Community platform software gives a brand, association or creator a branded space for members to discuss, ask questions and connect with each other, instead of renting that audience on someone else's social network. The category splits into two real camps: course-and-membership platforms like Circle and Mighty Networks built for creators monetizing an audience, and enterprise support and advocacy communities like Khoros Community and Vanilla Forums built for large brands deflecting support tickets.
We rank on what actually differs: whether pricing is published or a sales call, what happens to your member data and branding if you ever leave, and whether the tool is sized for a five-person team or a Fortune 500 support organisation.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What community platform software does
Community platform software hosts branded discussion spaces, groups, events and member profiles for a company's, association's or creator's audience, distinct from a general-purpose forum or a social network the community doesn't own.
Ranking criteria for this community platform tool list, applied top to bottom: effort to get started, cost in practice, data return, ability to leave, buyer fit. A challenger rule applies on top. Places 1 to 3 are kept for lesser-known vendors when the category has them; large brands rank from 4. For why these five were chosen, and why nothing here gets a numeric score, see how we work.
Free hosted plan (2 staff seats, 500k monthly page views); Pro $100/month and Business $500/month, published; Enterprise quoted; fully open source and self-hostable at no cost
Yes
Communities with many members and few moderators, hosted or run by the owner
Groups needing a published enterprise price or a named home country
Professional $89/month, Business $199/month, Scale $419/month on annual billing, published; transaction fee 2%, 1% and 1%; Circle Plus on request; 14-day trial
—
A paid community where the course is the joining excuse
A catalogue of structured courses with assessment and certificates
Starter $149/month ($1,788/year) or $199 month to month; Growth $1,500/month ($18,000/year) or $1,750 month to month, published; Premium quoted; 14-day trial, no card required
—
Toronto-built no-code community platform for product and support communities, embeddable through its API
Starter €35.95/month (billed annually); Professional €71.95/month; Business €224.95/month, published; Enterprise quoted; self-hosted licence from €129.99 one-time, including a year of updates
—
German forum software running since 2001, sold as cloud hosting or a self-hosted license
Long-running forum software for B2B and B2C customer communities, now sold as Higher Logic Vanilla
Ranked #1 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Vanilla Forums built its name as an independent, developer-friendly forum platform before Higher Logic, the Arlington, Virginia-based community-software company, acquired it; it is now sold as Higher Logic Vanilla, a separate product from the association-focused Thrive line.
It suits B2B and B2C support communities that want case deflection, federated search and gamification, less so a self-serve buyer who wants a price before a call.
What stands out
Customer support communities
Owned by Higher Logic
Quote-only
United StatesCorporate, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus packages, quoted on request; no published self-serve pricing
Enterprise-scale community and support platform for large consumer brands, now sold as Aurora AI
Ranked #2 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Khoros, based in Austin and acquired by IgniteTech in 2025, descends from Lithium Technologies, one of the original enterprise community platforms, and has relaunched its community product as Aurora AI on the same backend as the Classic version.
It is built for large brands running support deflection and gamified Q&A at scale, and is not aimed at, or priced for, a small team evaluating a self-serve tool.
Event-led community platform for chapter programmes like user groups and meetups, now with forums
Ranked #3 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Bevy, based in Palo Alto, California, built its name on recurring in-person and virtual events and chapter programmes, the model behind large user-group and meetup networks, and now also sells forums, alone or in an all-in-one package with events and groups.
Unlimited members, admins and events are included in the base platform, but the pricing page offers only a calculator form and a demo, no actual prices.
What stands out
Event-led communities
Unlimited members/admins
Quote-only
United StatesNot published; pricing calculator and quote-based
Open-source forum software you can self-host for free, or run as a hosted plan
Ranked #4 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourceSelf-hostablePublished pricingNorth America
Four hosted tiers exist: Free, Pro at $100 a month, Business at $500 a month and a custom Enterprise. Seats, emails and storage grow with each step, up to 15 staff seats and 100GB on Business.
Built-in chat, private messaging, groups, a searchable knowledge base and SAML sign-in are all named on the site, plus GitHub mirroring of issues. Trials offer a Global or Europe hosting region, and members are unlimited on every plan.
What stands out
Open source
Genuine free tier
Self-hostable
Where it costs you
The free plan stops at 10 categories and 5GB of storage, so a forum with several topic areas outgrows it.
Two staff seats come with the free plan, which limits how many moderators can hold staff rights.
Right for
Communities with many members and few moderators, hosted or run by the owner
Wrong for
Groups needing a published enterprise price or a named home country
United StatesFree hosted plan (2 staff seats, 500k monthly page views); Pro $100/month and Business $500/month, published; Enterprise quoted; fully open source and self-hostable at no cost
Community and cohort-based courses in one product, with an AI cohost from the entry plan
Ranked #5 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Mighty Networks does communities with native mobile apps and member matchmaking, and courses as a supporting act. Native apps come with every plan, which matters because a member who installs an app churns less than one who bookmarks a page, though Circle includes shared apps too and an app under your own name is reserved for the quoted Mighty Pro tier.
The course side is not competitive with LearnDash or Teachable, the transaction fee matters once memberships sell, and the frequent repackaging makes long-range budgeting awkward.
What stands out
Courses + community
AI cohost
14-day trial
Where it costs you
Percentage of sales on every plan, from 2% down to 0.5%
Plan names and features change often
Right for
A membership community that wants native phone apps on every plan
Wrong for
A course catalogue where the community is an afterthought
United StatesLaunch $79/month ($950/year), Scale $179/month, Growth $354/month, published; transaction fee 2%, 1% and 0.5%; Mighty Pro on request; 14-day trial
The default choice for course creators who want community, content and payments in one place
Ranked #6 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Circle is bought for the forum, the live rooms and the events, and the course module exists so members have something to work through between conversations. For that shape it is one of the two strongest options here, alongside Mighty Networks.
Judged as a course platform it is weak: no real assessment, thin progress reporting, limited drip control. The risk is not technical but commercial, because a quiet community renews far worse than a finished course does.
What stands out
Published pricing
Courses + community
14-day trial
Where it costs you
Course features stay shallow next to a real LMS
Transaction fee on every plan: 2% on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, 0.5% on Circle Plus
Right for
A paid community where the course is the joining excuse
Wrong for
A catalogue of structured courses with assessment and certificates
United StatesProfessional $89/month, Business $199/month, Scale $419/month on annual billing, published; transaction fee 2%, 1% and 1%; Circle Plus on request; 14-day trial
Toronto-built no-code community platform for product and support communities, embeddable through its API
Ranked #7 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Formerly Tribe.so, Bettermode now pitches a no-code, drag-and-drop branded community, with APIs, webhooks and an embed option for teams that want community inside an existing app; full API access starts on Growth and the custom CMS on Premium.
The jump from Starter to Growth is steep, $149 to $1,500 a month on annual billing, and SOC 2 and SAML only arrive on the quoted Premium tier.
What stands out
No-code builder
API and embed
14-day trial
CanadaStarter $149/month ($1,788/year) or $199 month to month; Growth $1,500/month ($18,000/year) or $1,750 month to month, published; Premium quoted; 14-day trial, no card required
Formerly the Dutch platform inSided, now Gainsight's community product, sold alongside its customer-success suite
Ranked #8 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
inSided was built in Amsterdam and had a genuine independent run before Gainsight, headquartered in San Francisco, acquired it in 2022 and renamed it Gainsight Customer Communities.
It has its own three quoted plans, but the pitch leans on integration with Gainsight CS, Skilljar and Product Experience, which suits an existing Gainsight customer more than someone shopping for community software alone.
What stands out
Formerly inSided (Netherlands)
Enterprise CS suite
Quote-only
United StatesProfessional, Business and Enterprise plans (3, 5 and 10 admin seats), quoted on request
Toronto-built customer advocacy platform with a community and gamified rewards layered in
Ranked #9 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Treat Influitive as customer-facing: its Loyalty and Rewards feature belongs to the Customer Advocacy plan, next to personalised targeting, prebuilt campaigns and ROI reporting. The Digital Community plan layers discussions, a knowledge base and Q&A over that.
Only a sales conversation produces a price. For gamification shoppers the trade-off is scope, because the product is built around advocacy programmes and no leaderboard or badge feature is named there.
What stands out
Advocacy-focused
Gamified rewards
Quote-only
Where it costs you
The pricing page gives no figure, currency or billing basis, so the cost of rewards cannot be isolated.
Rewards sit inside an advocacy product, which makes it a poor fit for staff or classroom gamification.
Right for
Marketing teams rewarding customers who refer, review and take part
Wrong for
Staff-engagement buyers wanting points and leaderboards
CanadaQuoted on request; Customer Advocacy and Digital Community plans
London-built branded mobile-app communities for creators and membership businesses
Ranked #10 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Disciple's pitch is a fully branded iOS, Android and web app rather than a page on someone else's platform, aimed at creators and membership businesses that want their own app-store listing.
Entry pricing starts well above Circle or Mighty Networks at $599 a month, reflecting the cost of maintaining native branded apps rather than a shared web product.
What stands out
Branded mobile apps
Course monetization
No published free tier
United KingdomBranded App $599/month and Branded App Pro $999/month (billed yearly), published; Organisation from $3,400/month
London-built B2B community and knowledge platform for customer education and gated groups
Ranked #11 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
Zapnito positions itself as a B2B community and knowledge platform: expert and brand content, a customer knowledge base and private secret rooms alongside discussion, aimed at companies educating their customers rather than running an open forum.
Tiers are sized by registered-user count, from 500 up to 10,000-plus, but none of the three published tiers carries an actual price.
What stands out
Knowledge-led communities
B2B focus
Quote-only
United KingdomEssential, Premium and Enterprise tiers, quoted on request
Paris-built membership platform for associations and alumni networks, with published entry pricing
Ranked #12 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Most association software is written for the office rather than the member, and the directory nobody opens is the usual result. Hivebrite inverts that, with groups, mentoring (a paid extension) and events built for participation, from a French vendor whose hosting answers the European question.
Understand the gap before buying: complex contribution rules and certification records belong elsewhere, and many customers run it alongside a membership database.
What stands out
Membership management
Published entry pricing
EU-based
Where it costs you
Dues and finance handling are lighter than a full system
Entry plan starts at $895 a month, steep for a small network
Right for
Alumni networks and member communities where participation is the point
Wrong for
Bodies whose main need is dues collection and grades
FranceCore $895/month and Flex $1,995/month (billed annually), published; Prime and Custom Fit quoted; no free trial
German forum software running since 2001, sold as cloud hosting or a self-hosted license
Ranked #13 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Self-hostablePublished pricingEurope
WoltLab has run since 2001 and counts Siemens, Deutsche Bahn and games publisher Gameforge as customers, a track record most community-platform vendors cannot match.
It is the only tool in this category selling a genuine one-time self-hosted licence instead of only a recurring cloud subscription, and it has paid subscriptions for gating content, though nothing like the dues and chapter handling an association would need.
What stands out
Self-hosted option
Published pricing
Operating since 2001
GermanyStarter €35.95/month (billed annually); Professional €71.95/month; Business €224.95/month, published; Enterprise quoted; self-hosted licence from €129.99 one-time, including a year of updates
Open-source forum software, self-hosted or on monthly hosted plans
Ranked #14 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Open sourceSelf-hostablePricing on requestNorth America
NodeBB offers three routes: open source from GitHub for self-hosting, one-click hosted plans, and enterprise builds. The four hosted plans each include unlimited staff users, SSL, custom plugins, a custom domain and priority support, differing in pageviews, storage and backup frequency.
The smallest has 50,000 pageviews and 5GB, the largest 10,000,000 pageviews and 300GB. Non-profits and start-ups can ask for special pricing, and qualifying open-source projects can request free hosting.
What stands out
Open source
Forum
Hosted or self-hosted
Where it costs you
Hosted plans are capped by pageviews, from 50,000 on the smallest up to 10,000,000, so a busy forum moves up a tier.
The 14-day trial requires a credit card, and hosted use is offered through that trial only.
Right for
Organisations wanting a modern discussion forum they can host themselves or rent monthly
Wrong for
Communities needing courses, events or member directories in one product
CanadaHosted plans priced by monthly pageviews and storage, 14-day trial with card; self-hosted under GPLv3
MIT-licensed forum software you install on your own server
Ranked #15 of 16 in Best Community Platform Software in 2026.
Open sourceSelf-hostablePublished pricingElsewhere
Flarum covers discussions, groups and permissions, moderation with flagging, Markdown and WYSIWYG editors, notifications, email digests, private messages and search.
More comes from an extension ecosystem, and the site says audit logging and GDPR tools are in core. The software is listed as free forever, and supporters can donate. Prices for custom development and third-party extensions are not stated on the site.
What stands out
Open source
Forum
Self-hosted
Where it costs you
The site describes no hosted option, so you need your own server and someone able to run composer and the command line.
Realtime runs its own websocket service, which the site says rules out most shared hosting.
Right for
Technical teams running their own discussion forum on a server they control
Wrong for
Teams wanting hosted courses, events or a managed community
Not stated by the vendorSoftware free under MIT; installed by the admin via composer, no hosted plans described
Feeds are chronological, with no algorithms or ads. Posts can carry images, audio, video, polls, content warnings and accessibility descriptions. You can join a server from the directory, install it on your own infrastructure, or buy managed hosting from the sponsor Masto.host.
A separate US entity, Mastodon, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit for tax-deductible American donations. Managing directors named on the About page are Felix Hlatky and Dr. Marius Rothermund.
What stands out
Open source
Self-hostable
ActivityPub
Where it costs you
Moderation rules differ from server to server, so a brand cannot count on one consistent policy.
The site lists no vendor-run commercial plan, so support and hosting come from third parties or your own team.
Right for
Organisations and groups wanting an open, federated social presence on infrastructure they pick
Wrong for
Brands needing a vendor-run product with guaranteed service terms
GermanyFree open-source software funded by donations; join an existing server, self-host or use managed hosting
Community platform software hosts branded discussion spaces, groups, events and member profiles for a company's, association's or creator's audience, distinct from a general-purpose forum or a social network the community doesn't own. Rather than compare features, settle the following points one after another.
01
Work out how much a sales call is worth to you
Prices are public at 9 products (Discourse, Mighty Networks, Circle, Bettermode, Disciple, Hivebrite, WoltLab, Flarum, Mastodon) and on request at the remaining 7, so budget time for quotes if your favourite is in that second group.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
The vendors on this page are based in 6 countries (North America 10, Europe 5, Elsewhere 1). The country of the contracting company sets which authorities can ask it for your data, whatever the hosting region.
03
Decide if open source matters
Source code is available for Discourse, NodeBB, Flarum, Mastodon. Running it yourself swaps the licence fee for your own upkeep.
Members who pay you, buy from you or belong to you
Circle, Mighty Networks and Disciple serve creators selling memberships and courses. Khoros Community, Gainsight Customer Communities, Vanilla Forums and Bettermode serve companies supporting customers.
Hivebrite runs associations and alumni networks with chapters and dues, and Bevy organises chapter events, now with forums sold alongside. Discourse and WoltLab are general forum software, not tied to any one of those models.
State which of the three relationships describes your members before opening a pricing page.
Decide whether the core activity is discussion, events or gated expert content, the last being Zapnito's focus.
If advocacy is the aim, note that Influitive sells community as an add-on to its referral and review programme.
Self-hosting is the only full exit, and two products offer it
Discourse is open source and free to self-host, and WoltLab sells a one-time self-hosted licence alongside its cloud plans. Everything else is a subscription on the vendor's servers.
Ownership has also moved under several products: Vanilla Forums to Higher Logic, Khoros to IgniteTech, inSided to Gainsight. For a community meant to outlast several software cycles, that history deserves weight.
Ask in which format posts, member profiles and private messages can be taken out.
Check whether thread URLs, and the search traffic they earn, survive a move.
If self-hosting, name the person who will patch and upgrade the server.
From free to four figures a month, on different meters
Discourse has a free hosted plan limited by staff seats and page views. Circle and Mighty Networks each publish three subscription tiers and add a transaction fee on paid memberships: 2%, 1% and 1% at Circle, and 2%, 1% and 0.5% at Mighty Networks.
Bettermode jumps from $149 to $1,500 a month, Disciple starts at $599, Hivebrite at $895, and Zapnito sizes its tiers by registered users.
Multiply any transaction fee by expected membership revenue and add it to the subscription.
Find the tier that holds SSO and API access; at Bettermode, SAML waits for the quoted Premium plan.
Ask what the bill becomes when member numbers or page views double.
Your own app in the store, or a space inside your product
Disciple's pitch is a fully branded iOS and Android app with its own store listing, and it is priced accordingly. Mighty Networks and Circle include shared native apps in their published plans and reserve an app under your own brand for their top tiers, Mighty Pro and Circle Plus, both priced on request.
Bettermode can also be embedded inside an existing product through its API. Discourse still reads as a classic forum.
Ask members where they would realistically open the community: phone, browser or inside your product.
For video-led communities, check streaming-hour and storage limits, which Mighty Networks sets per plan.
Confirm who submits and maintains the app-store listing when the operating systems update.
What goes wrong most often when buying community platform software
Judging Circle or Mighty Networks as a course platform when the course is a supporting act to the community.
Requesting a Khoros quote for a five-person team that needs a self-serve tool.
Expecting Hivebrite to replace a membership database with complex dues rules.
Launching a branded mobile app before there is enough daily conversation to give members a reason to open it.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best community platform in 2026?
Our ranking of 16 puts Higher Logic Vanilla (formerly Vanilla Forums) first. Vanilla Forums built its name as an independent, developer-friendly forum platform before Higher Logic, the Arlington, Virginia-based community-software company, acquired it; it is now sold as Higher Logic Vanilla, a separate product from the association-focused Thrive line.
It suits B2B and B2C support communities that want case deflection, federated search and gamification, less so a self-serve buyer who wants a price before a call.
Which community platform tools publish their pricing?
9 of the 16, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Discourse: Free hosted plan (2 staff seats, 500k monthly page views); Pro $100/month and Business $500/month, published; Enterprise quoted; fully open source and self-hostable at no cost.
Mighty Networks: Launch $79/month ($950/year), Scale $179/month, Growth $354/month, published; transaction fee 2%, 1% and 0.5%; Mighty Pro on request; 14-day trial.
Circle: Professional $89/month, Business $199/month, Scale $419/month on annual billing, published; transaction fee 2%, 1% and 1%; Circle Plus on request; 14-day trial.
Bettermode: Starter $149/month ($1,788/year) or $199 month to month; Growth $1,500/month ($18,000/year) or $1,750 month to month, published; Premium quoted; 14-day trial, no card required.
Disciple: Branded App $599/month and Branded App Pro $999/month (billed yearly), published; Organisation from $3,400/month.
Hivebrite: Core $895/month and Flex $1,995/month (billed annually), published; Prime and Custom Fit quoted; no free trial.
WoltLab: Starter €35.95/month (billed annually); Professional €71.95/month; Business €224.95/month, published; Enterprise quoted; self-hosted licence from €129.99 one-time, including a year of updates.
Flarum: Software free under MIT; installed by the admin via composer, no hosted plans described.
Mastodon: Free open-source software funded by donations; join an existing server, self-host or use managed hosting.
Everything else on the list is priced on request.
Is there a free community platform tool?
Discourse, Mastodon offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these community platform vendors established?
Across 6 countries (North America 10, Europe 5, Elsewhere 1):
Higher Logic Vanilla (formerly Vanilla Forums): United States.
Khoros Aurora AI: United States.
Bevy: United States.
Discourse: United States.
Mighty Networks: United States.
Circle: United States.
Bettermode: Canada.
Gainsight Customer Communities: United States.
Influitive: Canada.
Disciple: United Kingdom.
Zapnito: United Kingdom.
Hivebrite: France.
WoltLab: Germany.
NodeBB: Canada.
Flarum: Not stated by the vendor.
Mastodon: Germany.
Which community platform tools are open source?
Discourse, NodeBB, Flarum, Mastodon.
Which community platform tools can you host yourself?
Discourse, WoltLab, NodeBB, Flarum, Mastodon. The other 11 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of Higher Logic Vanilla (formerly Vanilla Forums)?
Second is Khoros Aurora AI, which suits Enterprise-scale community and support platform for large consumer brands, now sold as Aurora AI. Third is Bevy, which suits Event-led community platform for chapter programmes like user groups and meetups, now with forums.
Who should not buy Higher Logic Vanilla (formerly Vanilla Forums)?
Vanilla Forums built its name as an independent, developer-friendly forum platform before Higher Logic, the Arlington, Virginia-based community-software company, acquired it; it is now sold as Higher Logic Vanilla, a separate product from the association-focused Thrive line.
It suits B2B and B2C support communities that want case deflection, federated search and gamification, less so a self-serve buyer who wants a price before a call.
Sell community platform and missing from the ranking? Send us a line on what the product does and who buys it. Whether it is added is our decision, though commercial arrangements can also affect it, and the terms of a listing sit on the software advice page.
