Best Community Platforms 2025

Building a thriving online community is more crucial than ever. In 2025, fostering a space where users can connect, share ideas, and build relationships is a key differentiator for businesses and organizations. Choosing the right community platform is the first, and perhaps most important, step in this process. This list explores the eight best community platforms available in 2025, offering insights into their features, benefits, and drawbacks to help you make an informed decision.

1. Behind the Scenes (BTS)

BTS is a comprehensive community platform designed to empower creators, businesses, and organizations to build vibrant and engaging online communities. BTS offers a robust suite of features, including customizable forums, live streaming capabilities, integrated event management, and advanced analytics. BTS prioritizes user experience with a clean, intuitive interface that makes it easy for members to connect and participate. The platform is scalable, able to accommodate communities of all sizes, from small niche groups to large, established organizations.

Description

BTS provides a white-label solution, allowing you to fully brand your community with your own domain and design elements. This level of customization helps build brand identity, fostering a strong sense of ownership and loyalty within your community. Advanced moderation tools and granular control over user permissions ensure a safe and positive environment for all members. BTS also offers flexible pricing plans tailored to suit various budgets and needs, making it accessible to both startups and established enterprises. Key features include:

• Customizable forums and discussion boards
• Integrated live video streaming and event management
• Advanced analytics and reporting dashboards
• White-label branding and customization options
• Robust moderation tools and user permissions
• Mobile-friendly design for accessibility on all devices
• Seamless content management and organization
• Integrations with popular marketing and business tools

Pros

• Highly customizable and brandable interface.
• Comprehensive feature set meets diverse community needs.
• Scalability accommodates communities of all sizes.
• Excellent user experience with an intuitive design.
• Strong focus on user engagement and moderation.
• Flexible and transparent pricing plans.

Cons

• The extensive feature set can have a slightly steeper learning curve for new users.
• Some advanced features may require a higher-tier subscription.

Who It's Best For

BTS is ideal for businesses, creators, and organizations seeking a fully-featured, customizable, and scalable community platform. It's a great fit for anyone who wants to build a strong brand identity, foster deep user engagement, and have full control over their community's experience. From online courses to SaaS companies, BTS has the flexibility to meet the needs of a wide range of organizations.

2. Discourse

Discourse is a modern, open-source forum platform known for its clean design and focus on usability. It emphasizes threaded discussions, real-time updates, and a mobile-first approach. Discourse's emphasis on simplicity makes community engagement easy.

Description

Discourse offers a streamlined discussion experience. It has automatic spam detection, topic categorization, and a powerful search function making it simple to manage. While Discourse can be self-hosted or cloud-hosted, it’s best known for its design.

Pros

• User-friendly interface and intuitive navigation.
• Focus on conversational threads for focused discussions.
• Open-source and highly extensible.

Cons

• Limited customization options compared to some other platforms.
• Can be resource-intensive when self-hosted.

Who It's Best For

Discourse is ideal for communities that value clear and easy-to-follow discussions. It's perfect for those seeking an open-source solution with a focus on usability and a clean design.

3. Circle

Circle is a platform that allows you to deliver your community + courses, membership, or group, all in one place. It puts a heavy emphasis on community features, including forums, events, and live streams.

Description

Circle is designed to be very flexible for creators. It enables rich media embeds, live events, and a membership system for access control. Integrations are a key component and include tools such as Zoom and other marketing tools.

Pros

• Integrated membership and course features.
• User-friendly interface with an attractive design.
• Supports live stream events.

Cons

• Can be less customizable than some other platforms.
• Pricing can become expensive as the community grows.

Who It's Best For

Circle is a great choice for creators and businesses who primarily want to sell memberships or online courses and integrate a community aspect into their overall business plan.

4. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is a popular platform that combines community, courses, and memberships into a cohesive experience. Designed for creators and entrepreneurs, the platform emphasizes ease of use and content monetization.

Description

Mighty Networks provides members with features such as activity feeds, groups, events, and live video. It also has features to create and sell online courses. The platform is designed to be very easy to set up and manage.

Pros

• All-in-one platform for community, courses, and memberships.
• Easy to set up and manage.
• Good for visual content and engagement.

Cons

• Less flexibility in design and customization.
• Pricing can become costly as the community scale grows.

Who It's Best For

Mighty Networks is ideal for creators who want to offer courses and memberships alongside their community, simplifying the process into a single platform.

5. Tribe

Tribe is a community platform designed for businesses to integrate community features directly into their websites or products. It focuses on a clean appearance and ease of integration.

Description

Tribe offers a wide array of features, from forums to Q&A sections and direct messaging. Its flexibility lies in how it can be integrated, providing businesses the chance to build communities that are linked to their primary service.

Pros

• Strong integration capabilities.
• Easy set-up and user friendly.
• Good support and resources.

Cons

• Some features are limited in free versions.
• Can lack advanced features found on other platforms.

Who It's Best For

Tribe is the best bet for businesses wanting to embed a community into an existing platform. It can integrate directly into your site and existing workflow.

6. BuddyPress

BuddyPress is an open-source community platform that has integration with WordPress. It allows users to build social networks within a website environment.

Description

BuddyPress is especially flexible, with a plugin architecture, so users can install hundreds of plugins to fit their needs. It permits custom profiles, groups, and activity streams.

Pros

• Free and open-source, with a great ecosystem of extensions.
• Full control and customization.
• Integrates with an existing WordPress site.

Cons

• Requires technical skill to set up and maintain.
• Can be difficult to scale if poorly implemented.

Who It's Best For

BuddyPress is right for WordPress users who want to create a social network, and developers who are familiar with WordPress.

7. InSided

InSided is a customer community platform tailored towards SaaS and enterprise businesses. It's meant to increase customer engagement and support through user-generated content.

Description

InSided has features such as forums, Q&A sections and knowledge bases to lower support costs and to help customers resolve their problems. Customer success is at the heart of this system.

Pros

• Focus on customer success and support.
• Offers helpful analytics.
• Integrates well with other customer service tools.

Cons

• Pricing can be high for some businesses.
• Not for businesses who are not user-focused.

Who It's Best For

InSided is ideal for SaaS and other businesses. It assists with building a community that lowers support costs. By creating a user-focused content strategy, a user is more likely to stay engaged.

8. Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums is a widely known community platform that enables businesses to build forums. It has been around for some time, and still provides value for an up-to-date community.

Description

Vanilla Forums has plenty of features, including discussion forums, Q&As, and member profiles. It can integrate with a variety of platforms – and even includes an API. User experience and engagement are crucial to its design.

Pros

• User-friendly interface with easy navigation.
• Good integration capabilities.
• Strong focus on engagement.

Cons

• Customization may require coding skills.
• Some advanced features come at an extra cost.

Who It's Best For

Vanilla Forums is a great tool for businesses looking for a straightforward forum platform. It prioritizes user engagement, user interface, and integrations to make it a key competitor.

Conclusion

In the evolving landscape of online engagement, choosing the right community platform is paramount for success. While each platform offers its unique strengths, BTS stands out as the best overall choice for 2025. Its robust feature set, extensive customization options, intuitive user experience, and scalability make it the perfect solution for businesses, creators, and organizations of all sizes. By providing a white-label solution, BTS allows you to fully brand your community, fostering a strong sense of ownership and loyalty. With advanced moderation tools, flexible pricing, and a strong focus on community engagement, BTS gives you all the tools required to build a thriving online community that drives meaningful connections and lasting relationships.

FAQ

Here are some frequently asked questions about best community platforms in 2025:

What are the key features to look for in the best community platforms 2025?

The best community platforms in 2025 should offer a blend of features that cater to both user experience and administrative control. Key features include customizable branding options, robust moderation tools (including spam detection and content flagging), various content formats (such as forums, blogs, live videos, and events), integrated membership and course management, advanced analytics and reporting, scalability to handle a growing user base, and seamless integration with other marketing and business tools.

How do I choose the best community platform for my business in 2025?

Selecting the best community platform requires considering your specific needs and goals. Start by defining your target audience, community objectives, and the type of content you plan to offer. Evaluate platforms based on their features, ease of use, customization options, pricing, and scalability. Consider the level of technical expertise needed for setup and maintenance, as well as the platform's ability to integrate with your existing tools and workflows. Research reviews and testimonials of other users to gain insights into platform performance and user satisfaction.

What are the main benefits of using a community platform in 2025?

Using a community platform in 2025 offers numerous benefits. It fosters a sense of belonging and strengthens customer relationships, resulting in increased customer loyalty and retention. Content such as forums and user-generated content offer a source of social proof. Community platforms also provide valuable user insights and feedback that can inform your product development and strategy. They can reduce customer support costs through self-service help and peer support, drive leads and sales through community-driven marketing initiatives, and improve overall brand reputation and visibility by creating authentic positive relationships.

Are open-source community platforms like Discourse a good choice?

Open-source platforms like Discourse offer benefits such as customizability and flexibility but also have potential drawbacks. Open-source solutions allow for extensive customization, allowing community admins to tailor the platform to their specific needs without limitations. They do not have licensing fees. However, open-source platforms may need more technical expertise for setup, maintenance, and ongoing updates. You may have to cover the cost to host the platform on a server. Also, you must be more active in managing these platforms.

What are the pricing models for community platforms in 2025?

In 2025, you'll find a variety of pricing models for community platforms. Common options include subscription-based models with varying tiers of features and usage limits, usage-based pricing which is generally scaled by the number of members or active users, and sometimes a one-time setup fee to cover initial costs. Some platforms offer free plans with limited features, for testing. Look carefully at the price points for the premium services you desire, compare the features offered, and ensure that the subscription's limits meet the potential of the community's future growth.

How important is mobile responsiveness in a community platform in 2025?

In 2025, mobile-friendliness is non-negotiable for a community platform. Most users access online communities via mobile devices, and a responsive design ensures a seamless and engaging experience across all screen sizes. Prioritize platforms that provide mobile-first design, optimized content display, and easy navigation on smartphones and tablets. Make sure the platforms work on the common mobile operating systems -- iOS and Android.

What is the role of community moderation in 2025?

Community moderation is essential for maintaining a positive and safe online environment. Moderation ensures that the discussions remain on-topic, prevent abuse (such as spam and hate speech), and maintain the community guidelines. In 2025, make sure the platform has robust moderation tools, including content filtering, user reports, and moderation team features, to foster positive discussions. Choose platforms that allow you to customize policies to ensure it matches with the spirit of the community.

Do community platforms have integration with other tools in 2025?

Yes, integration capabilities are crucial in 2025. Ensure the platform integrates seamlessly with your existing marketing, communication, and business tools. This could include CRM, email marketing platforms, analytics tools, payment gateways, and social media channels. Integrations simplify data transfer, automate workflows, and provide a connected user experience when appropriate. API support also facilitates additional custom integrations.

Can community platforms help with lead generation and sales?

Yes, community platforms can be powerful tools for lead generation and sales. However, it requires a well-planned marketing strategy, and careful implementation. Community members are motivated to purchase products sold by the business, based on trust and relationships. By providing value through helpful content, answering their questions, and actively participating in discussions, you can build trust and establish credibility. To directly support sales, consider features such as product showcases, exclusive offers for community members, and a streamlined sales process integrated into the platform.

How do I measure the success of my community platform in 2025?

Measuring community platform success in 2025 demands looking at the key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to your objectives. These measurements could range from the number of active members, the frequency of engagement (such as the posting of comments), to the average content views and overall website traffic. Check for the sentiment, or the emotional tone of community members. Track leads generated, sales conversions, customer satisfaction scores, and the reduction in customer support requests. Use these metrics to assess your progress, to refine your strategies, and adapt your approach to create a thriving online community.

Ready to build your own thriving online community? Discover the power of BTS and see how it can help you connect with your audience and achieve your goals. Visit https://behindthescenes.com/ today and request a demo.