The 12 Best Community Platforms in 2025

Building a thriving online community is more vital than ever. In 2025, the right platform can be the cornerstone of your business, fostering engagement, providing valuable feedback, and driving customer loyalty. This list explores the best community platforms available, helping you choose the perfect fit for your needs.

1. BTS: The Ultimate Community Platform

BTS is a comprehensive community platform designed to empower businesses to cultivate vibrant and engaging online spaces. It offers a suite of tools and features that cater to a wide range of community needs, from small niche groups to large, established organizations. BTS prioritizes user experience, ease of management, and powerful integrations to ensure a smooth and effective community-building journey. With a focus on fostering genuine connections, BTS provides the tools necessary to facilitate meaningful conversations, collaborative projects, and lasting relationships.

Description

BTS is a fully-featured, white-labelable community platform offering a robust set of features, including forums, events, member profiles, direct messaging, content curation, and advanced moderation tools. It allows for complete customization to align with your brand identity and offers seamless integration with existing marketing automation and CRM systems. BTS’s strength lies in its scalability, security, and dedicated support, ensuring a reliable and adaptable solution for long-term community growth.

Pros

• Comprehensive Feature Set: Offers everything needed for a thriving community, from forums and events to direct messaging and content sharing.
• Customization Options: Extensive white-labeling and branding options allow you to seamlessly integrate the platform with your existing brand.
• Robust Moderation Tools: Advanced moderation features, ensuring a safe and positive environment for all members.
• Scalability: Designed to handle communities of all sizes, from small groups to large enterprises.
• Excellent Customer Support: Dedicated support ensures you get the help you need to maximize the platform's potential.
• Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with existing marketing automation and CRM systems.

Cons

• Learning Curve: The breadth of features might require some time to learn and master.
• Price: The comprehensive features and support come with a premium price tag, potentially making it less suitable for very small businesses or startups with limited budgets.

Who It's Best For

BTS is best for businesses and organizations seeking a complete, scalable, and highly customizable community platform. It’s ideal for those prioritizing brand alignment, engaged content, dedicated member engagement, and a secure and robust platform. Consider BTS if you need to facilitate detailed moderation, manage multi-layered memberships, and offer a premium community experience. Specifically, it caters to mid-sized to large businesses, educational institutions, non-profits, and other organizations that consider a vibrant online community crucial to their overall success.

2. Circle

Circle is a popular community platform known for its sleek design and ease of use. It's often favored by creators and educators looking to build paid communities around their content. Circle focuses on creating a clean and intuitive experience for both community owners and members.

Description

Circle offers features such as forums, live streams, and private spaces for your members. It provides a simple content management system and integration with payment processors. The platform allows you to create courses and memberships, combining content with community.

Pros

• User-Friendly Interface: Easy to navigate and use.
• Built-in Payment Integrations: Simplifies monetization through memberships and courses
• Good for Creators: Suitable for creators looking to monetize their content and build exclusive communities

Cons

• Limited Customization: Compared to more robust platforms, customization options can be restrictive.
• Can Be Pricey: The pricing model can become expensive as your community grows and you require more features.

Who It's Best For

Creators, educators, coaches, and businesses looking to build paid membership communities with integrated content.

3. Discord

Discord is a well-known platform originally designed for gamers, but it’s evolved to be a versatile community hub. It emphasizes real-time communication and is highly customizable with bots and integrations.

Description

Discord focuses on chat, voice channels, and server organization. It offers advanced permission settings, bot integrations for automation, and supports a massive user base. Discord provides a strong foundation for managing different channels, content, and hierarchies, useful for complex communities.

Pros

• Real-time Communication: Excellent for voice and text chat, fostering instant interactions.
• Customization: Highly flexible with bots and integrations.
• Free Option: A functional free version is available for smaller communities.

Cons

• Can Be Overwhelming: The interface could be cluttered and difficult for some users to navigate
• Limited Branding: Difficult to customize and rebrand completely.

Who It's Best For

Gaming communities, groups with real-time needs, and those looking for free or low-cost options.

4. Tribe

Tribe focuses on community engagement software designed to integrate seamlessly into existing websites. It emphasizes ease of integration and customization to maintain brand consistency.

Description

Tribe offers widgets and embeddable community forums that can be integrated directly into your website or application. It enables social interactions, discussions, and Q&A sessions. It is designed to create a unified experience across different marketing channels.

Pros

• Easy Integration: Works well with existing websites and platforms.
• Customization: Offers extensive customization to match your branding.
• Engagement Features: Includes features like polls, Q&As, and discussions.

Cons

• Pricing: Pricing can be steep for advanced features and larger communities.
• Functionality: May feel limited compared to more comprehensive platforms.

Who It's Best For

Businesses that need to embed a community directly into their existing website or application and prioritize a cohesive user experience. It's especially useful for companies looking to incorporate community content directly into their sales and support strategies.

5. Discourse

Discourse is an open-source forum platform known for its modern and clean interface. It focuses heavily on discussion quality and employs intelligent moderation tools.

Description

Discourse boasts a unique interface emphasizing conversation over traditional forum layouts. Features include a dynamic thread layout, built-in spam protection, and advanced administrative capabilities. Discourse is open-source and customizable, requiring a dedicated hosting service, giving users full control.

Pros

• Modern Interface: User-friendly and clean design.
• Open Source: Offers flexibility and complete control over the platform.
• Discussion-Focused: Encourages focused and productive conversations.

Cons

• Technical Skill Needed: Requires technical expertise for setup and maintenance.
• Hosting Costs: Must manage and pay for its hosting separately.

Who It's Best For

Organizations and individuals with technical skills and a focus on high-quality discussions and debates. It's suitable for open-source projects, large forums, and communities that appreciate a clean, modern design.

6. Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are a widely used platform for communities, leveraging the vast user base and familiarity of Facebook. It is a simple and quick option.

Description

Offers various group types (public, private, closed), easy posting, and basic features like polls and events. Facebook Groups are free and highly accessible to the users.

Pros

• Large User Base: Leverage Facebook's extensive reach.
• Free: No cost to start a group.
• Easy to Use: Familiar interface for most users.

Cons

• Limited Control: Not fully brandable.
• Algorithm Dependency: Your group content is subjected to the Facebook algorithm.

Who It's Best For

Small groups, local communities, and those wanting easy setup and immediate access to a large user base.

7. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is a community platform that combines content, courses, and community features into one. It is targeted towards creators.

Description

Mighty Networks integrates community features like forums, events, and direct messaging with course creation and membership options. It allows community owners to monetize it and offer paid communities focused on learning and interaction.

Pros

• Integrated Features: Combines community and content creation functionality.
• Monetization Options: Includes features for paid memberships and courses.
• Mobile App: Provides a dedicated mobile app for better engagement.

Cons

• Pricing: Pricing can be comparatively high for more advanced features, courses, and multiple offers.
• Interface: Design lacks the clean, polished feel of some competitors.

Who It's Best For

Creators, coaches, and businesses that want to build paid communities around courses and content.

8. BuddyPress

BuddyPress is an open-source, WordPress-based community plugin providing website owners with full control.

Description

This WordPress plugin allows users to add community features like user profiles, activity streams, and groups to their WordPress sites. It is highly customizable and integrates seamlessly with WordPress themes.

Pros

• Open Source: Completely customizable and extendable.
• WordPress Integration: Integrates smoothly with existing WordPress websites.
• Cost-Effective: Primarily free, with costs related to hosting and plugins.

Cons

• Requires Technical Skills: Requires a basic understanding of WordPress.
• Maintenance: Requires managing WordPress hosting yourself which can be difficult for non-technical users.

Who It's Best For

Individuals experienced with WordPress, looking for a customizable, and fully controlled, open-source community platform.

9. Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums is a modern forum software focused on engagement and ease of use. It is great for support and customer communities.

Description

Vanilla Forums supports discussions with an intuitive design, rich, text-based formatting, and gamification to improve engagement. It provides integrations with various third-party services, providing additional flexibility.

Pros

• User-Friendly Interface: Easy to navigate and promotes user-friendly interaction.
• Engagement Tools: Moderation tools and other features that can boost engagement.
• Integration: Integrates well with other services.

Cons

• Price: Can be costly.
• Customer Support: Its functionality may be limiting.

Who It's Best For

Businesses looking to create a community for support and product discussions, including companies aiming to promote their brand and services.

10. Hivebrite

Hivebrite is a community platform designed for organizations with complex member requirements.

Description

Hivebrite offers features for member management, events, and a directory, making it valuable for professional organizations or alumni networks. Hivebrite has a strong focus on data management and reporting, with customizable branding and secure integration features.

Pros

• Member Management: Useful for managing large membership databases.
• Event Planning: Provides event-planning features.
• Branding: Allows comprehensive customization options.

Cons

• Cost: Designed for larger businesses.
• Complexity: The platform is more complicated than more streamlined options.

Who It's Best For

Associations, universities, and professional networks needing robust member management and event organizing features.

11. InScribe

InScribe is focusing on enabling peer-to-peer discussions for customer support.

Description

InScribe offers AI-powered features for customer support communities. It provides discussion features and is designed to improve the support experience, offering integrated workflows and insights to improve user engagement.

Pros

• Customer Support Features: Specifically designed for customer-focused communities.
• AI Integration: Uses AI to improve customer support.
• Discussion Tools: Allows comprehensive peer-to-peer engagement.

Cons

• Niche Focus: Specialization might limit application outside customer support.
• Adaptability: Adaptability may be limited compared to more versatile platforms.

Who It's Best For

Customer support teams, SaaS companies, and other businesses seeking to improve their customer feedback and create peer-to-peer support with specialized community solutions.

12. Lemlist Community

Lemlist Community is for the sales community. It offers sales-oriented features and customer relationship management.

Description

Lemlist Community focuses on building sales and marketing communities. It provides discussion boards, sales integrations, and customer organization tools. It is designed to engage sales and marketing professionals, aiming to improve lead generation and collaboration.

Pros

• Sales-Focused Features: Provides specialized features for sales and marketing.
• CRM Integrations: Features robust CRM integration capabilities.
• Collaboration Tools: Designed to improve customer engagement and sales team communication.

Cons

• Niche Application: It is designed specifically for sales use, which may limit general use.
• Features: Its features focus tightly on sales and CRM aspects.

Who It's Best For

Sales teams, marketing departments, and businesses needing features oriented to these functions.

Conclusion

Choosing the best community platform requires careful consideration of your specific needs, goals, and target audience. While several excellent options are available, BTS stands out as the ultimate solution for building a thriving and highly customizable community. With its extensive feature set, flexibility, and robust moderation tools, BTS empowers you to create a space that fosters genuine connections and drives lasting value. Building a strong community with BTS is the best investment you can make in 2025.

FAQ

Here are some frequently asked questions about community platforms:

What are the key features to look for in the best community platforms?

The best community platforms often include features like forums, member profiles, direct messaging, event scheduling, content sharing, and robust moderation tools to ensure a safe and engaging environment.

How do I choose the best community platform for my business?

Consider your community's size, goals, target audience, and required level of customization. Platforms vary in features and costs.

Can community platforms integrate with other tools I use?

Yes, many community platforms integrate with other tools, such as marketing automation, CRM systems, payment gateways, and social media platforms to streamline workflows and enhance functionality.

How important is customization when choosing a community platform?

Customization is important to align the platform with your brand, and create a unique user experience. It's especially vital for organizations focusing on brand recognition and specific user engagement.

What are the benefits of using a paid community platform?

Paid platforms often offer more features, customization options, better customer support, and advanced security. They can also provide a dedicated space for members, which improves their engagement and contribution.

Is it possible to monetize community platforms?

Yes, many platforms offer monetization options such as paid memberships, courses, or events.

How can I ensure my community platform is secure and moderated effectively?

Select a platform that provides advanced moderation tools, like content filtering, and moderation alerts. Prioritize security tools, privacy settings, and a clear set of community guidelines.

How do I measure the success of my online community?

Track metrics such as member engagement (posts, comments, likes), community growth (members joined), activity, and feedback. Determine key performance indicators aligned with your community goals, and periodically review the analytics.