20 Best Online Community Platforms 2024

The online community platform (OCP) is a software solution that enables people with common interests to connect and interact online. Platforms like these can be used for a variety of purposes, including social network integration, customer support, knowledge sharing, and professional development.

Online Community Platforms offer a number of benefits to individuals as well as organizations. Individuals can learn new things, share interests, and seek help from OCPs by connecting with others who share their interests. Customer service can be improved, employee engagement increased, and brands can be loyal to their customers through OCPs.

There are a number of different OCPs available, each with its own unique capabilities and features. The specific needs of your community need to be considered when choosing an OCP.

As we move into the digital age, online communities are becoming an integral part of our social fabric. Through them, individuals from different geographical locations are able to connect, share ideas, and collaborate. A virtual community platform serves as a meeting place where similar interests, goals, and backgrounds can meet, interact, learn, and grow. With the proliferation of social media and the internet, these platforms have gained immense popularity, making them an essential tool for businesses, organizations, and individuals alike.

What are online community Platforms?

Web-based tools or software that make it easier to create and manage virtual communities are known as online community platforms. Numerous features are available on these platforms, such as message boards, chat rooms, discussion forums, and multimedia sharing options. Users can converse, ask questions, exchange experiences, and work together on a variety of projects with them.

Types of Online Community Platforms

Online community platforms come in a variety of formats, each meeting distinct requirements and tastes:

1. Conversational groups:

One of the earliest types of online communities are discussion forums, sometimes referred to as message boards or bulletin boards. In addition to posting messages, users can participate in topic-specific discussions and reply to already-existing threads.

2. Social Networking Sites:

Social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter function as virtual communities where users may engage in conversations, follow influencers, organize groups, and connect with friends.

3. Collaboration tools:

Slack and Microsoft Teams are two examples of tools that facilitate effective teamwork among enterprises and teams. They provide functions like project management, file sharing, messaging, and tool integrations.

4. Q&A Sites:

Users can ask questions on a range of subjects and get responses from the community on question and answer sites like Quora and Stack Exchange. By upvoting insightful comments, users can make sure the greatest replies are featured.

5. Niche Communities:

These online groups serve particular businesses or areas of interest. GitHub is a platform for developers, Behance is a site for designers, and Reddit is a site for a variety of communities and themes (subreddits).

Benefits of Online Community Platforms

  • Knowledge Sharing: Online communities provide a platform for individuals to share their knowledge and expertise with others. Users can ask questions, seek advice, and learn from the experiences of community members.
  • Networking Opportunities: Online communities enable networking on a global scale. Individuals can connect with professionals, peers, and mentors, expanding their professional and social circles.
  • Support and Empathy: Communities often act as support systems where individuals facing similar challenges can empathize with one another. This sense of belonging and understanding can be incredibly comforting and empowering.
  • Collaboration and Project Management: Collaboration platforms facilitate seamless teamwork. Team members can communicate, share files, assign tasks, and track project progress within a centralized platform.
  • Brand Building: For businesses and organizations, online communities offer a platform to engage with customers, gather feedback, and build brand loyalty. Positive interactions within a community can enhance the reputation of a brand.
  • Market Research: Online communities provide valuable insights into customer preferences, opinions, and behavior. Businesses can use this information for market research, product development, and marketing strategies.

20 Best Online Community Platforms 2024

1. BuddyX

buddyx

BuddyX is a highly versatile and responsive WordPress theme designed specifically for creating social networking websites. It offers a range of features and customization options, making it an excellent choice for building communities, membership platforms, social learning websites, or social marketplaces. Here’s a detailed overview of BuddyX and its key features:

1. Responsive Design:
BuddyX boasts a responsive design, ensuring that your social networking website will look great and function seamlessly across various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.

2. BuddyPress and BuddyBoss Platform Compatibility:
BuddyX is optimized for both BuddyPress and BuddyBoss Platform, which are powerful WordPress plugins that enable the creation of social networking features similar to Facebook. With BuddyPress and BuddyBoss integration, you can add user profiles, activity streams, user groups, private messaging, and more to your website.

3. Community Building:
BuddyX empowers you to build a thriving online community by offering features like member profiles, friend connections, activity feeds, notifications, and user-generated content. Users can create and manage their profiles, connect with others, and engage in discussions, fostering a sense of belonging.

4. Membership Capabilities:
The theme supports membership functionality, allowing you to create different membership levels with varying access levels and privileges. You can monetize your social network by offering premium memberships, exclusive content, or other subscription-based services.

5. Social Learning:
If your goal is to create an e-learning platform, BuddyX provides features for social learning. You can incorporate online courses, quizzes, discussion forums, and progress tracking, facilitating collaborative learning experiences among your users.

6. Social Marketplace:
BuddyX can also be used to create a social marketplace, enabling users to buy and sell products or services within the community. With the integration of WooCommerce, you can set up an online store, manage products, and handle transactions securely.

Pricing:- 
Single site:- 59$
5 site:- 129$

2. Mighty Networks

Mighty networks

Mighty Networks is a strong and adaptable online community platform that enables people, companies, and groups to establish their own branded communities. Mighty Networks, which Gina Bianchini founded in 2017, provides a special blend of social networking, content production, and community management tools, facilitating community builders’ ability to engage with their audience, distribute insightful material, and cultivate deep connections.

Key Features of Mighty Networks:

1. Branded Community Spaces:
With Mighty Networks, users can create fully customizable, branded community spaces tailored to their specific needs. These spaces serve as a hub for members to engage in discussions, access exclusive content, and participate in events.

2. Content Creation and Monetization:
Mighty Networks enables community builders to create various types of content, including articles, videos, quizzes, and polls. Creators can offer this content to their community members, either for free or through paid memberships.

3. Engagement Tools:
The platform offers a range of engagement tools to keep community members actively involved. Features such as discussion forums, direct messaging, and group events facilitate interaction and collaboration.

4. Community Management:
Mighty Networks provides robust community management tools, allowing administrators to moderate content, enforce community guidelines, and analyze member engagement.

5. Mobile-Friendly Experience:
Recognizing the importance of mobile accessibility, Mighty Networks offers native mobile apps for both iOS and Android platforms.

6. Analytics and Insights:
Community builders can access detailed analytics and insights to understand member behavior, content performance, and overall community engagement. These insights help creators make data-driven decisions, refine their content strategy, and enhance the user experience.

Pricing

$33/mo. for the community plan. $99/mo. for the business plan (best for coaching and courses).

3. Disciple

disciple
Disciple is an online community platform that lets you build a customized community space, adding features of your own brand. And it comes with the features of a community platform, things like an activity feed, discussion forums, Q&As, and content creation–text, videos, and images.

Disciple offers built-in email functionality, analytics, and member management capabilities similar to other platforms on this list. Additionally, gated content and subscriptions can be used to commercialize it.

And lastly, one advantage is that a Disciple community may be implemented on a branded mobile application. Livestreaming is one of the functions available only on the app, not on the website. While having functionality on the app is excellent, having a separate user experience between the app and the online community site is a drawback.

Disciple features

Pros

  • Online community forum with good content options
  • Sell subscriptions or gated content
  • Branded mobile apps

Cons

  • Different UX between the online platform and the app
  • Outdated community features and feel
  • Pricing increases the more members you have

    Pricing Prices start from £38/mo. for the first 100 members (web only), £499/mo. to include a mobile app (and up to 500 members), and £833/mo for a white-label mobile app. And virtually every feature is an add-on.

     

4. Higher Logic Vanilla

Vanilla forums

One online community platform designed specifically for major organizations, Vanilla Forums gives them an effective way to create client communities. It allows businesses to personalize a suite of community management tools and their own brand. Users have the ability to add polls and questions, form groups and subgroups, and post material.

Vanilla Forums is just a forum feature; it does not give businesses access to a knowledge base, helpful integrations, or the ability to develop customer care skills. Other all-in-one platform characteristics like the ability to offer memberships, subscriptions, and online courses are absent from it. This is not the best option for you, therefore, if you’re searching for a community that you can make money off of.

Vanilla Forums features
Pros

Corporate forum solution for large companies with customization features for a corporate brand
Some customization features, reporting, and gamification
Moderation tools + Integration with business apps like Salesforce and Zendesk
Cons

No real features other than a forum (e.g. no courses)
Limited subscription tools
No apps or white-label apps

Pricing

Est $9,000 – $150,000/year

5. Kajabi

KAJABI

Kajabi is a one-stop shop for business owners, educators, and entrepreneurs to develop, promote, and sell digital items, membership sites, and online courses. Ever since its launch in 2010, Kajabi has grown in popularity as a complete and user-friendly solution for people and organizations that want to make money online from their knowledge and experience. The platform’s assortment of tools and capabilities streamlines the process of producing and overseeing digital content, freeing up users to concentrate on their content development and business expansion.

Key Features of Kajabi:

1. Course Creation: Kajabi offers simple-to-use tools for making online courses that are rich in multimedia. In addition to creating quizzes, webinars, and interactive learning modules, users can upload video lessons. The platform ensures flexibility in the production of course content by supporting multiple file types.

2. Website Builder: Without coding or technical knowledge, users may create fully customizable websites and landing pages. Professionally created templates that can be adjusted to meet branding specifications are available from Kajabi. With this tool, users can effectively highlight their products and courses.

3. Email Marketing: Users can build and automate email campaigns using Kajabi’s email marketing system. Through customized email sequences, users may segment their audience, deliver messages that are specifically targeted, and nurture leads. In order to monitor the effectiveness of email campaigns, the platform also offers analytics.

4. Membership Sites: Users have the ability to establish membership sites on which they can post member resources, community forums, and unique material. Kajabi provides safe access for paid subscribers, community building among members, and membership management solutions.

5. Sales and Marketing Tools: With features like checkout pages, one-click upsells, and sales funnels, Kajabi streamlines the sales and marketing procedures. To increase sales and revenue, users can design promotional campaigns, discounts, and offers. For secure transactions, the platform also interfaces with payment gateways.

Pricing

The basic plan is $149/mo. for 3 products, the growth plan is $199/mo. with up to 15 products. The pro plan is $399/mo. with 100 products.

6. Hivebrite

Hivebrite

Originally designed for alumni networks, Hivebrite is a community platform that is expanding into other areas of application. Along with a branded mobile app and a job board tool for posting career possibilities, it also has specific subgroups where alumni and students may network. Data and analytics are provided, and there’s an integrated content management system.

Developed to assist companies in creating and managing their online communities, Hivebrite is a full-featured platform for community participation and management. Hivebrite provides a number of tools to let any kind of organization—business, school, nonprofit, or professional association—create unique and interesting community experiences. Hivebrite offers the resources required to establish, maintain, and expand thriving online communities, ranging from corporate networks and educational institutions to alumni networks and professional groups.

Key Features of Hivebrite:

1. Personalized Community Platform: Hivebrite offers businesses a very configurable platform on which they can make specialized mobile apps and community websites. This enables businesses to preserve their distinctive brand identity while giving community members a smooth and comfortable experience.

2. Member Profiles and Directories: Through directories, users can interact with other members, exchange their knowledge, and establish customized profiles. Members of the community can collaborate and network more easily thanks to this feature.

3. Discussion Boards and Content Exchange: Hivebrite provides discussion boards where users may converse, exchange ideas, and get guidance. Additionally, users can exchange papers, films, and other multimedia files, which improves the interactive experience.

4. Event Management: Using the platform, organizations may plan, advertise, and oversee events. Hivebrite offers solutions for event registration, ticketing, and live streaming, ensuring smooth event administration for webinars, conferences, and local gatherings.

5. Job Boards and Opportunities: Employers can post internship and job openings locally using Hivebrite. Members can network and advance their careers by looking through these job postings and applying for employment that fit their needs.

Pricing

Starts from $8,000 yr.

7. Circle

Circle.so

Circle is an all-in-one platform for Founders, creators, community builders, coaches, businesses, solopreneurs and course creators. Circle.so is a powerful and comprehensive community building platform that offers all the features you need to create, engage, monetize, and manage your community. It is a great platform to build community.

Circle.so is a flexible community platform that offers a wide range of tools to people, companies, and organizations to establish, run, and expand their online communities. Circle.so facilitates meaningful discussions, knowledge sharing, and successful collaboration between community managers and members through its user-friendly design and extensive functionality.

Here are some features of Circle.so’s

Circle.so is a versatile platform offering several key features that empower users to create, engage, monetize, and manage online communities effectively.

1. Create: Circle.so enables users to easily create their own online communities, fostering a sense of belonging and connection among members. It provides a customizable and user-friendly interface, allowing community organizers to tailor their space according to their specific needs.

2. Engage: The platform facilitates active engagement within communities by providing various interactive tools. Members can participate in discussions, share multimedia content, and collaborate on projects, creating a vibrant and dynamic community atmosphere. Circle.so promotes meaningful interactions, enhancing the overall community experience.

3. Monetize: Circle.so offers monetization options, allowing community organizers to generate revenue from their communities. Through features like membership subscriptions, paid content, and exclusive access, organizers can create valuable offerings for their members, fostering a sustainable income stream while delivering premium content and experiences.

4. Manage: Circle.so provides robust management tools to streamline community administration. Organizers can efficiently moderate discussions, manage member access, and enforce community guidelines. The platform also offers analytics and insights, enabling organizers to track community growth, engagement metrics, and other valuable data, facilitating informed decision-making and community optimization.

Pricing

Pricing starts from $89/mo. for the community features, $199/mo. to add workflows and customizations, and $360/mo. for an enterprise plan with all features, dedicated services, and priority support.

8. Facebook Groups

Facebook groups are lively online communities where people can connect, engage, and share common interests, objectives, or connections. Facebook Groups, which nurture a sense of community among users worldwide, have grown to become a pillar of the social media platform, with millions of active groups spanning a wide range of topics. Facebook Groups are essential for building relationships, aiding in the advancement of diverse causes, and promoting deep conversations among individuals all over the world. These groups continue to strengthen the social fabric of the digital age by bringing individuals together and creating communities based on common interests and objectives, whether for personal interests, professional networking, or commercial growth.

Key Features of Facebook Groups:-

1. Diverse Communities: Facebook Groups cater to a wide array of interests, hobbies, and affiliations, allowing users to join communities that match their passions.

2. Privacy Settings: Groups can be public, private, or secret, giving creators control over who can join and see the group’s content, ensuring a safe and secure environment.

3. Engagement Tools: Members can participate in discussions, share multimedia content, react to posts, and engage in polls and events, fostering interactive and dynamic communication.

4. Community Building: Group admins can moderate discussions, set rules, organize events, and create a positive atmosphere, enhancing the sense of belonging and purpose within the community.

5. Supportive Environment: Many groups serve as platforms for seeking advice, support, or mentorship, allowing members to connect with others facing similar challenges or experiences.

6. Business and Promotion: Businesses use groups for customer engagement, feedback, and promotions, enabling direct interaction with their audience and building brand loyalty.

7. Global Reach: Facebook Groups facilitate connections beyond geographical boundaries, encouraging cultural exchange and understanding among diverse communities worldwide.

9. Bettermode

Bettermode

Bettermode, originally known as Tribe, is a prominent white-label community platform designed especially for businesses looking to easily include community areas into their already-existing websites. Bettermode helps companies build dynamic and engaging customer communities that encourage participation, loyalty, and trust among their customers. It does this by offering an intuitive user interface and a host of powerful capabilities.

Key Features of Bettermode:

1. White-Label Solutions: Bettermode provides white-label solutions that let businesses tailor the community platform to their branding specifications. This guarantees a unified and flawless user experience that complements the visual brand of the business.

2. Customer Community Integration: Bettermode easily incorporates into current company websites, with a primary focus on customer communities. Through this connectivity, businesses may strengthen client relationships, improve customer service, and collect insightful feedback all from the comfort of their own website.

3. User-Friendly Interface: Businesses and community members may easily explore Bettermode thanks to its user-friendly and intuitive interface. Easier navigation improves user interaction and promotes active community participation.

4. Personalization and Adaptability:

Businesses are able to customize the community platform to meet their own needs. Bettermode offers customization options ranging from distinctive themes and layouts to customizable features and functionalities, guaranteeing that the community space embodies the company’s distinct personality and achieves its goals.

5. Extensive involvement Tools: Bettermode offers a variety of tools for involvement, including as chat rooms, discussion boards, multimedia sharing options, and tools for organizing events. These characteristics encourage deep conversations among neighbors, fostering a vibrant and cooperative atmosphere

Pricing

Starts from $599/mo with custom enterprise pricing

10. Geneva

GENEVA

Geneva is an online community and chat program that facilitates many kinds of talks by creating chat rooms, forums, video rooms, and audio-only rooms. It has application forms, moderating tools, an events calendar, virtual events with RSVPs, and the ability to add admins. It even offers content producers “post rooms” that function similarly to a conventional blog. It’s fantastic that Geneva is free! However, it lacks options for revenue, making it unsuitable for any form of paid community. It’s not very good at bringing together big groups of users, even though it functions well for discussions with smaller ones.

Geneva Features:

Pros:
1. Versatile Chat Features: Offers chat with video, audio, and various rooms, promoting diverse and interactive communication.
2. Virtual Events & Blog Posts: Enables hosting virtual events and publishing traditional blog posts, enhancing engagement and content variety.
3. Free of Charge: Geneva is accessible without cost, making it a budget-friendly option for community organizers.
4. Well-Designed Apps: Provides user-friendly apps for seamless accessibility and enjoyable user experience.

Cons:
1. Non-Monetizable: Lacks options for monetization, limiting potential revenue streams for organizers.
2. Limited Member Management: Offers minimal member management features, potentially making community administration challenging.
3. Not Suitable for Large Communities: May not be ideal for large communities due to limited scalability and management capabilities.

 

Pricing:- FREE

 

11. Slack

SLACK

The platform Slack is well-known. Designed with teams in mind, it facilitates work organization. However, some people attempting to start online communities now turn to it as their go-to option.
It can host debates because it has basic member profiles, messaging capabilities, and channels. It does include some of the aspects that make online communities functional, such as mentions, various content features, and “huddles” for brief calls. Additionally, because of its widespread use, some individuals have used it to create online communities, which is why it made our list.

Slack isn’t ideal for online groups overall, though. It is devoid of the features necessary to develop a comprehensive community business, including events, courses, content gating, and other features. It also has limited member roles and content categories. Additionally lacking in revenue, Slack prevents you from establishing a paid community.

It’s similar to Discord in that most hosts outgrow it or discover that their community fails due to a lack of engagement choices. However, you might utilize it for a free community because it’s comfortable. Remember that Slack is useful for the remote workplace because employees are required to be present. It lacks the qualities that would entice visitors to visit for enjoyment. Furthermore, Slack does not offer any possibilities for building your own brand around your group.

Slack features

1. Channels: Slack allows users to create channels for specific projects, teams, or topics. Channels promote organized discussions, ensuring that conversations stay focused and relevant.

2. Direct Messaging: Users can send direct messages to team members, fostering one-on-one or small group discussions without cluttering the main channels.

3. File Sharing: Slack supports easy file sharing, allowing users to upload and share documents, images, videos, and other files directly within the platform.

4. Integrations: Slack integrates seamlessly with numerous third-party apps and services, enabling users to bring external tools into Slack for improved workflow and collaboration.

5. Search Functionality: Slack’s powerful search feature allows users to quickly find messages, files, and information within the platform, enhancing efficiency and knowledge retrieval.

6. Notifications and Customization: Users can customize notification settings, ensuring they are alerted to important messages or mentions. Customization options help manage notification overload.

Pricing

  • From $8.75/mo per user up to enterprise-level pricing

12. Wild Apricot

WILDAPRICOT

The Nonprofit Community Platform. The community management platform Wild Apricot was developed with nonprofit institutions in mind. It lets you track, automate, and streamline membership in your association or organization. It also includes some useful features for community involvement and discussions. You may use the website builder on the platform to construct a professional-looking website, securely accept online payments, create, organize, and manage your member databases, and manage virtual events with Wild Apricot. Additionally, regional chapters can form subgroups so that each can have an own website and community.

When it comes to having something more robust, like a dedicated community space where members can connect, or features like online courses, where members can master something interesting together, that’s where this platform falls short.

Wild Apricot features

Pros

  1. Forum platform & website builder
  2. Member databases
  3. Regional chapters & subgroups
  4. Live event functionality for ticketing
  5. Branding options

Cons

  1. Dated look and user experience
  2. Limited community features (courses, gated content, etc. missing)
  3. No branded apps (despite being an enterprise solution)Pricing
    From $60-$900/mo

13. Discord

DISCORD

Originally intended for gamers, Discord is becoming known as a venue for hosting all kinds of online groups. Although it was designed with gaming streaming in mind, it includes a community forum-style engine and allows live streaming and discussion. Discord was first designed with gamers in mind, but it has since developed into a flexible platform that can be used by a variety of online communities. Discord started out as a gaming platform, but it has since grown into a gathering place for a variety of interest groups. Discord is great for free communities. But it’s not made for paid communities. There aren’t really any monetization features, and other than a few personalization features you can’t build your own brand on the platform.

Pricing:- Free

 

Discord features

1. Voice and Video Communication: Discord facilitates real-time communication among community members by providing high-quality voice and video calls. This feature fosters dialogue and makes people feel more connected to one another.

2. Community Forum-Style Engine: Text-based conversations are made easier using Discord’s powerful forum-style engine. By allowing users to build channels dedicated to particular subjects, the community is encouraged to have targeted conversations.

3. Live Streaming: Discord users can broadcast live while they create stuff, be it games or artwork. This function enables producers to interact with their audience in real time, resulting in a more immersive experience.

4. Customizable Servers: Users can create and customize servers according to their community’s needs. Servers can have different channels for text and voice communication, ensuring organized discussions on various topics.

5. Direct Messaging: Discord includes direct messaging functionality, allowing private conversations between users. This feature is useful for personal communication and collaboration on specific projects.

6. Integration with Other Platforms: Discord integrates seamlessly with various third-party platforms and services, allowing users to bring in content, notifications, and updates from other apps, enhancing the overall user experience.

14. Discourse

DISCOURSE

Discourse is an intuitive, open-source forum software that promotes thoughtful online conversations and community involvement. The open-source community code for Discourse is available for free on GitHub, making it an additional choice. This implies that you have access to a straightforward yet powerful discussion forum using Discourse. It is possible to add moderators and arrange replies and discussions. Discourse’s open-source methodology has the drawback that hosting is indeed required. Although Discourse will handle it for you, its monthly starting price of $100 is higher than that of several of the community platforms on this list. All of this suggests that Discourse is a decent forum engine for developers, but for everyone else, an all-in-one that is completed for you (and possibly less expensive) is preferable.

 

Features of Discourse

1.  Intuitive User Interface: Discourse’s user interface is responsive and easy to use, making it possible to navigate around the platform with ease and enjoy a positive experience on PCs, tablets, and smartphones.

2. Real-Time Updates: Discourse discussions happen in real time, and new posts and answers show up instantly without requiring a page refresh. This feature encourages lively, participatory discussions.

3. Community Moderation: Discourse offers strong moderation capabilities that enable administrators and moderators to efficiently oversee material. In order to provide a polite and safe atmosphere, they have the ability to suspend users, flag offensive posts, and enforce community standards.

4. Trust Levels: Discourse has a system of trust levels, allowing users to get greater rights as they become more involved in the community. Trustworthiness levels promote involvement and honor significant efforts.

5. Rich Media Support: Multimedia content, including pictures, videos, and interactive components, can be effortlessly embedded by users, improving the visual appeal and general involvement of conversations.

6. Versatile Categories and Tags: Discourse facilitates the establishment of modifiable categories and tags, hence facilitating well-organized content arrangement. Based on particular interests or subjects, users can quickly locate pertinent discussions.

Pricing:-

  • From $50/mo

15. Memberium

Top Community Platform for WordPress

Memberium is a community platform that can be viewed as a WordPress plugin if you’re an avid WordPress user. It functions similarly to a content gate by excluding certain areas of your website for members only and adding a community element. If you wish to add a course, you can also combine it with an LMS plugin like LearnDash.

Be advised that although Memberium is a highly regarded community platform and WordPress plugin, it may not be the best option. With a score of only 29, Memberium is ranked lowest by G2, and with a WordPress site, you can utilize every choice on our list as a subdomain.

Features of Memberium

1. Content Protection: Memberium improves site security by enabling you to safeguard different kinds of content, making sure that only members with permission may view particular pages, posts, or files.

2. Drip material: By allowing you to plan material releases in advance, you can provide members with a tailored and progressive learning experience that will increase their engagement and retention.

3. Membership Levels: You can provide different member groups with tiers of content and services according to their subscription plans by creating numerous membership levels with unique access privileges.

4. CRM integration: Memberium easily connects with well-known CRM systems such as Infusionsoft and ActiveCampaign, allowing for effective member administration, customized communications, and focused advertising campaigns.

5. Automated Follow-Ups: Ensure timely engagement and efficiently nurture member connections by creating follow-up emails and conversations depending on member activity.

Pricing

  • From $37 or $57/mo depending on your CRM

16. Flarum

Flarum is an easy to use discussion platform that allows you to manage discussions on your website. The software is fast, free, and easy to use. Despite its simplicity, it has all of the features you need to run a successful community. It can also be easily and completely customized thanks to its extremely extensible nature. Make it easier for your members to engage with your community. Managing online discussions on your website is made easier with Flarum, a user-friendly discussion platform. Flarum’s feature-rich feature set, speed, and accessibility make it the perfect platform for growing an active online community.

 

Features of Flarum

1. Speed and Performance: Flarum loads discussions fast and seamlessly because it was created with speed in mind. This facilitates the creation of a lively user experience where users can instantly access content and take part in discussions.

2. User-Friendly: Flarum is simple to use and participate in discussions for both administrators and community members thanks to its straightforward design. Its simple interface encourages more participation and interaction from users.

3. Extensive capabilities: Flarum provides a wide range of capabilities that are essential for managing a successful online community, even though it is straightforward. User profiles, notifications, mentions, topic categories, and post formatting tools are some of these features.

4. Customization: Flarum’s high degree of extensibility makes customization simple and comprehensive. You can customize the platform to fit the branding of your website and the particular requirements of your community, giving your members a special and individual area.

5. Mobile Responsiveness: Flarum is totally responsive, so you can enjoy and access your community on a range of devices, from smartphones to PCs, encouraging participation at any time and from any location.

6. Moderation Tools: The platform gives moderators the resources they need to keep the community civil and upbeat. These features include the ability to flag content, prohibit users, and make post-editing changes.

Pricing:- Free

17. Tumblr

tumblr

Tumblr is a popular microblogging and social networking platform that allows users to post and share multimedia content in the form of short blog posts. Tumblr, established in 2007, stands as a prominent microblogging and social networking platform that has redefined online expression and community engagement. With its unique blend of short-form blog posts and multimedia content sharing, Tumblr has become a beloved digital space for creative individuals and communities worldwide. Offering a seamless interface for users to post and explore a diverse range of multimedia content, Tumblr has transcended language barriers, making its presence felt in 18 languages across the globe. In this vibrant online realm, users can unleash their creativity, share their passions, and connect with like-minded individuals, making Tumblr a dynamic hub where innovation meets social interaction. Let’s delve deeper into the world of Tumblr, where the power of expression and the joy of connection come together harmoniously.

Features of Tumblr

1. Multimedia Blogging: Users can create diverse content including text, photos, quotes, links, audio, and videos, allowing for creative expression in various formats. This multimedia approach sets Tumblr apart from traditional blogging platforms.

2. Social Networking: Tumblr functions as a social network, allowing users to follow other blogs and interact with posts through likes, comments, and reblogs. This interactive environment fosters a sense of community and encourages content discovery.

3. Customization: Tumblr offers a range of customizable themes and templates, allowing users to personalize the appearance of their blogs. Users can modify the layout, colors, and fonts to create a unique and visually appealing blog.

4. Tags and Discovery: Users can tag their posts with relevant keywords, making it easier for others to discover similar content through browsing or searching. Tags enhance content visibility and facilitate connections between users with shared interests.

5. Community: Tumblr hosts a diverse community of users, catering to various interests and niches. From art and photography to fandoms and activism, users can find and connect with communities that align with their passions.

6. Mobile Accessibility: Tumblr offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, allowing users to create and interact with content on the go. Mobile accessibility enhances user engagement and ensures that users can stay connected from anywhere.

Pricing:- Free

18. Zapnito

zapnito
Zapnito is the go-to platform for global brands looking to consolidate legacy tools and maximise impact with a single, outstanding customer community experience. Zapnito is on a mission to help businesses create more valuable and frequent engagement by bringing customers and brand experts together to share knowledge. Zapnito’s vision is centered around its dedication to revolutionizing the way businesses interact with their customers. With a distinct mission, Zapnito is committed to promoting regular and beneficial contacts between companies, clients, and brand specialists. Through facilitating communication between these parties, Zapnito gives companies the ability to leverage the combined knowledge of industry experts and end users.

 

Features of Zapnito

1. Enhanced Engagement: Zapnito aims to elevate the level of engagement between businesses, their customers, and industry experts. By fostering meaningful connections, the platform ensures a vibrant exchange of insights, ideas, and knowledge.

2. Knowledge Sharing: Zapnito recognizes the immense value in shared knowledge. By providing a platform where experts and customers can collaborate, businesses can tap into a wealth of expertise, leading to informed decisions and innovative solutions.

3. Community Building: Through Zapnito, businesses can create communities that serve as hubs of expertise and collaboration. These communities facilitate ongoing discussions, enabling participants to learn, share, and grow together.

4. Expertise Amplification: Zapnito helps businesses amplify the expertise of their brand ambassadors and industry leaders. By showcasing their knowledge, businesses can establish authority in their field and build trust among their audience.

5. Content Collaboration: The platform facilitates seamless content collaboration, allowing businesses to create, curate, and distribute valuable content. This collaborative approach ensures that the content is not only informative but also resonates with the audience’s needs and interests.

6. Strategic Networking: Zapnito encourages strategic networking by bringing together professionals, experts, and customers in a focused environment. This networking opportunity fosters partnerships, collaborations, and long-lasting relationships.

Pricing:- Free

19. Patreon

patreon

Created in 2013 by Jack Conte and Sam Yam, Patreon has become a ray of light for artists looking to get funding for their projects. The site created a link between artists and their most devoted followers and acknowledged the intrinsic worth of artistic and creative expression. Patreon has completely changed how art is produced and viewed in the contemporary digital environment by enabling fans to directly support their favorite artists.

The basis of Patreon’s operations is membership. Now that their work is being supported consistently by people who value it and are prepared to pay for it, creators who were previously burdened by the unstable nature of traditional revenue streams may rest easy. With this arrangement, artists are free to concentrate on their work without having to worry about money problems all the time, which encourages innovation and originality.

Features of Patreon

1. Membership-Based Support: Patreon operates on a membership model, allowing creators to receive consistent financial support from their patrons.

2. Diverse Creative Community: Artists, writers, musicians, and creators from various fields can connect with their audience, fostering a vibrant and diverse creative community.

3. Exclusive Content: Creators can offer patrons exclusive content, behind-the-scenes access, early previews, and personalized rewards, enhancing fan engagement.

4. Financial Stability: Patreon provides a stable income source for creators, enabling them to focus on their craft without financial worries.

5. Interactive Engagement: The platform encourages interaction between creators and patrons, creating a supportive environment for feedback, discussions, and collaboration.

6. Empathy-Driven Support: Patreon’s team is dedicated to understanding creators’ needs, offering resources, and ensuring a positive and supportive experience for both creators and patrons.

Pricing:- Free

20. Uscreen
uscreen

Uscreen is a leading player in the rapidly expanding online video market, providing a feature-rich, one-stop shop for content producers, video entrepreneurs, and companies looking to make money off of their videos. Uscreen was established in 2015 and has since been a pathfinder, enabling people and businesses to easily and effectively create and launch their own video streaming services.

The extensive feature set of Uscreen includes everything a video entrepreneur may require. Uscreen gives creators the tools they need to make interesting and dynamic watching experiences, including tools for hosting videos, live streaming, on-demand content, and content monetization. With the aid of its strong analytics, which monitor viewer behavior and preferences, data-driven choices may be made to maximize audience engagement and content strategy.Uscreen helps video businesses achieve their goals. Uscreen is an essential platform for anybody wishing to successfully monetize their video content since it offers the tools and resources needed to turn passion into profit, whether it be for educational content, fitness programs, entertainment, or niche documentaries. With its user-friendly interface, customizable settings, monetization tools, and steadfast support, Uscreen keeps empowering content producers and assisting them in realizing their full potential in the world of digital video.

Features of Uscreen

1. All-in-One Platform: Uscreen offers a comprehensive platform covering video hosting, monetization, customization, and analytics, streamlining the entire video streaming process.

2. Content Monetization: Creators can monetize their videos through various models, including subscriptions, pay-per-view, rentals, and digital downloads, enabling flexible revenue generation strategies.

3. Customization: Uscreen allows complete branding customization, enabling creators to design branded websites and apps that reflect their unique identity, enhancing brand recognition and user trust.

4. Video Hosting and Delivery: Uscreen provides reliable and high-quality video hosting and delivery services, ensuring smooth streaming experiences for viewers without buffering or downtime issues.

5. Live Streaming: Creators can engage with their audience in real-time through live streaming features, facilitating interactive and engaging live events, webinars, and broadcasts.

6. On-Demand and Scheduled Content: Uscreen supports both on-demand video libraries and scheduled content, allowing creators to offer a mix of pre-recorded videos and live sessions for their audience.

Pricing:- USD $99.00
per month

 

Choosing the Right Online Community Platforms

When selecting an online community platform, it’s crucial to consider factors such as the target audience, features required, budget, and scalability. Some platforms offer free plans with basic features, while others provide advanced functionalities for a subscription fee. It’s essential to assess the specific needs of the community and choose a platform that aligns with those requirements.

Define Your Goals: Determine the purpose of your community. Are you creating a support forum, a knowledge-sharing platform, or a collaborative workspace? Clarifying your objectives will help you choose the right platform.

User-Friendly Interface: Choose a platform with an intuitive and user-friendly interface. A complicated or cluttered layout can discourage users from active participation.

Scalability: Consider the potential growth of your community. Choose a platform that can accommodate a growing number of users and content without compromising performance.

Moderation and Security: Ensure the platform provides robust moderation tools to maintain a positive and respectful environment. Security features such as data encryption and user authentication are essential to protect user information.

Integration and Customization: Look for platforms that offer integration with other tools and services, allowing seamless workflow. Consider platforms that allow customization to reflect your brand identity.

Community Engagement Features: Evaluate the platform’s engagement features, such as polls, badges, gamification, and notifications. These features can enhance user participation and retention.

 

Creating and Expanding a Successful Online Community

There is more to building a successful online community than just picking the ideal platform. It necessitates managing the community, encouraging a sense of belonging among members, and active engagement. The following advice can help you create and expand a vibrant online community:

  1. Encourage Active Participation: Initiate discussions, ask questions, and encourage members to share their experiences and expertise. Actively participate in conversations to demonstrate that the community is vibrant and engaging.
  2. Moderate Effectively: Establish clear community guidelines and rules. Enforce these rules consistently to maintain a respectful and inclusive environment. Address conflicts promptly and objectively.
  3. Recognize and Reward Contributors: Acknowledge and appreciate members who actively contribute to the community. Implement a reward system, such as badges or certificates, to recognize valuable contributions.
  4. Organize Events and Activities: Host webinars, live Q&A sessions, contests, or virtual meetups to keep the community engaged. Events provide opportunities for members to interact in real-time and build connections.
  5. Promote Collaboration: Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing among members. Facilitate group projects, peer mentoring, or collaborative initiatives that align with the community’s interests.
  6. Gather Feedback: Regularly seek feedback from community members to understand their needs and preferences. Use surveys and polls to gather insights and make informed decisions to enhance the community experience.
  7. Promote Diversity and Inclusion: Foster a diverse and inclusive community where individuals from different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives feel welcome. Celebrate diversity and create an environment where everyone’s voice is valued.To sum up, online community platforms have completely changed how we communicate, work together, and learn. Individuals, companies, and organizations can build vibrant online communities that benefit members and enhance the digital landscape by selecting the appropriate platform, actively interacting with the community, and skillfully handling difficulties. In the era of digital communication, online communities are a priceless resource because they may foster meaningful connections, information sharing, and group development.