Circle is an amazing online community tool that many producers use to manage and increase their membership. However, there are some drawbacks of the platform that cause creators to leave this platform and search for other options.
So, if you want to start an online group and monetize it as a newbie, or if you want to use the right tools to grow your membership community, now is the time to look at your options.
In this post, we'll go over the ten top budget-friendly Circle community alternatives to help you select the perfect option for you and your members. Let's dive in!
What’s an Online Community Platform?
It’s a space or channel that gives a group of people a chance to share content, ideas, experiences, feelings, and so on. And, the main point here is sharing.
In an online group, the admin and its members help grow the community and interact with each other. Thanks to this, the group gets all the engagement and its followers find the needed info.
Based on a report by Tintup, 73.6% of people are more likely to buy from a brand more often because of an online brand community. And, it is an 8% increase from 2022. |
Also read: How Do You Build A Community From Scratch
Overview of Circle Community Platform
Circle is an online community-based platform where you can make forums, host events, and charge your members to join.
The Circle community platform is pretty famous for helping creators to build and control online groups. Not to mention that it has many useful options like public and private spaces, a dashboard, a course builder, and so on.
Besides that, you can build spaces where your members can talk, ask queries, and share their thoughts or memes. And, these forums help convert new members into loyal followers.
On top of that, the Circle community lets your members send private messages or join group chats. This thing is also amazing as your members can stay in touch and have real-time chats with you.
Moreover, you can do live events about training sessions or share Q&A sessions directly on the platform. If you want to offer lessons or coaching, it lets you make and share courses too.
This platform also gives you different ways to organize and show your content. Whether it's for a course, discussion, or live session, you can modify or set up your community.
But that’s not all! You see, it helps make money from the community as a standout item. Plus, you can charge for memberships, courses, or special events. And, it lets you turn your group into a way to earn income by switching it to paid space.
Top Features of Circle Community
As a clueless fellow, you might want to know the features of the Circle community. Here’s a look at some of its top traits:
1. Do Countless Events
With the Circle community, you can host many offline or online events. And, the coolest part is that you can make separate spaces for different types of events. It also lets your members RSVP with just one click.
2. Gain Customizable Access and Payments
You have the flexibility to gate (restrict access) or un-gate (open up access) different areas of this community. And, it lets you collect subscription fees and accept payments directly via the platform. Plus, it lets you do upsells, cross-sells, and trials to help you grow your followers.
3. Enjoy Group Chat Rooms
Circle community offers a fantastic space for group interactions. And, it lets you invite up to 50 members into a group chat room to talk or share stuff. With this, you can add admins and moderators to manage the chats.
4. Use White-Label Customization
You can modify the look and feel of your community to match your brand. Besides, its community gives the option for you to use a custom domain or URL to have an individual brand feel.
5. Find Interactive Discussion Forums
By using this, you can ensure that all your members can freely share their opinions and discuss various topics in the discussion forums. And, this feature helps keep chats engaging and meaningful.
6. Share the Content and Courses
You can easily upload content or courses in the Circle community with no trouble. Thanks to this, your users can have quick and easy access to all the files they need.
7. Do High-quality Live Streaming
Circle as a community lets you host live streaming with your followers or members. With this, you can go live and talk to your members in HQ video. Along with that, you can easily explain concepts, add Q&A sessions, or simply connect with your group.
8. Utilize Member Profiles and Customization Tools
You can build detailed member profiles and use diverse customization tools to improve your community. Plus, it offers workflow options to help you manage and grow your group effectively.
Circle Community Pros
This platform, with its clean and simple design, is ideal for creating an online community.
It provides flexible spaces called Spaces to allow your members to communicate with one another.
This can be integrated with a wide range of third-party tools, including Zapier, Code snippets, Google Analytics, and more.
It allows you to make modifications to page block parts such as banners, descriptions, courses, and CTAs.
As a user, you can manage member billing, add moderators, modify group settings, delete posts, and edit comments.
This provides activity scores so you can see which members are increasing your group's involvement.
You can use analytics tools to monitor the group's growth and performance.
Circle Community Cons
It doesn’t have the appearance or options like other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and so on.
Even if you’ll find the 14 days of free trial on all the plans, it doesn’t offer a free plan.
If you prefer to have better UI customization options, it doesn’t offer much. And, you can make changes with logos, colors, and so on. But, it’s pretty limited.
You’ll find all the necessary tools for analytics with filtering options on only the Enterprise plan.
This platform doesn’t have native emailing options. Due to this, it seems bad for email marketing purposes.
It can often crash or show bizarre bugs especially when you try to hit the like option or scroll down.
You’ll find the mobile app option weird as it has no vibe of a community platform.
With the community onboarding, it offers tons of default notifications to new members who joined your group.
Circle Community Pricing
Basic: $49 per month.
Professional: $99 per month.
Business: $219 per month.
Enterprise: $399 per month.
Premium Member Experience: Custom pricing plan.
Why Look for Circle Community Alternatives?
There are a lot of reasons why creators look for Circle community alternatives. Based on real facts, here are a few things that make users look for another platform:
Less Creation Option
Due to limitations and UI design, you’ll find fewer creative options in the Circle community. This is also one of the reasons why folks choose to go with another platform that lets one create and host the features without restrictions.
Average Member Interaction
Another reason why people ditch this platform is due to the boring and outdated options given in the chats. Instead of that, creators look for ways to help members connect beyond just commenting. Plus, Circle doesn’t offer attractive member profiles and helpful tools for engagement. And so, people look for an alternative.
Limited Communication Methods
In case of interaction or communication with your followers, the Circle community lacks in this sector. Because of that, a lot of people leave it and look for a platform that offers many ways to connect, like discussions, chat, messaging, and live streaming.
Lacking in Course Integration
Circle community may work great for some. But, a lot of people find its learning management system (LMS) useless. And so, they go for another platform to find better LMS to make live or recorded courses.
No Free Plan
The worst thing about the Circle community is that you get no free plan option. And, you might find 14 days of trial on each plan but there’s no free plan with limited options. For that reason, people often search for an alternative.
Glitch or Crash Issue
One of the most common complaints given by users in the Circle community is the nonstop crashes and glitches. Because of that, most people search for another platform with a better system and UI design.
10 Best Budget-Friendly Circle Community Alternatives
Let’s guide you through the top ten community platforms that are similar to Circle and easy on the budget. Some of them even offer more features for about the same price as Circle while others lack:
#1. EzyCourse - Best Budget-friendly Alternative to Circle Community
As the finest Circle community alternative, EzyCourse is an all-in-one online platform. And, it lets you sell memberships, add courses, do coaching, try email marketing, and so on.
One of its best features is that it lets you set up a community on your website like a Circle community. With this, you can create a feed where your community can post updates. And, it offers its chat inside a messenger-like space for private or group chats.
Moreover, you can share images, videos, files, and even make polls or try all the stuff to engage your followers. Plus, it lets you enjoy using community-based features as a creator that comes at $59 per month for the Essential plan.*
You as a user also have full control over your community with EzyCourse. In fact, you can decide what members can share and whether they can post files, images, or videos. It also allows you to host events or go live whenever you want, all with a simple setup.
The coolest part of this community is that you’ll get a branded mobile app option. This also means you and your members can stay connected even when you’re on the go. And, your members can interact from their phones using the LMS mobile app.
Besides, it offers the Magic Checkout tool to help you see how your community is engaging with your content. This also gives you helpful insights into how members are interacting with what you offer.
Plus, this online course platform helps you make money. And, you can offer both free and paid memberships. It also means you can make special content just for paying members. Apart from that, you can do email marketing or affiliate and so on stuff as a side gig.
To sum up, EzyCourse is a great option if you want to build an online community for your courses or other stuff. It also offers simple tools to connect with your members, make money, and manage your community.
Top Features of EzyCourse Community
Unlimited discussion channels per community.
Group and private chat inside the community.
Decide if your posts are Public, Private, Hidden, or Restricted to control who can see and interact with them.
Create and design channels as premium, locked, or other types to keep your content sorted.
Offers one-time payments or subscription plans for your paid groups.
Schedule, save, or share posts across different groups using built-in tools.
Find group and private chat features to connect instantly with your members.
Add polls, backgrounds, votes, coupons, and questions to make your posts more fascinating.
Get real-time push notifications, pop-ups, and email alerts to keep up with community activities.
Includes built-in SEO tools and analytics to see how well the community is doing.
Branded Android & iOS app to host courses, community, and other content.
EzyCourse Pros
Attractive social-media style platform.
The platform comes with many tools and features that can help you create and manage your content.
EzyCourse suits all types of creators including a blogger, teacher, or business owner.
Get your mobile app to host your courses, content, and communities under your brand.
Simple to share photos, videos, files, links, quizzes, and more based on what your community needs.
Take benefits of memberships to offer the latest content or perks to members.
You get alerts right away to never miss a message or needed update on your dashboard.
There are options for selling digital or physical items.
Find upsell and cross-sell options on items or services to boost your sales.
Get detailed insights to help you grow your community effectively.
EzyCourse Cons
Frequent feature updates might require some time to fully adapt to the platform.
There isn't a free plan available.
EzyCourse Pricing
Essential: $59 per month
Pro: $139 per month
Unlimited: $199 per month
Elite: $299 per month
*pricing may be subject to change
#2 Heartbeat
Heartbeat is a great platform that’s trying to follow in the footsteps of Circle. It also offers a range of features that make it easy to create and manage your community.
To mention a few, you can write detailed posts, leave comments, send messages, and share videos with this platform. Plus, it lets you do all these using any device including a computer, tablet, or phone.
One of the cool things about it is that you can host your group, events, and content on your website. This is also great if you want to have a personalized experience. You can also schedule posts in advance, so you don’t have to worry about posting every day.
Plus, you can set up direct message campaigns and email sequences to keep your members engaged. It also lets you organize by making sub-communities, interest groups, and special cohorts with different access levels.
When it comes to events, this platform makes it simple for you to set up and start charging for them. You can also set ticket prices or even offer pay-what-you-can options. Overall, it is one of the popular Circle.so alternatives with a lot to offer for creating and managing content.
Top Features of Heatbeat Community
Includes monthly, annually, weekly, quarterly, one-off, or in installment plans.
Add up to 1,000+ members to a single group.
Integrates with useful tools like Pabbly, Zoom, and Google Calendar.
Upsell and drip course content included.
Offers public and private groups.
Allows to have custom domain and brand colors.
Report and analytics tools added.
Heatbeat Pros
It offers a real-time chat option for an easy and effective chat experience with members.
You’ll find event options to host both public and private events.
This platform supports up to 150+ currencies to accept payment.
It has a feedback option on how your group is doing.
With this platform, you can put on chats, discussions, documents, and live events.
Heatbeat Cons
Fewer options for membership courses.
Only accepts Stripe for payments.
Heatbeat Pricing
Starter: $49 per month
Growth: $129 per month
Business: Customized pricing plan
#3 Mighty Networks
Mighty Networks is a strong choice if you’re looking for an alternative to Circle. And, it offers many features that can help you build and manage your community easily.
One of the standout features of Mighty Networks is its flexible Spaces in which you can host different activities. In fact, it lets you host discussions, live stream events, run virtual meetings, or offer courses.
You can also use different templates to set up your community. Plus, there are options like chat rooms, news feeds, cohort courses, content-only courses, events, conferences, pages, and resource libraries.
When new members join, you can use the customizable checklists to welcome them using this platform. This also helps them get familiar with your community and feel connected right away.
In general, it is a powerful platform with lots of features to help you build and manage a community. And, if you don’t want to compromise glitch issues, you can look for the alternative of Mighty Networks.
Top Features of Mighty Networks Community
5+ hours of timeline for live sessions.
Token-gate memberships and courses.
Get limitless members, hosts, and moderators.
Provides 14 days of free trials.
Contains hidden plans, bundles, and discounts.
Charge on-time and subscription fees.
Integrate with built-in ConvertKit.
Mighty Networks Pros
You can use profile assist, chats, icebreaker questions, and so on options.
Offers good apps that work on Android and iOS devices.
This platform supports up to 135 currencies or token-gate.
Sell courses, memberships, and so on with no hassle.
Mighty Co-Host AI helps to build, edit, or generate community-related activities.
Mighty Networks Cons
Difficult-to-use interface.
No features for adding fun challenges or rewards.
Mighty Networks Pricing
Community: $49 per month
Courses: $199 per month
Business: $219 per month
Path-to-Pro: $360 per month
Mighty Pro: Customized pricing plan
#4 Kajabi
If you're a creator or entrepreneur who wants a community similar to Circle, Kajabi could be just what you need. It also offers tools to help you make and grow paid membership communities around your courses, ideas, and services.
This also allows you to create a space where your members feel truly connected to you and each other. And, this platform lets you engage with your members through live videos, events, RSVPs, challenges, and private groups.
Not to mention that it is great when it comes to pricing. Unlike some platforms that charge you extra for things like adding more admins or moderators, its communities offer clear and simple pricing.
You can also use news feeds, chats, direct messages, calls, leaderboards, challenges, and polls to keep things interesting. Plus, there are flexible payment options for your members. And, you can use community analytics to see how well your group is doing.
Besides, it lets you connect your community with your courses, coaching, podcasts, and more. But, you can search for alternatives to Kajabi if you can’t sacrifice limited features.
Top Features of the Kajabi Community
Tools to create and manage courses.
Get options for forums and chat.
Includes email marketing and automation tools.
Offers analytics and reporting options.
Make money via subscriptions and one-time sales.
Ass built-in customer relationship management (CRM) system
Gives options for discussions and events.
Kajabi Community Pros
A good system for online courses with features like delivering courses, scheduling content, and managing assignments.
It has tools to create sales funnels, landing pages, and send emails.
The pricing is reasonable for a community platform.
Provides extra analytics to help you track how active and engaged your community is.
It comes with its own branded app.
Kajabi Community Cons
No option to use a custom brand name app.
This has a steep learning curve.
Kajabi Pricing
Kickstarter: $69 per month
Basic: $149 per month
Growth: $199 per month
Pro: $399 per month
#5 Bettermode
Bettermode (formally Tribe) is an ideal choice for an inexpensive alternative to Circle community. In fact, it is a platform for building good communities and ensuring all followers stay in one place. But it shines when engaging with buyers through feedback and open chats.
One of the best things about this platform is its customizable options. With this, you can pick from different layout options and color schemes. And, it lets you set up custom domains to fit your brand.
This platform also has a modular UI design that allows you to do anything to work as a creator. And, it lets you add features like discussion forums, Q&A sections, polls, and events to grow your community. This flexibility also helps you adapt the platform to your needs.
Plus, it works well with other tools like CRM systems and email marketing platforms. Its API also allows for even more customization and integration with your existing processes.
In short, this offers many options for tailoring and growing your online community. It is also a strong choice for businesses looking to connect with their followers.
Top Features of Bettermode Community
Add features like discussions, polls, Q&As, and options to share content.
Modify your community with your domain, logo, email address, and more.
Includes Blocks to make unique communities.
Offers private messaging to share content with others.
Options to adjust the layout of your header, sidebar navigation, and top bar.
Get a Design Studio to make and design your groups.
Bettermode Pros
With this, you can create private spaces to add feeds, posts, and so on.
It offers many tools for gamification and moderation.
This platform includes a custom website builder.
You can directly integrate it with tools like Zapier, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk, Amplitude, and FullStory.
It's a great choice for creators who want to raise buyer engagement and gather feedback.
Bettermode Cons
Lacking monetization features.
No live events are included.
Bettermode Pricing
Free: $0 per month
Lite: $24 per month
Pro: $59 per month
Business: $119 per month
#6 Slack
Slack is a popular community platform that a lot of creators use for its pricing. It also allows you to keep conversations organized and make communication easier. You’ll find options like asking queries or adding content to the community.
This also lets you start a quick voice or video call with anyone in your Slack workspace. So, you don’t need to use separate apps like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. And, it helps reduce the need for emails and keeps everything more streamlined.
Plus, Slack's chat interface is pretty user-friendly so that you can easily navigate or control the group or audience. It also lets your users do private or one-on-one interactions.
Besides, it lets you add images, videos, documents, and checklists. Plus, you can move things around as needed to design the community. This platform is also great for groups that like to collaborate visually. Thus, Slack is considered a handy Circle alternative.
However, it doesn’t offer custom branding or monetization options for some creators. Also, while finding old messages or files is straightforward, it can be a bit confusing for new users. If you find it overwhelming, you might want to check out Slack alternatives.
Top Features of Slack Community
Integrate 2,500+ apps.
Allows channels and messages.
Get options like video calling and huddles.
Include Slack’s internal search function.
Share files and documents in most forms.
AI tools and Slackbot added.
Consist in built-in automated workflows.
Slack Pros
Easy to make channels for diverse topics, projects, or groups.
You can integrate with other tools like Google Drive, Trello, and Zoom.
With this platform, you can automate tasks like reminders, polls, or moderate content.
Takes no effort to share files, images, and documents.
The free plan offers 10,000 searchable messages with 1:1 voice and video calls.
Slack Cons
No option to make money directly.
Missing custom branding option.
Slack Pricing
Free: $0 per month
Pro: $4.38 per month
Business+: $15 per month
Enterprise Grid: Customized pricing plan
#7 Thinkific
Thinkific is well-known as a top e-learning platform that offers a reliable and affordable community. It’s also a good place for tutors, creators, and businesses that want to mix educational content in a group.
With this platform, you can sell items like your courses, memberships, or bundles. Even if you don’t have a product yet, this gives you a chance to upsell. And, you can sell your content under your brand name to get the benefit of full white-label branding.
Furthermore, it offers a Communities Analytics Dashboard that lets you track how many members are active in your community.
It also has great options that you get in a community like quizzes, webinars, surveys, and ways to get feedback from your students. Thanks to this, these features make it better than some of its competitors.
Thus, the Thinkific community can be a good choice as Circle.so alternative. However, you can’t customize the community feed or gamification using this platform. If these are important to you, it’s better to look for Thinkific alternatives.
Top Features of Thinkific Community
5+ spaces per community.
A platform with no ads or distractions.
Member profiles and mentions make it easy to connect with others.
Get notified with push and in-app notifications.
Track active members using the analytics dashboard.
Thinkific Pros
Getting payment is pretty simple with Thinkific Payments.
Boost order value by up to 22% with Group Orders using TCommerce to grow sales.
It offers a fully white-label branded mobile app option.
This platform offers a user-friendly interface that is easy to use.
Costs less compared to similar platforms.
Thinkific Cons
Lack of gamification options.
No useful tool is added to adjust the community.
Thinkific Pricing
Free: $0 per month
Basic: $49 per month
Start: $99 per month
Grow: $199 per month
Expand: $499/month
Thinkific+: Customized pricing plan
Unlike Thinkific, EzyCourse offers endless options to create communities, online downloads, and course accounts. To know more about their differences, you can check this guide now! |
#8 Teachable
Teachable stands out as a community platform that you can use as an alternative to Circle. Not only does it allow you to create and sell online courses but also fosters a vibrant learning community.
With just one login, you can manage all your learning items like online courses, coaching packages, and so on along with your community. This also saves you time and effort since everything is in one place. And, the pricing of this platform seems logical.
Besides, its community feature is built to keep students focused on learning. Unlike Circle where you can get distracted easily, it offers a forum to keep the conversation centered on the course material.
For course creators, this platform gives course and sale reports to track how students are interacting or paying for the course. You can also see the statistics on lessons, quiz scores, and course leaderboards.
Taken as a whole, it is easy to manage your courses and community at once. However, this platform requires $1 with 10% transaction fees on a free plan with no community option.
Top Features of Teachable Community
Accepts payment via PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, debit and credit card.
Includes abandoned carts, coupons, and upsells.
Offers AI Hub to make content, ideas, and outlines.
Get Admin, Moderator, and Learner community user roles.
Upload up to 10 videos.
Provide lesson comments and basic quizzes.
Teachable Pros
You can raise revenue by selling courses in your community.
It offers built-in tools to help you grow the community.
Using a custom domain to create an expert-looking URL is a plus point.
For paid plans, you’ll find the Teachable:u option as a mini library of courses.
This platform offers email marketing, helpdesks, blogging, funnels, and page builders.
Teachable Cons
$5% transaction fee on the Basic plan.
No community option on the Free plan.
Teachable Pricing
Free: $0 per month
Basic: $39 per month
Pro: $119 per month
Pro+: $199 per month
Enterprise: Customized pricing plan
Note: If you are thinking about trying this platform out, you can check this guide about Thinkific vs Teachable. |
#9 Podia
Podia is a good choice if you want to host, sell, and manage your online courses. Other than this, it is logical in price and ensures engagement with your members close to the Circle.so community.
With this platform, you can change the colors, favicon, and URL as needed. This also helps your fully white-labeled community look more proficient and unique.
In addition to that, it lets you accept your money using Stripe and PayPal. And, this platform allows you to routinely add new students to your community with no extra steps.
It also gives options so that you can create your membership and later sell it as a separate item using this. Plus, you can insert your cart or checkout form directly onto your website which Circle doesn’t offer.
Sadly, you can’t share videos in your community on the free plan due to limits. Plus, it requires you to pay a 10% transaction fee. Don’t want to sacrifice this downside? Then, you can look for Podia’s alternative by checking this guide.
Top Features of Podia Community
Includes coupons, upsells, and waitlists.
Paid and free group options are available.
Consists of a built-in live chat feature.
Integrate with WordPress, Wix, Unbounce, and so on.
Add topics, quizzes, files, and videos.
Get limitless blogs, websites, and landing pages.
Podia Pros
Podia makes it easy to sell things online to people in your community.
It offers a budget-friendly plan for newbie creators.
Using Stripe and PayPal to get paid is simple.
You can decide who can like, comment, or share content.
Selling webinars using YouTube Live or Zoom takes no effort.
Podia Cons
High transaction fees on free or low-priced plans.
Missing option to upload videos in free plan.
Podia Pricing
Free: $0 per month with 10% transaction fees
Mover: $39 per month
Shaker: $89 per month
Earthquaker: $199 per month
#10 BuddyBoss
For those who want to create a strong online community on WordPress without spending a lot, BuddyBoss is a great choice. And, it’s one of the circle alternatives that helps you build social communities, online courses, and membership sites.
Well, it is a WordPress plugin which means this platform works well with other popular WordPress plugins like WooCommerce, LearnDash, and MemberPress. Thanks to this, you can add your existing site to it and restore any files.
With this platform, you can set up and manage forums, social groups, and activity feeds. This also helps keep your community active and engaged.
Other than this, you can also use it for e-learning purposes. It also lets you make assignments, quizzes, and so on to make each course or lesson attractive.
In addition to that, you can add rewards like ranks, points, and badges for your community members when they hit certain goals. This also helps keep everyone motivated and involved. In general, it’s a great community platform.
Top Features of BuddyBoss Community
Public, private, or hidden social groups included.
Get member connections and messaging options.
Includes member profiles and activity feeds.
Upload and share any file type (PDF, video, image, and so on).
Adds user content management features.
Find forum discussions with great gamification options.
BuddyBoss Pros
This platform comes with great gamification options like badges, rewards, and hosting events.
Enables you to monetize your groups and courses via one-time payments and subscriptions.
It integrates tons of apps and software like LearnDash, LifterLMS, and so on.
It is super simple to use or customize using the drag-and-drop option.
Great platform for its private messaging and social media groups.
BuddyBoss Cons
Require coding on WordPress tasks.
No LMS option is available.
BuddyBoss Pricing
Standard: $143 per month.
Done for Your Service: $143 per month with a $1,999 one-time payment.
Developer: $242 per month with $299 one-time payment.
Ending Notes
That’s a wrap! Now you get a better understanding of these best budget-friendly Circle community alternatives.
And, picking the right one depends on what you're aiming to get with your community. If you want to make a focused learning space with easy mobile access and interactive courses, EzyCourse could be your best bet.
But, if you are more likely focusing on large communities with plenty of engagement tools, Heartbeat is a solid choice. Then again, Mighty Network is perfect for those who need more advanced learning features along with community tools.
None of them can stand against the EzyCourse community. With this, you can get a classy UI, chat options, membership, live sessions, channels, and so on options. |
