Private online community platforms

Private online community platforms: six options and how each limits access

Six platforms let a group control who joins: Mighty Networks, Circle, Skool, Heartbeat, Discourse and Discord. The table compares how each of these private community platforms lets people in and what outsiders can see.

As read on 4 October 2026, the Mighty Networks entry plan, Launch, costs $95 a month, billed monthly, or $79 a month, billed annually ($950 a year). Mighty Networks calls the community a Network, a section of it with its own members and privacy setting a Space, and the person or organization that creates and pays for the Network the Host.

Entry price, how people get in and what outsiders can see

Outsiders means people who are not members; a cell names search engines only where the vendor's page does. No help page behind this table names a plan for an access setting, so the price column shows entry prices only.

Privacy on Mighty Networks: three ways in, and a setting for every Space

A Host picks one of three ways into a Network: Accessible Through Plans, Invite-Only or Anyone Can Join. A new Network starts as Invite-Only, which means access by invite with no payment, approval or screening questions. Mighty Networks says most Hosts use plans instead, for flexibility in how people join, and does not recommend Anyone Can Join for most Networks.

Every Space has its own join setting and starts as Invite-Only. A Space can be set so that only people who joined it see its content and members, and it can be hidden from navigation and search for everyone else. Mighty Networks Spaces covers how Spaces are built. The Host owns the list of member emails and may not sell it.

The pricing grid lists optional multi-factor authentication from Launch, control of search indexing for posts and profiles from Scale, and single sign-on from Growth. The documented limit: Mighty Networks does not offer HIPAA compliance and does not support SAML 2.0. Is Mighty Networks legit covers its security statements.

Which private platform to pick, by kind of group

• Mighty Networks Launch for a members-only community with courses, events or paid plans: three ways in at Network level, a privacy setting for every Space and unlimited Spaces.
• Discourse Pro, $100 a month, for a private forum: its pricing table lists custom private categories from Pro, and its guides describe login-required and invite-only site settings that keep out anyone without an account.
• Skool for the lowest paid price in the table, Hobby at $9 a month, billed monthly, with invite links and membership questions.
• Heartbeat for an invitation-only group; Build, $49 a month, billed monthly, holds up to 350 members.
• Circle for a community that sends people from a custom sign-up link to a paywall checkout; Professional is $89 a month, billed annually.
• Discord for a private chat: a "private" server limits access to the members the owner names, and no server plan is sold.

A private group on Facebook can stay, because Facebook says it does not charge people to use Facebook; Mighty Networks vs Facebook Groups sets the two side by side. Best free community platforms covers the no-cost options.

The privacy settings can be tried first: the 14-day free trial of Mighty Networks needs no credit card, and search indexing stays off during it.