Best online community platforms in 2026

Hosted community app or a community on your own website?

Start with where members will gather. Hosted apps like Circle, Skool and Mighty Networks give them a separate destination with courses, paid memberships, events and mobile apps, which suits coaches and creators whose community is the product.

If you already run a blog, publication or WordPress site, a separate app splits your audience. An embedded option like CommentCamp keeps the conversation on your own pages for free. For the planning side, see how to build an online community.

The 9 best online community platforms

Prices are in USD as of October 2026.

CommentCamp

CommentCamp gives publishers, bloggers and WordPress sites free comments and community spaces on their own website, with no ads. Spam filtering, a moderation queue and optional Q&A, reactions, member levels and quests are built in. It launches with a WordPress plugin and a universal embed script and is in private early access. It's built for discussion, not courses.

Disclosure: CommentCamp is our product.

• Price: $0 for site owners, free forever
• Transaction fees: none, and readers never pay
• Best for: publishers who want the community on their own pages

Circle

Circle combines discussion spaces, courses, live streams and gamification (points, 9 levels and a leaderboard) on your own domain. Every plan includes unlimited members and Circle's iOS, Android and desktop apps; custom branded apps need Circle Plus.

• Price: Professional $89/month billed annually ($99 monthly), up to $419/month on Scale; 14-day free trial
• Transaction fees: 2% on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, 0.5% on Circle Plus, plus Stripe
• Best for: courses and memberships on your own domain

Skool

Skool bundles a community feed, unlimited courses, live calls and simple gamification (1 like = 1 point, 9 levels). There's no custom domain, and Growth Boost, on by default, takes a 30% commission on paying members Skool brings you.

• Price: Hobby $9/month or Pro $99/month; 14-day free trial
• Transaction fees: 10% + 30 cents on Hobby, 2.9% + 30 cents on Pro (3.9% + 30 cents above $900), card processing included
• Best for: coaches who want the fastest setup

Mighty Networks

Every Mighty Networks plan includes unlimited members and Spaces, free Mighty-branded mobile apps and payments in hundreds of local currencies. Courses, a custom domain and basic leaderboards start on Launch; your own branded apps need Mighty Pro, from $17,000/year.

• Price: Explore $29/month billed annually ($35 monthly) up to Growth at $354/month billed annually; 14-day free trial
• Transaction fees: 5% on Explore down to 0.5% on Growth, plus Stripe; Apple takes 15% on iOS app purchases instead
• Best for: membership businesses that want mobile apps and multi-currency checkout

Heartbeat

Heartbeat includes unlimited courses, a custom domain and member badges on every plan. The catch is member caps: 350 on Build and 5,000 on Grow, with admins and moderators counting toward the limit.

• Price: Build $40/month billed annually ($49 monthly), Grow $124 ($149), Scale $766 ($849); 14-day free trial
• Transaction fees: 5%, 2.5% or 1.25% by plan, on top of Stripe
• Best for: small paid communities under 350 members

Bettermode

Bettermode targets brand and customer communities, with a custom domain on every plan plus badges and leaderboards. It doesn't process payments and retired its free plan in January 2026.

• Price: Starter $149/month billed yearly ($199 monthly) for up to 10,000 members; Growth $1,500/month billed yearly; 14-day free trial
• Transaction fees: none, since there are no payments
• Best for: SaaS and brand customer hubs

Discourse

Discourse is built for threaded, searchable discussion and Q&A. Its hosted Free plan, launched July 14, 2026, includes unlimited members, 2 staff seats, 10 categories and 5GB storage on a yourname.discourse.group address, and the open-source software is free to self-host.

• Price: Free $0, Pro $100/month (custom domain), Business $500/month; self-hosting from about $6/month for a 1GB DigitalOcean server
• Transaction fees: none listed; the official Subscriptions plugin uses your own Stripe account
• Best for: forums and support communities

Discord

Discord servers are free, hold up to 25 million members and include voice, video and chat. Members must be 13 or older, there's no custom domain, and Discord's data package only contains messages you sent yourself; see our Discord alternatives.

• Price: $0
• Transaction fees: 10% on Server Subscriptions and Server Shop (US creators only)
• Best for: real-time chat and voice

Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are free and meet people where they already scroll, but every member needs a Facebook account. We found no official way to export a whole group's posts or member list.

• Price: $0
• Transaction fees: none for a free group
• Best for: zero-budget groups that value easy onboarding

Online community platforms compared

How transaction fees change the real cost

Most platforms run on your own Stripe account (2.9% + 30 cents per US card charge) and add their own cut. For 100 members paying $20/month ($2,000/month), on monthly billing:

• Skool Pro: $99 plan + $88 fees = $187/month
• Mighty Networks Launch: $95 + $40 fee + $88 Stripe = $223/month
• Circle Professional: $99 + $40 fee + $88 Stripe = $227/month
• Heartbeat Build: $49 + $100 fee + $88 Stripe = $237/month
• Skool Hobby: $9 plan + $230 fees = $239/month

Tip: The cheapest plan on paper can cost the most. At $2,000/month in sales, Skool's $9 Hobby plan is the priciest option here because of its 10% + 30 cents fee.

For a deeper head-to-head, read Skool vs Circle vs Mighty Networks; for $0 options, see free community platforms.

What happened to Geneva?

Note: Bumble bought Geneva (announced May 20, 2024, closed July 1, 2024), and the App Store listing from Geneva Technologies is now Bumble's "BFF: Make friends & meet up" app. Geneva is no longer a standalone community platform.

How to choose

• A free community on the site you already run: CommentCamp, $0 for site owners; join the early-access waitlist
• Courses or memberships on your own domain: Circle, Mighty Networks or Heartbeat
• Fastest setup with built-in checkout: Skool
• Forums or a customer hub: Discourse or Bettermode
• Free chat today: Discord or Facebook Groups