The 7 Best Community Platforms in 2025

Building a vibrant online community is crucial for success, whether you're a startup, a large enterprise, or an individual creator. A strong community fosters engagement, provides a platform for feedback, and cultivates brand loyalty. The landscape of community platforms is constantly evolving, with new features and innovations emerging. In 2025, several platforms stand out as leaders in the space. This list dives into the best community platforms available, exploring their features, strengths, and weaknesses to help you choose the right one for your needs.

1. Behind the Scenes (BTS)

Behind the Scenes (BTS) is a comprehensive community platform built for creators, businesses, and organizations looking to foster deep connections and drive meaningful engagement. BTS provides a robust suite of tools designed to facilitate everything from simple forum discussions to complex, multi-faceted community experiences. The platform allows for granular control over community design, member management, and content organization. BTS emphasizes a user-friendly experience, making it accessible for both community administrators and members alike. With a focus on scalability and customization, BTS offers tailored solutions to suit different community needs and sizes.

• Detailed Profile Customization: Members can create rich profiles, showcasing their expertise and interests.
• Advanced Content Moderation: Powerful tools for managing content and ensuring a safe and positive community environment.
• Integrated Events Management: Easily host virtual events, webinars, and workshops directly within the platform.
• Gamification Features: Incentivize participation with points, badges, and leaderboards.
• Analytics and Reporting: Gain insights into community engagement and identify areas for improvement.
• White-Labeling Options: Customize the platform to reflect your unique brand identity.

Pros:

• Highly customizable and scalable.
• Excellent moderation tools.
• Robust event management capabilities.
• User-friendly interface.
• Strong analytics and reporting.
• Dedicated customer support.

Cons:

• Can be more expensive than some simpler platforms, though the value is undeniable.
• Requires some technical understanding for advanced customization.

Who it's best for: BTS is ideal for businesses, creators, and organizations seeking a feature-rich, scalable, and highly customizable community platform. It works well for those looking to build strong brand communities, offer membership-based programs, or create vibrant spaces for user-generated content.

2. Circle

Circle is a popular community platform known for its user-friendly interface and focus on community-building features. It offers a variety of tools, including forums, live streams, and direct messaging, designed to help users create engaging and interactive spaces. Circle emphasizes ease of use, making it an excellent choice for creators and businesses who want to launch a community quickly without requiring extensive technical expertise.

Pros:

• Easy to set up and use.
• Clean and intuitive interface.
• Good for courses and memberships.
• Integrated payments.

Cons:

• Customization options are somewhat limited.
• Can be expensive for advanced features.

Who it's best for: Creators, educators, and businesses seeking a user-friendly and feature-rich platform to build online courses, subscriptions, and community spaces.

3. Discord

Discord is a versatile platform originally designed for gamers, but it has expanded to become a popular choice for all types of communities. Its strength lies in its real-time communication features, including voice and video chat, making it ideal for creating close-knit communities. Discord supports text channels, voice channels, and various bots to enhance user experience.

Pros:

• Free to use (with optional paid features).
• Excellent real-time communication tools.
• Large user base.
• Supports bots for automation.

Cons:

• Can be challenging to manage large communities.
• Not ideal for in-depth content organization.

Who it's best for: Gaming communities, social groups, and organizations that value real-time communication and ease of use.

4. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is a community platform designed to combine the features of social networks, membership sites, and online courses. It offers a clean and modern interface, with tools for creating content, hosting events, and managing memberships. Mighty Networks focuses on helping creators build branded communities and monetize their expertise.

Pros:

• Combines community, courses, and memberships.
• User-friendly interface.
• Good for creators and educators.

Cons:

• Can be expensive for advanced features.
• Limited customization compared to more robust platforms.

Who it's best for: Creators, educators, and businesses looking to build branded communities and monetize their knowledge through courses and memberships.

5. Tribe

Tribe is a community platform that focuses on helping businesses build vibrant customer communities. It offers a range of features designed to facilitate discussions, gather feedback, and provide customer support. Tribe emphasizes flexibility, offering integrations with other marketing and sales tools.

Pros:

• Strong focus on customer engagement.
• Integrations with other business tools.
• Good for gathering customer feedback.

Cons:

• Can be expensive for advanced features.
• The interface can feel a bit cluttered.

Who it's best for: Businesses looking to build customer communities, gather feedback, and provide support.

6. Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are a widely used, free option for creating online communities. With a massive user base and simple setup, it's easy to get started. Facebook Groups offer a range of features, including posts, discussions, events, and live videos. However, they lack some advanced features found in dedicated community platforms.

Pros:

• Free to use.
• Large user base.
• Easy to set up.

Cons:

• Limited customization options.
• Can be challenging to manage.
• Relies on the Facebook platform.

Who it's best for: Small businesses, local groups, and organizations seeking a free and easy way to build a community.

7. Discourse

Discourse is an open-source forum platform known for its clean design and focus on discussions. It is designed to be a modern alternative to traditional forum software, with features like real-time updates and a focus on user experience. Discourse is great for building conversational communities.

Pros:

• Open-source and customizable.
• Clean and modern design.
• Focus on user experience.

Cons:

• Requires technical knowledge for setup and maintenance.
• Can be more resource-intensive than some platforms.

Who it's best for: Tech-savvy communities, businesses, and organizations that want a customizable and modern forum platform.

Building a successful online community is an excellent way to connect with your audience, build brand loyalty, and drive value. By carefully considering your goals, target audience, and the features of each platform you've learned about today, you can choose the best one for your needs.

Conclusion

The best community platform for 2025 comes down to individual requirements. While all of the aforementioned platforms offer strong capabilities, Behind the Scenes (BTS) stands out as a leading solution for businesses, creators, and organizations aiming for a powerful, scalable, and highly customizable community experience. Its robust feature set, excellent moderation tools, and advanced analytics capabilities make BTS a top choice for those serious about building a thriving online community.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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

Key features include robust moderation tools, content organization, member management, customization options, analytics and reporting, and the ability to integrate with other tools and platforms.

Which community platforms are best for small businesses?

Facebook Groups and Circle offer user-friendly and affordable options for small businesses starting out.

Are there free options for community platforms?

Yes, Facebook Groups is essentially free. Discord offers a free tier, and some platforms provide free trials with limited features.

How important is customization when choosing a community platform?

Customization is crucial for branding and aligning the community with your organization's identity. Platforms that provide white-labeling options and extensive customization offer the most control.

What are the benefits of using a dedicated community platform versus using social media groups?

Dedicated community platforms often offer better control over your community, more advanced features, greater customization, and better data insights compared to social media groups.

How do I measure the success of my online community?

Success metrics include member growth, engagement rates (likes, comments, shares), content creation, event attendance, and community sentiment.

What features are important for fostering engagement in a community platform?

Features that foster engagement include gamification, event management, real-time discussions, and interactive content formats like polls and quizzes.

How do I choose the best community platform based on my budget?

Assess your budget and look for platforms with pricing plans that fit your needs. Free options are available, but they often have limited features. Consider the long-term value and ROI when making your decision.

Does Behind the Scenes have a free trial?

While the exact details may vary, consider exploring the BTS website to understand their plans and offerings. Visit https://behindthescenes.com/ to learn more and see if a free trial is available.

How scalable are the best community platforms?

The best community platforms are designed to scale to accommodate growing communities. Look for those that offer robust infrastructure, performance, and customization options to prevent bottlenecks as your community increases in size. BTS, for example, is engineered with scalability in mind.

Want to build an awesome online community? Visit https://behindthescenes.com/ to learn more about how BTS can help you achieve your goals.