlighting the importance of creating engaging communities.
These figures highlight the increasing importance of community platforms in building meaningful connections between community members and boosting user participation.
Community platforms (community software) give you all the tools you need to provide a unique public or private space where members share content, ideas, and experiences. The sharing component is vital. In online communities, both the founders and community members share.
A community is a centralized hub for engagement rather than having to go to several places for information and affirmation. Another perk is that the communities and content appear in search results, making them discoverable.
These community engagement tools have become essential for SaaS companies, brands, and professional organizations.
Circle (Circle.so) defines itself as an "all-in-one community platform for creators and brands." Some of Circle's most recognizable users include SPI Pro, GrowthDay, and Makerpad. Creators and influencers who want to monetize the content and experiences choose Circle community so they can drive paid subscriptions and memberships as part of their community building.
Circle
Circle platform has excellent tools for creator-led communities.
Circle's ideal use case:
Circle is a fit for creator communities, especially those with a training or learning component.
Circle offers four plans, billed yearly: Professional at $89 a month, Business at $199, Scale at $419 and Circle Plus, which is priced on request. Each plan comes with a 14-day free trial, and Circle offers a money-back guarantee.
If you're searching for top alternatives to Circle, you're in the right place! There are plenty of powerful community platforms available, each offering community features tailored to various needs.
Whether you're focused on customer engagement, scaling support, or driving measurable business outcomes, these platforms provide valuable tools to help you build and nurture your online community. Here are some of the top alternatives to consider:
Bettermode is an all-in-one community platform designed for mid-market and enterprise B2B SaaS companies. Known for its modern, engaging user experience and enterprise-grade capabilities, Bettermode helps marketing and customer success teams build communities that drive retention, reduce support costs, and turn customers into advocates.
With a no-code Design Studio for visual customization, native integrations with tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zendesk, and robust APIs for extensibility, Bettermode enables teams to launch quickly without engineering dependencies.
Top customers building community with Bettermode include ConvertKit, UXPin, Shell, ASUS, IBM, Motorola, and more.
Bettermode is built for mid-market and enterprise B2B SaaS companies looking to create branded customer communities that drive engagement, enable self-service support, improve retention, and prove clear ROI.
Find out what makes Bettermode stand out:
Bettermode has three pricing tiers built with B2B SaaS companies in mind.
The Starter plan runs $149 per month and gives you a self-service setup with chat and email support. It's a good fit if your team is comfortable building and managing things on your own.
At $1,500 per month, the Growth plan adds onboarding and migration support so you can get up and running faster.
For the Premium tier, you'll need to contact sales. This one comes with a dedicated Customer Success Manager, an SLA, security reviews, and enterprise-level customization options.
All plans include a 14-day free trial.
Bettermode now includes Toggy: three AI agents that set up the community, keep conversations moving and review every post. Toggy plans start at $750 a month. See Toggy on your own community →
Mighty Networks has made a name for itself by helping more than 10,000 influencers, masterminds, coaches, entrepreneurs, and individual content creators of all kinds build personal communities with paid memberships.
Mighty Networks' ability to create online courses and charge for content makes it a good alternative to Circle.
Mighty Networks is best for individuals, solopreneurs, and smaller organizations with communities that feature events.
Mighty Networks has five plans: Community $41 USD, Courses $99 USD, Business $179 USD, Path-to-Pro $360 USD and The Mighty plan with custom pricing. These rates apply when you pay annually. Each plan also includes a free trial.
GroupApp is a newer entry into the community platform market for knowledge creators, like instructors, authors, coaches, and organizations. Knowing its audience, GroupApp also has a native drag-and-drop course builder.
If monetizing is a priority for your community, Group-App may be a good solution.
GroupApp is best for individuals, solopreneurs, and smaller organizations who want to monetize content.
GroupApp has a Starter $39 USD, Pro $99 USD, Business $249 USD and Enterprise plan with custom pricing. These rates apply when you pay annually. A 14-day free trial is also available for each plan.
Like Mighty Networks and GroupApps, Kajabi is inspired by creators and entrepreneurs. Its communities are designed to help these individuals build paid membership communities around the courses, ideas, and services they provide.
Kajabi is best for individuals, solopreneurs, and smaller organizations who need a native course builder.
Kajabi is designed to help individuals build paid membership communities around the courses, ideas, and services they provide.
Kajabi has a Kickstarter $55USD, Basic $119 USD, Growth $159 USD, and Pro $319 USD plan. These rates apply when you pay annually. A 14-day free trial is also available for each plan.
Professional and educational alumni groups, volunteer organizations, and non-profits use Hivebrite for their community portals. Notable clients include the World Wildlife Fund, University of Notre Dame, Columbia Business School, American Heart Association, and CERN lab.
NPOs and Educational Organizations are among the top users of Hivebrite.
Hivebrite offers member communities for professional and educational organizations.
Hivebrite offers custom pricing based on the client's needs.
If you want to learn more check out 10 top Hivebrite alternatives.
True to its name, Discourse is all about real-time conversations, which are the heart of this community platform. Car Talk, Frostbite, Western Digital, and CCP Games use Discourse communities.
Discourse is well-suited for companies looking for open-source community software.
Discourse is a forum software primarily used by organizations. There are both cloud-hosted and self-hosted versions.
Discourse has a Starter $20 USD, Standard $100 USD, Business $300 USD, and Enterprise plan. The Enterprise plan has custom pricing and all plans start with a 14-day free trial. Educational and non-profit discounts are also available.
The following tools are used like community management platforms, either in place of or alongside full online communities.
In their own words, Discord is "a place dedicated to talking and hanging out with your friends, family, and communities." Not a social media platform with an algorithm deciding what you'll see, Discord is more like Slack for individuals and the unincorporated set. School clubs, gaming groups, and enthusiasts of all kinds use Discord to create discussion posts.
Discord is a voice, video, and text communication service used by many communities.
Discord is a user-controlled conversational space serving mostly non-commercial audiences. Most Discord spaces (servers) are private.
While Discord's free version is their most popular, they also have a paid Nitro version that's USD 9.99 per month or USD 99.99 per year.
Individuals, organizations, and businesses use Facebook groups as their sole community or in addition to other community platforms. Knowledge providers will also use Facebook groups to monetize their content or services. Groups are as varied as their members with top groups ranging from math formulas to wrestling.
Facebook remains a popular space for communities. However, the lack of robust customization and other community-specific platform features may limit interactions with members.
Facebook is a good starting point if you're testing the waters by building a community for specific audiences. However, many users find that new members get distracted by different content feeds. There's also the risk of Facebook's algorithms inadvertently disabling legitimate groups, which can take time to resolve.
A Facebook group is free and all you need is a Facebook account. However, any advertising you use to promote your group or event is paid.
Where can I learn more about Facebook groups?
Check out the top free alternatives to Facebook groups.
Reddit is a social media platform that lets users post, comment, and vote on topics and responses. You can create communities (subreddits), but you have to be a member for at least 30 days and earn enough karma.
Reddit has 430 million monthly active users and over 100,000 active communities.
Reddit lends itself to niche communities centered on conversations. Certain businesses and brands have leveraged Reddit, but you have to be fluent in the rules and culture of the platform.
Reddit is free. Paid advertising and partnerships are also available.
Born as a communications tool, Slack is widely known as a popular team chat platform for its instant messaging. Many businesses, large and small, use Slack as a team communication platform. However, brands, interest groups, and entrepreneurs have found ways to use workspaces as online communities.
Slack has become a staple for organizations to stay communicated and enhance team collaboration, especially during the COVID-19 work-from-home restrictions.
Slack shines as a tool for instant and organized communication. The main activities used for online communities are discussions and information sharing. Slack communities also tend to be always-on communities where members check in daily. If you miss a few days, you may miss thousands of messages.
While there's a free plan, it's pretty limited and you can reach the 10,000 message limit pretty quickly. If you're building a community, you'll want to use a paid plan. It's also important to call out that the pricing is per user, so your costs will increase as your community grows.
Slack Pro plan starts at $17.25 USD, Business+ at $22.50 USD and for the Enterprise plan you need to contact sales.
Where can I learn more about Slack?
For additional info see how Slack compares to Discord and Bettermode.
| Platform | Key features | Use case | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bettermode | Design Studio (no-code customization), native CRM integrations, enterprise security (SOC2), analytics and ROI tracking, API extensibility | Mid-market and enterprise B2B SaaS companies | Starter ($149/month), Growth ($1,500/month), Premium (custom pricing) |
| Mighty networks | Personalization, unlimited events, welcome and discovery areas, iOS and Android apps, online course builder | Best for individuals, solopreneurs and smaller organizations featuring events | Community ($41/month), Courses ($99/month), Business ($179/month), Path-to-Pro ($360), The Mighty Pro (custom pricing), billed annually |
| GroupApp | Plug-and-play community builder, dedicated channels, instant messaging, membership subscriptions, paid downloads | Ideal for individuals and small organizations | Starter ($39/month), Pro ($99/month), Business ($249/month), Enterprise (custom pricing), billed annually |
| Kajabi | Course creation, coaching programs, podcasts, content creation, marketing tools, CRM, events, built-in tools | Suitable for content creators | Kickstarter ($39/month), Basic ($119/month), Growth ($159/month), Pro ($319/month), billed annually |
| Hivebrite | Customizable sign-up, event-centric, job board, monetization options, iOS and Android apps | Ideal for professional and educational organizations with member communities | Custom pricing based on client needs |
| Discourse | Single-page format, just-in-time loading, dynamic notifications, open-source, plugins (chat, subscriptions) | Primarily used by organizations for forum-based discussions | Starter ($20/month), Standard ($100/month), Business ($300/month), Enterprise (custom pricing) |
| Discord | User-driven, values-based community guidelines, voice/video/text chat | Best suited for non-commercial audiences and private communities | Free, Nitro Basic ($2.99/month), Nitro ($9.99/month) |
| Facebook Groups | Public and private settings, events, discussion tools (polls, Q&As, chats) | Good for testing community-building efforts for specific audiences | Free to create a group, advertising costs extra |
| Multimedia posts, voting, forum-based communities | Niche communities, often appealing to Millennials and Gen Z | Free, with paid advertising options available | |
| Slack | Instant messaging, channels, integrations | Best for organized communication and discussions within always-on communities | Free plan available (with limitations), Pro ($17.25/month), Business+ ($22.50/month), Enterprise Grid (custom pricing) |
When choosing a platform, think about your specific business goals and the outcomes you need to deliver:
Once you've narrowed down your top choices, contact each platform to learn more. The simple act of talking to someone can tell you a lot about fit.
While we've worked diligently to ensure the accuracy of the information in this post, community platforms are constantly updating their features and pricing.
Finding the right community platform depends on your unique needs, whether you're building a customer engagement hub, a self-service support channel, or a space for product advocacy. While Circle is a popular choice for creators and smaller communities, it may not offer the enterprise-grade features, integrations, or scalability that B2B SaaS companies require.
As you evaluate options, think about your community's goals: Are you looking to improve customer retention, reduce support burden, or create a central hub where customers connect and help each other succeed? Bettermode offers the modern UX, native integrations, and analytics you need to prove ROI, all without engineering dependencies.
Ready to build a community that drives real business results? Start a 14-day trial or book a demo.
Circle community platform is popular for its user-friendly design and integrations, making it a good choice for creators and small communities. However, if you need enterprise-grade security, robust CRM integrations, or analytics that tie community activity to business outcomes, platforms like Bettermode may be a better fit for B2B SaaS companies.
Circle does not offer a free version, but it does provide a 14-day free trial that allows you to explore its features. After the trial, you'll need to choose from one of its paid plans.
If you're looking for an alternative to Circle.so, Bettermode offers a 14-day free trial along with pricing tiers designed specifically for B2B SaaS companies, from self-service to enterprise.
Yes, Circle is a good app for creating and managing online communities, particularly for creators and course builders. It has a simple design and offers features like discussion boards, private messaging and customizable pages, making it easy for members to connect and share.
Yes, Tribe is now called Bettermode. The rebranding reflects a sharper focus on helping B2B SaaS companies build customer communities that drive retention and advocacy. Bettermode offers tools to create and manage online communities, including discussion boards, Q&A spaces, ideation features, and seamless integrations with your existing tech stack.