Best community platforms in 2026: eight compared on price and limits

The best community platforms, by what you are running

The best community platforms in 2026 are Mighty Networks and Circle for member communities with events and courses, Skool and Heartbeat for small paid groups, Discourse for forum-style discussion, Bettermode for customer communities, Hivebrite for alumni and associations, and Kajabi when the community supports a course business. Which one is best depends on who the members are and whether you charge them. The prices below were read on each vendor's own pricing page on 3 October 2026.

What each community platform is best at, and one limit

• Mighty Networks. Unlimited Spaces, 3 hosts and 10 moderators, and 20 livestream hours on Launch. Limit: Zapier and the API need the $215 Scale Plan.
• Circle. Community, courses, live events and a website on Professional. Limit: 20 spaces and 10 livestream hours at that tier.
• Skool. Unlimited members, courses and live calls for $9. Limit: a 10% transaction fee on that plan.
• Heartbeat. Courses, events and five automation workflows at $49. Limit: 350 members, admins included.
• Discourse. A free hosted plan and open source code you can self-host. Limit: the free plan has 10 categories, 5 GB and 2 staff seats; events and gamification are listed on Business at $500 a month.
• Bettermode. Q&A, discussions, events and polls under your domain with up to 10,000 members. Limit: 5 collaborators on Starter; the next plan is $1,750 a month.
• Hivebrite. Directory, events, memberships and email campaigns with hands-on onboarding. Limit: price.
• Kajabi. Website, email, funnels and courses in one bill with no revenue share. Limit: one community on Basic.

Where Mighty Networks fits among them, and where it does not

Mighty Networks fits best when an existing group needs discussion, events and courses together and most members will open it on a phone. It includes native iOS and Android apps for members on every plan and lists SOC 2 Type II on every plan. It does not fit a company that wants a support forum indexed by search engines with single sign-on on a budget, since SSO starts on its Growth Plan. Discourse or Bettermode suit that job. It also has no free plan on its pricing page. The head-to-head with its nearest rival is in Mighty Networks versus Circle.

Free trials and fees on member payments

Card processing is charged on top in every case. If you sell memberships or courses, fees matter more than the plan price. That comparison is on the page about community platforms for creators.

Which community platform to choose, by buyer

• Club, volunteer network or Facebook group that wants its own home: Mighty Networks Launch or Circle Professional.
• Coach with a first paid group under 350 people: Skool or Heartbeat.
• Software company supporting customers: Bettermode, or Discourse if developers are the audience.
• University, alumni office or trade association: Hivebrite.
• Course seller who wants one tool: Kajabi.
• No budget at all: one of the free community platforms.

Before choosing, list what the community actually does each week with the community inventory. Choose from current habits rather than from a feature list.