12+ Best Community Platforms of 2023 (Software Reviews)

The world of online community platforms is constantly evolving, and with the ever-changing landscape, it can be tough to stay on top of which tools are the best for your community. Considering that, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of 12+ Best Community Platforms of 2023 (Software Reviews).

Whether you’re looking for an all-in-one solution or want to find a great platform that specializes in one particular area, this list has some of the most popular and feature-packed options out there right now. So let’s look at the Best Community Platforms of 2023 and see why they deserve to be ranked highly.

What is a Community Platform?

A community platform is a tool designed to facilitate the building and management of online communities. It offers features like user profiles, forums, private messaging, chat rooms, and more. A good platform should also be able to integrate with other tools like databases and analytics to provide additional features for managing membership or tracking metrics.

Let’s review some best online community platforms for 2023.

1. StoryPrompt
2. Facebook Groups
3. Slack
4. Mighty Networks
5. Thinkific
6. Circle
7. Zapnito
8. Tribe
9. Disciple
10. Insided
11. Hivebrite
12. Discord

StoryPrompt

StoryPrompt is a video-first community platform enabling users to create online communities. It has an intuitive onboarding process that allows users to select their requirements from drop-downs so that the dashboard can be created specifically for them. With StoryPrompt, users can create their own “Space,” where they can add different “Campfires” – like channels or topics – to discuss various things with community members. This makes it easy for users to organize conversations and engage with their followers. Additionally, StoryPrompt provides powerful analytics tools that allow users to measure engagement and gain valuable insights about their community.

Price

• The Basic Plan – Free
• The Starter Plan – $39/mo.
• The Premium Plan – $124/mo.

Key Features

• Easy-to-use interface and onboarding process
• Create a “Space” for your community
• Add Campfires – channels or topics
• Powerful analytics tools to measure engagement and gain insights
• Customizable options for user profiles, branding, and more

Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups is a popular platform for creating and managing online communities. It allows users to create private or public groups, add members, share posts, and more. It is used by many people and organizations, from small businesses to large corporations. Facebook Groups also allows users to create polls and events and manage their members. It also allows users to invite others to join the group or share it in other places, such as in other Facebook Groups or their pages.

Price

Free

Key Features

• Create private or public groups
• Invite other people to join
• Share posts, polls, and events
• Manage members
• Integrate with other Facebook features, such as Ads

Slack

Slack is an enterprise-level collaboration platform that allows users to create channels for specific topics and conversations. It also includes features such as private messaging, file sharing, and integrations with other tools. Additionally, Slack supports multiple languages and offers powerful analytics tools for tracking performance.

Slack is widely used by teams across different industries, from marketing to software development. It is also popular amongst small businesses, allowing teams to stay connected and organized.

Price

• The free version
• The Standard Plan – $7.5/user/month
• The Plus Plan – $12.50/user/month

Key Features

• Create channels for specific topics and conversations
• Private messaging, file sharing, and integrations with other tools
• Supports multiple languages
• Powerful analytics tools
• Integrates with other apps and services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and more.

Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is a platform for creating and managing digital communities. It allows users to create their websites and apps and manage members and content.

Additionally, Mighty Networks provides users with powerful analytics tools and the ability to integrate with other services or tools.

The platform is designed to help users create meaningful conversations, collaborate, and engage with their followers. Additionally, Mighty Networks provides powerful analytics tools so that users can track engagement and performance.

Price

The Pro Plan – $33/month

The Pro Plus Plan – $99/month

Key Features

• Create your websites and apps
• Manage members, content, and events
• Powerful analytics tools to track engagement
• Integrate with other services or tools
• Create meaningful conversations and collaborate with followers.

Thinkific

Discourse is another great community platform for creating an engaged online community. Its user-friendly interface allows members to create their topics and join or follow discussions easily. I found the ability to filter threads by category helpful, enabling me to find the topics and discussions I was looking for quickly. Members can also easily share posts, creating a vibrant and interactive online community.

One thing to note about Discourse is that it does require some technical knowledge to set up and configure. However, once you have done so, the platform is intuitive and easy to use.

Price

The Standard Plan – $75/month

The Plus Plan – $149/month

Key Features

• Create your topics and join or follow discussions
• Filter threads by category
• Easily share posts
• Intuitive user-friendly

Circle

Circle is a community platform that allows users to create, manage and engage with their online community. It provides powerful tools such as custom registration, email campaigns, and analytics. Additionally, Circle allows users to customize their site with themes, colors, and fonts to make it unique.

The platform also includes various other features, such as events and polls, making engaging with your members easy. I found the ability to integrate with other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be very useful.

Price

The Standard Plan – $39/month

The Pro Plan – $99/month

Key Features

• Custom registration and email campaigns
• Powerful analytics to track engagement
• Customize your site with themes, colors, and fonts
• Integrate with other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Zapnito

Zapnito is a community platform designed to help users create and manage communities around their content. It provides powerful tools for creating, managing, and engaging with content and tracking analytics. It is easy to use, with a user-friendly interface that makes managing and creating content simple.

Integrating with other services, such as Slack, WordPress, and Google Drive can be very helpful.

Price

• It Provides custom plans.

Key Features

• Create and manage communities
• Powerful tools for creating, managing, and engaging with content
• Track analytics
• Integrate with other services such as Slack, WordPress, and Google Drive.

Tribe

A tribe is a great community platform for businesses and teams that must engage with their customers. It is an easy-to-use platform with high customization options and many features. The CEO, Siavash Mahmoudian, provides an excellent tour guide that helps users to get started with the platform quickly.

The community features of Tribe include the ability to create a “Space” where discussions take place and to customize the landing page by adding reactions and posting updates with audio, video, text, and images. Additionally, you can embed YouTube and Vimeo links in your posts.

Price

• The Standard Plan – $59/month
• The Pro Plan – $299/month

Key Features

• Create a “Space” for discussions
• Customize the landing page with reactions and audio, video, text, and images
• Embed YouTube and Vimeo links in posts
• High customization options.

Disciple

A disciple is a great platform for teams and businesses to create an online community. It has powerful tools for creating, managing, and engaging communities with Q&A forums, polls, discussion boards, and more features.

Integrating with other services such as Slack, Google Drive, and Dropbox is very helpful. Disciple also offers some great analytics tools that allow you to track engagement metrics.

Price

• Custom Plans

Key Features

• Create, manage, and engage communities
• Q&A forums, polls, discussion boards, and more
• Integrate with other services such as Slack, Google Drive, and Dropbox
• Analytics tools to track engagement metrics.

Insided

Inside is one of the best community platforms of 2023 for creating customer communities with a knowledge base that integrates user content. This integration allows individuals to contribute, help each other out, and give feedback all within the same platform. Furthermore, users can react to posts and earn badges as rewards for participating in the community.

Inside has several integrations such as Google Analytics, Zapier, API, Zendesk, and Salesforce with every plan. These integrations increase when plans are upgraded to higher levels. Those who want to take a closer look at the platform before signing up can watch the “brief look” video, which is available on the website.

Price

• Custom Plans

Key Features

• Knowledge base with content from users
• Integration with Google Analytics, Zapier, API, Zendesk, and Salesforce
• React to posts and earn badges for participation in the community.
• Brief look video.

Hivebrite

Hivebrite is one of the most comprehensive community platforms of 2023, designed to help brands and organizations create their digital communities. It is highly customizable and has several features and integrations, such as event registration, polls, discussion boards, member directory, private messaging, and more. I found the “Invite & Welcome” feature to be very useful. This allows organizations to create automated campaigns that invite members, follow up with them and welcome them into the community.

Price

• Custom Plans

Key Features

• Highly customizable
• Events registration, polls, discussion boards, member directory, private messaging, and more
• Invite & Welcome feature for creating automated campaigns to invite members.

Discord

Discord is one of the most popular community platforms of 2023, and it is available as a browser-based app or downloadable software. The homepage of Discord looks fun and inviting, which could make it perfect for creating B2B communities.

Users can either “Create a server” or use a template when registering on Discord. Once inside the community, users can post using text, add a file or gif, and react using an emoji.

Discord also has two types of channels: text channels and video channels. Text channels are similar to Slack and can be used to send messages, share files, start polls, and create discussion boards. Video channels integrate with a video platform similar to Zoom and are perfect for hosting video conversations.

Price

• Free / Custom community plan

Key Features

• Browser-based apps or downloadable software
• Create a server or use a template
• Post using text, add a file or gif, and react with an emoji
• Text channels similar to Slack & video channels integrate with a video platform.

Conclusion

When choosing the best community platforms of 2023, many options offer something for everyone. Each platform has unique offerings, from customizable features to integrations with other services. Weighing all the pros and cons is important in determining which one is right for you. Hopefully, this overview has given some insights into what each platform offers and how it may benefit you or your organization. Best of luck in finding the best community platform for your needs!

FAQs

What are some of the Best Community Platforms of 2023?

Some of the Best Community Platforms of 2023 are online community platforms, online course platforms, mobile app platforms, and websites with a custom domain.

How can I support my community in 2023?

Community engagement is key to success and traction! You can implement various features like online courses, membership plans, forums, and more. Having a mobile app or your website with a custom domain allows you to have greater control over your community’s design and usability.

What are the benefits of using an online community platform?

Online community platforms provide the convenience of hosting members in one place without needing their websites. They also allow for greater member engagement through forums, discussion boards, and chatrooms. Additionally, they can provide access to online courses, which can help further engage members meaningfully.

What should I look for when choosing an online community platform?

When selecting the best online community platform, consider user-friendliness, design, features, and costs. Reading reviews from existing users for an in-depth platform perspective is also helpful.

How can I optimize my online course content?

Optimizing online course content involves selecting engaging topics relevant to your audience and delivering them in a way that encourages participation. Consider breaking down larger courses into smaller chunks or using interactive elements such as quizzes and discussion boards to keep your members engaged.