Discover the top 20 community platforms of 2025, ranked and reviewed to help your brand or business thrive through effective community management.

Introduction

In today’s digital age, building and maintaining an engaged community is crucial for brands, businesses, and creators alike. With the rise of remote work and the increasing importance of online interactions, selecting the best engagement platforms can significantly impact your community’s success and growth. This guide explores the top 20 community platforms of 2025, offering detailed rankings and reviews to assist you in making an informed decision.

What is a Community Platform?

A community platform is a dedicated virtual space where individuals with shared interests, goals, or motivations can connect, interact, and collaborate. These platforms integrate various tools and features to facilitate discussions, host events, offer courses, and even provide job opportunities, all within a single ecosystem. The ideal platform not only fosters connections but also supports the growth and engagement of its members through intuitive design and comprehensive functionalities.

What to Look for in a Community Platform

Choosing the right community platform involves evaluating several key features:

Content Options: The ability to create diverse content types such as text posts, videos, polls, and Q&As.
Organization: Flexible spaces or subgroups to cater to different member interests and activities.
Accessibility: Availability across web, iOS, and Android to ensure members can engage from any device.
Branded Apps: Customizable apps that reflect your brand’s identity and enhance user experience.
AI & Automations: Tools that leverage artificial intelligence to streamline community management and boost engagement.
Monetization: Multiple avenues to generate revenue through memberships, subscriptions, courses, and events.
Analytics: Robust reporting tools to monitor engagement, growth, and overall community health.
Integrations: Seamless connections with third-party tools like Zapier, Stripe, and ConvertKit to enhance platform capabilities.

Top 20 Community Platforms Ranked

1. Mighty Networks

Best Overall Community Platform

Mighty Networks tops the list with its comprehensive features, including AI-boosted engagement, built-in events, and versatile course options. It supports paid communities, courses, and events with a user-friendly interface and strong analytics tools.

Pros:
Rich content creation options
Customizable spaces
Strong AI integration
Extensive monetization features
Cons:
Pricing may be high for small communities

2. PopHop: The All-in-One Community Engagement Platform

Best for Consolidating Community Tools

PopHop stands out by integrating discussion feeds, chat rooms, learning courses, job boards, and analytics into one cohesive space. Its user-friendly design and smart moderation tools make it an essential hub for fostering connections and professional growth.

Pros:
Eliminates tool fragmentation
Enhances member retention
Comprehensive feature set
Ideal for remote and diverse communities
Cons:
Newer in the market, building brand recognition

3. Discord

Best Free Community Platform

Originally designed for gamers, Discord has evolved to host a wide range of free communities. It offers robust chat features, voice channels, and streaming capabilities, making it ideal for communities that prioritize real-time interactions.

Pros:
Free to use
Excellent for streaming and live chats
Large user base
Cons:
Limited monetization options
Branding flexibility is minimal

4. Geneva

Best for Video Chat Communities

Geneva is perfect for communities that focus on video-based interactions. It offers chat rooms, video and audio rooms, and virtual event hosting, making it ideal for smaller, more intimate groups.

Pros:
Free to use
Strong video chat features
Easy to set up virtual events
Cons:
Lacks monetization tools
Not suitable for large-scale communities

5. Hivebrite

Best for Alumni Networks

Hivebrite specializes in managing alumni networks and corporate forums. It features content management, job boards, and event management, tailored to foster long-term engagement and professional connections among alumni.

Pros:
Dedicated subgroups for alumni
Comprehensive event management
Branded mobile app
Cons:
Basic community-building features
High annual cost

6. Higher Logic Vanilla

Best for Corporate Forums

Higher Logic Vanilla is designed for adding customer forums to corporate websites. It includes customization options and integrates well with business applications, making it ideal for corporate customer engagement.

Pros:
Customizable forums
Integration with Salesforce and Zendesk
Strong moderation tools
Cons:
Limited to forum functionalities
Expensive for smaller organizations

7. Disciple

Best for Enterprise Branded Apps

Disciple offers enterprise-grade community software with comprehensive member management and monetization options. It supports branded mobile apps, making it suitable for large organizations seeking a unified community experience.

Pros:
Branded mobile apps
Robust monetization features
Comprehensive member management
Cons:
Disjointed UX between web and app
Higher pricing tiers

8. Kajabi

Best for Course Creators

Kajabi excels in hosting asynchronous courses with advanced marketing tools. While it has expanded its community features, it remains primarily a course platform, making it ideal for educators and trainers.

Pros:
Excellent LMS capabilities
Integrated marketing tools
Support for online courses
Cons:
Limited community features
No branded apps

9. Bettermode

Best for Corporate Customer Communities

Bettermode provides white-label community spaces for corporate websites. It offers flexible content options and a custom domain but lacks comprehensive community features like courses and live events.

Pros:
Customizable forums
White-label app options
Custom domain support
Cons:
Limited community functionalities
High starting price

10. Circle

Best for Creator Communities

Circle offers a versatile platform for creators to build engaging communities with discussions, events, and course spaces. Its monetization features support subscriptions and bundles, making it suitable for content creators.

Pros:
Flexible membership options
Comprehensive content creation tools
Strong monetization features
Cons:
Limited integration of features within spaces
Higher costs for expanded functionalities

11. Facebook Groups

Best for Simple, Free Communities

Facebook Groups provide an easy and free way to build communities with a large user base. However, they lack advanced monetization and branding options, making them less suitable for professional or paid communities.

Pros:
Free and easy to use
Large, familiar user base
Good app integrations
Cons:
Limited monetization options
Poor scalability for large groups

12. Slack

Best for Workplace Communities

Slack is ideal for workplace collaborations with its robust messaging and channel features. While it can support community building, it’s primarily designed for team communication and lacks comprehensive community management tools.

Pros:
Excellent messaging features
Easy to organize conversations
Reliable integrations with productivity tools
Cons:
Limited community engagement features
No monetization options

13. Wild Apricot

Best for Nonprofits

Wild Apricot caters to nonprofit organizations with features for managing members, events, and payments. It offers a website builder and member databases, making it a solid choice for nonprofit community management.

Pros:
Comprehensive member management
Event and payment integrations
Regional subgroup capabilities
Cons:
Dated user interface
Limited advanced community features

14. Discourse

Best Open-Source Community Platform

Discourse is an open-source forum software ideal for those with development expertise. It offers customization through its open-source code but requires hosting and technical management, making it less user-friendly for non-developers.

Pros:
Highly customizable
Strong moderation tools
Active open-source community
Cons:
Requires technical knowledge
Limited to forum functionalities

15. Memberium

Best WordPress Community Platform

Memberium integrates with WordPress to offer gated content and basic community features. It’s suitable for WordPress enthusiasts looking to add membership capabilities to their sites but lacks advanced community tools.

Pros:
Seamless WordPress integration
Gated content features
Affordable pricing
Cons:
Basic community functionalities
Requires additional plugins for enhanced features

16. Memberful

Best for WordPress Memberships

Memberful is a plugin that turns WordPress sites into membership platforms, allowing for content gating and product sales. While it facilitates monetization, it lacks comprehensive community management features.

Pros:
Easy WordPress integration
Supports digital and physical product sales
Flexible pricing options
Cons:
Limited community features
Requires additional platforms for full community management

17. BuddyBoss

Comprehensive WordPress Community Plugin

BuddyBoss offers robust community features within WordPress, including profiles, messaging, and event management. It’s highly customizable but may require multiple plugins for full functionality.

Pros:
Extensive WordPress integration
Comprehensive community features
Options for white-label apps
Cons:
Can be glitchy with multiple plugins
Higher pricing for full features

18. Skool

Emerging Community Platform with Gamification

Skool focuses on community discovery and engagement through simple forums and gamification features like leaderboards. While innovative, it lacks advanced community management tools and branding options.

Pros:
Discoverability features
Engaging gamification elements
Simple user interface
Cons:
Basic community functionalities
Limited customization and branding

19. Telegram

Best for Broadcasting and Messaging

Telegram excels at broadcasting messages to large audiences through channels and offers robust messaging features. However, it lacks interactive community-building tools, making it more suited for top-down communication.

Pros:
Free and widely accessible
Strong broadcasting capabilities
Secure messaging features
Cons:
Limited community interaction tools
Not ideal for interactive communities

20. LearnWorlds

Best for Course Integration with Basic Community Features

LearnWorlds provides a strong LMS with integrated community features, making it suitable for educational communities. While it excels in course management, its community functionalities are basic compared to dedicated platforms.

Pros:
Comprehensive LMS capabilities
Integrated marketing tools
Good mobile app support
Cons:
Basic community features
Higher pricing for advanced functionalities

Conclusion

Selecting the best engagement platforms for your community depends on your specific needs, whether it’s robust content creation, seamless monetization, or comprehensive member management. Platforms like Mighty Networks and PopHop offer all-in-one solutions that cater to various community types, while specialized platforms like Hivebrite and Kajabi excel in their niches. Evaluate the features, pricing, and scalability of each platform to ensure it aligns with your community’s goals and growth plans.

Ready to elevate your community engagement? Explore PopHop today!