11 of the best online community software solutions platforms

Oct 28, 2022

Are you looking for the perfect online community platform that will host your business's branded community?

Selecting the best online community software may be daunting, given that elements like user friendliness, support, platform flexibility and many more factors are at play. In order to make it easier for you to navigate this big selection of software, we've analyzed the top eleven software solutions for community management online firms available.

Find out all the details--the good, bad, and the ugly side of most popular solutions that are available. There are plenty of tips about what to look for in an online community site, to be able to choose the ideal selection for your organization.

What are Online Community Software Solutions offered by companies?

Community platforms on the web are software applications that let you create an online community for your members to learn, connect, and connect with other members.

Each platform has its own strengths. Understanding your needs can narrow your options as we review the top communities online as well as their features. We'll get started!

What should you look at in a platform that is a part of a community

Community software solutions have an important community element, along with other functions which add value and help achieve specific purposes. In selecting a solution it is important to choose the one that's suitable for your organization both right now and for the in the future.

Focus on not just particular elements. Instead, consider the whole picture and consider how the program fits within the vision and mission of your business.

These are the things you should consider when choosing a community software product:

Easy to master. You'll be spending a great amount of time creating and managing your group. You'll need to take pleasure in the conversations. Be sure that the platform is intuitive and lets you work efficiently. Naturally, you'd want it to be simple to navigate and easy for your customers to use!

Easy and easy to use. The guests you invite to your event should be able to quickly sign in when organizing an event , or are planning to take part. If there's less hurdles when logging into the platform, the more likely members will be to sign up.

is a part of other areas of your organization. The majority of communities are part to an ecosystem of on-line classes, coach and other training resources. Every item should look the same in terms of branding and style, and is essential to be able to easily move from one area to another.

It includes sales and marketing capabilities. It is impossible to develop an online community that is not known by anyone. The ideal platform will have tools to help you advertise your membership, sales of memberships, and upselling your other products.

Analytics that are insightful. To provide a top-quality experience that draws members and keep them interested, you must know the things that are working and not. Analytics tools provide you with all the information you need on your customers' behaviour and preferences, so that you can focus on providing your members with the best possible service.

One of the most reputable online community solution companies

We'll now look over the most popular community software available on the internet today.

1.

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The main benefits are:

The simplicity. makes it super simple to set up and manage your online community. Your community can be an individual product or utilize it as a value-add to your training or coaching programs.

Multiple levels. You can create community that is free and paid in order to create your own "membership funnel" for your business. The free membership can attract prospective customers with the help by giving them the chance to interact with you and other peers. Utilize's powerful marketing tools to advertise your group that you pay to members, meaning they can enjoy exclusive content as well as benefits.

A deep integration with the marketing and sales technology system. One of the features that distinguish it the HTML0 platform is its comprehensive suite of tools for building businesses. If you sign-up as a user, get access to the full assortment of software including:

  • Builder for websites
  • Build a landing page
  • Email marketing software
  • Funnel builder
  • Pages for ordering and processing payments
  • Host of the podcast

The tools you use are built to be compatible which means you don't have to worry about building technological integrations or finding out about breakdowns. Simply sign up, and then you're ready to rock and roll.

Complete and comprehensive solutions will also allow you to save money. If you are investing in one-off things and then build your own tech stack, you will easily invest hundreds of dollars every month. With , you have just one month's cost to cover everything you need for running an online company that is successful.

The Basic plan cost one hundred dollars monthly, and comes with 3 digital items (a community as well as two other) with up to 10,000 contacts. If you are unable to use the base plan, you can change to the expansion plan that costs a one-time fee of $159. That gives you 15 products and up to 25,000 contacts.

You can try it for no cost for 14 days

All the information your online business requires. All in one place. Yes! Let's go!

2. Facebook groups

facebook-group-screenshot

If you're an active Facebook user, almost certainly that you are part of at least one Facebook group. Facebook lets you create private groups where you can connect with friends to talk about business or personal issues.

Facebook group memberships are completely free however, there are hidden fees regarding the confidence of members and their image. Public trust on the subject has decreased by 66% since the last few years..

For example, after the establishment of a Facebook group that hosted her community, Kathryn Aragon discovered that many of its members weren't active on Facebook. In order to boost engagement, she had to move her community over to another website.

The main benefits that come from Facebook as a place to build community include:

Privateness. The content within the group can only be viewed by members who are not members.

Discussion. Posts and comments allow members to discuss topics live in real time. Group updates are distributed directly to members. This will help in streamlined communication.

Management of members. Administrators of groups are able to manage the members of groups and grant access rights.

The disadvantages of this are that there is no control (that's the biggest problem) as well as no member directory and website management. Members aren't the Facebook'scustomers. They're Facebook's customers. Remember the enormous Facebook interruption on October 20, 2021 which caused small businesses around the world to instantly shut off access to their Facebook networks as well as their clients.

The most frequent complaint from community members is the absence of support which is immediate because there aren't any support forums offered to assist in problems.

3. Discord

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In the realm of gaming, Discord has been a thriving community platform that is accessible to all kinds of players. Its goal is to create spaces where people can come together in common interests.

Discord is an online software for community solution company, Discord offers real-time video and audio conversations. Additionally, it offers custom roles to distinguish members and administrators. Due to its gaming and geeky roots it's dark and may not align with the style of your company. It is not possible to the branding of your membership area.

It has the following benefits:

AI-Powered Bots. Bots can be programed to welcome new users and provide a personalized experience. Members will know they are interacting with a bot them. But, you can create a pleasant experience by interacting with it while providing useful information.

Reliable, secure private channels. Discord does not have a time-lag which makes it appear like you're in the same space. Discord is renowned for its security and every channel is completely private. This makes it possible for members to be secure in the discussions.

Moderator Academy. This is a comprehensive tutorial for both veteran and novice moderators seeking to enhance the management of their communities.

The downside is that creating your own Discord community can be a challenge. It's a steep process of learning, and it's possible that you won't achieve the most out of the platform. There is a chance to find your Discord server is connected to your other communities that you have participants in. This could mean it's competing for the attention of other communities.

Discord is available for free. You just need to download the software and then set it up. It is also possible to upgrade the version to Discord Nitro ($99.99 per year) for access to more emoticons and uploads that have more capacity and HD video and some other improvements.

4. Mighty Networks

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Mighty Networks offers an online course platform with built-in community features. It's a robust platform that allows you to customize your branding, as well as features to encourage participation from the community.

It is the key to Mighty Networks features include:
   

Mobile access. The online community website includes a mobile app that makes it simple for users to interact with members when in the field. Actually, it's much simpler to interact using your smartphone rather as opposed to via the internet.

Email alerts. Members are notified via email when there's an activity that's new within the community. It also serves as a short reminder to log into the site and check out what might be lacking.

Branding. Mighty Network allows you to create a branding area with a name with the same design and look as your website. Apply your brand's colors to the tabs, buttons, actions, and iconography for text.

It's crucial to be aware that you must remember that Might Networks is a community-focused platform. If you're looking to develop other types of products for your company it may be necessary to invest in other apps and tools to host them.

5. Hivebrite

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Hivebrite Hivebrite HTML0 is an all-in-one platform for community management that is specifically designed for education and nonprofit organizations. It supports more than 500 organizations including Vanderbilt University, WWF, and Sabin Vaccine Institute.

Their prices aren't displayed on their site. To test Hivebrite it's necessary to register for Demos This signifies that they have corporate pricing plans available.

They do provide attractive functions. The community you manage can have complete branding. Additionally, it allows you to handle your community's materials and tools for marketing all in one spot.

Some of the best-known features offered by Hivebrite are:

Livestream. It's possible to livestream live to members of the community and create real-time gatherings.

Access rights. With Hivebrite, it is possible to assign access rights to distinct groups of users, such as students or alumni. It is also possible to make membership levels, which grant members access that pay.

Modular capabilities. As your community expands, you are able to turn on different features. There are forums, events, and networks. messaging center, media center, and even a job board or directory.

The most difficult part is integration with your database as well as other technologies. It is likely that you'll have engage an IT specialist to finalize the APIs for synchronizing the database with different software.

6. Tribe.so

tribe.so-website

Tribe is a programmable community platform with an app ecosystem that allows direct integrations with other businesses, and ways to integrate the community into other products and websites. Tribe's use cases Tribe are education for customers and customer satisfaction, and also assistance for customers, interactions with brands, brand management and feedback from customers about products.

With Tribe The core functions take care of essential community aspect. The apps can help you expand your options. Examples:

  • Slack provides admins and moderators the possibility of getting alerts about various happenings.
  • Zapier connects your group to the other technology tools within your arsenal.
  • Google Analytics helps you measure the level of activity in your community.

Tribe is a collection of the following attributes:

Social-sharing. Tribe includes Open Graph tags to allow social sharing. It is easy to share your content with other members within the community and create interest from potential members.

Integration. Third-party integrations with more than 30 apps allow you to integrate your community and the tools that you're already using.

Modification panels. Tribe gives you the option to let users modify or remove posts from users. You can also archive older content so that you can keep your feed clean.

Tribe is totally free to the first 100 members. The Plus Plan costs $59 per month and allows users who can use the Plus apps and more than 2,500 members. To get the most from the app you'll need to switch to the Premium Plan which costs $299 per month. This will allow you to remove the Tribe logo, use its API and webhooks, and increase the membership up to 25,000.

7. Circle.so

circle.so-website

Circle allows you to create communities for your classes and also coaching or customer support. It was designed to simplify the process of creating communities by permitting you to build content and private areas, facilitate discussionsand make profit from membership. It is loaded with options and lets you create branding spaces that match the design of your site.

A few of the most memorable features offered by Circle are as follows:

Integrations that are straightforward. Circle can be integrated with third-party applications, such as tools to market via mail, Slack, Wordpress, and many other programs, allowing the community to be promoted  and even connect these two tools with another software.

Private and secret spaces. You can create separate spaces for different members of your membership. As an example, you may have one space for core members and one for premium members.

Searchable member directory. It allows members to communicate with one another through creating custom profile fields and search filters.

Circle costs $35 per month and includes a annual fee of 4% per user. The Basic plan only offers the essentials of your group, such as discussions and private messaging. Make the upgrade to the Premium Plan ($89 a month with the transaction fee of $1 per user) for access to classes, live streaming as well as more sophisticated analytics.

It is possible to need to cover the cost of additions like additional area for administrators, extra space, white-labeling of email as well as a customized single sign-on (SSO).

8. Vanilla Forums

vanilla-forums-website

Vanilla Forums was created to enable mid-sized and enterprises to deliver outstanding customer service. The site is often utilized for assistance of customers, the consumer experience, product marketing as well as brand recognition.

Vanilla delivers a pleasant user experiencethat integrates seamlessly into the existing technology stack along with flexible and flexible modifications to suit the style of your business.

Principal aspects of Vanilla Forums are:

Knowledge base. You can create an self-service Help Center within your community that contains user guides as well as help documents.

The ability to customize surveys. With Vanilla Forums you are able to send personalized surveys to your target audience for direct responses.

Open source community. You are able to download Vanilla's open source code for free and create an individual community. Feeling techy? You can contribute to the source code.

The platform may not be suitable for those who are self-employed and self-employed since pricing isn't listed on the website. However, if you're interested you could schedule the appointment to speak with the sales representatives.

9. WildApricot

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WildApricot could be called an integrated program which was initially developed to aid associations and non-profit organizations. Its users now include clubs, associations, as well as chapters of the state and local levels.

Wild Apricot has a self-serve style that lets you personalize every aspect of your community. Its reputation and gamification systems lets you showcase good content, make member-friendly features readily available, and allow for moderation automation.

It contains these important characteristics:

Event managing. Plan events such as auctions online, virtual conferences, and webinars--and get sponsors for your occasion. You can also create a calendar that is public and set up the registrations for the occasion.

Donations. With WildApricot, you can take donations, as well as share progress towards your donation goals. It is also possible to export your donation records so that you can track and monitor the donation.

CRM. Like , WildApricot has a CRM (customer relationship management) tool with an extensive members directory that can be accessed anywhere.

It is essential to utilize an external software to market and managing your business. They will most likely be integrated with WildApricot which comprises WordPress, Mailchimp, and Zapier. However, payment processing is only available for U.S. and Canada residents.

WildApricot is a service that is free that lets you try the service for free for as many as 50 contacts. The cost will increase in the event that your group grows

  • $48 a month for 100 contacts
  • 60 dollars a month for 250 contacts
  • One month's rent at $110 for 500 contacts.
  • One month at $190 per 2 000 contacts

10. Disciple Media

disciple-media-website

Disciple Media is a social platform comprising three elements comprising a console for you to manage your content across desktops and mobiles as well as an application for mobile which allows users to connect with one another, and the community on the web giving users the possibility to interact on their desktops.

It's designed for entrepreneurs, creators as well as other influencers who want to build their own social network.

Disciple Media includes the following features:

Different layouts. You can store and access content through one central area. Use groups list, folders, and lists to design a custom arrangement for users.

Mobile app. Disciple Media is the equivalent of the social networking site in that the mobile app experiences are geared toward the users. Additionally, it has a website-based application that, however, is lacking features when compared to the mobile application.

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

Cost of Disciple depend on the number of participants as well as your choice of mobile, web or mobile devices, or both.

  • Web-only: $46/month per 100 members
  • Only mobile: $458 per month for 500 users
  • Mobile and web 504 dollars for 500 users

Additional features include API white labeling, API more administrators. You'll also pay more to get community coaching members Support and Mastermind functions.

11. Vibely.io

vibely.io-website

Vibely.io was created by two ex Asana employees, Teri Yu and Theresa Lee who wanted at disrupting the community of creators positively. Their tagline "Built using women's minds not for gamer dudes" will give you an idea of the vibe they're going to set.

Vibely.io is an online community platform that lets creators communicate with their followers, and also collect user-generated content.

Vibely.io's top features include:

A commitment to positivity. Vibely will blocking spam, trolls, or even violence. Their goal is to build an environment that is inclusive of everyone.

Tools and challenges for accountability. The application offers leadersboards, trackers and challenges to keep everyone motivated.

Ambassadors. Vibely allows you to appoint people in your community who will aid you in welcoming and managing your members.

You can create your own Vibely community at no cost, with no any limit to the number of members, ambassadors or super admins. On the free plan you are not able to accept payments on a regular basis. The Mastermind program allows for payments to be accepted. It also will take 10% of your earnings.

There are a variety of things to be considered when deciding upon the best online community-building platform. You need tools to build marketing, sell, and build your community. It must be user-friendly to your customers as well as members.
   
    From our evaluations, there's several good options, but one does stand in its own as a complete enterprise platform.

Only allows you to develop and profit from a vibrant community along with other digital goods like classes online and coaching courses. Additionally, it gives you all the necessary tools to market and sell the products so that you can increase and develop a successful knowledge business.

If you're looking to create a forum, you might select one of the communities we've examined. The size of your group it may be beneficial (or even free).

The free versions can be subject to other algorithmic and governing rules, thus limiting the potential for growth. There aren't the features you want and frequently limit the number of users that you are able to be able to allow.

With , your community is yours. You determine the rules for the rules, conditions and terms and the price regardless of whether it is free or paid.

If you're trying to establish an internet presence, then this is the perfect solution. Through the use of video tutorials and walkthroughs, it will get you up and running quick. By joining The University, you have access to the basics of operating an online community accessible to all users.

Begin your trial for free 14-day trial from now!

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