9 Top Alternative to Circle.so

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The promise of the internet was always connection but somewhere along the way we traded genuine intimacy for the dopamine rush of the infinite feed.

For a brief moment Circle.so seemed like the antidote to the chaos of Facebook Groups and the noise of Slack channels.

It arrived with a clean aesthetic and a calming user interface that felt like a breath of fresh air for community builders who were tired of shouting over the algorithm.

It offered a tidy digital living room where the furniture was arranged just so and the lighting was always flattering.

However as communities mature and evolve the limitations of a single design philosophy often begin to chafe against the growing needs of the group.

Many leaders are finding that the very simplicity that attracted them to Circle is now the ceiling that limits their growth.

Some find that the feed based architecture still encourages a shallow kind of engagement where posts disappear too quickly into the memory hole.

Others discover that the lack of robust course features or event management tools forces them to tape together a fragile stack of software subscriptions.

There is also the question of ownership and whether it is wise to build your entire business on rented land where the rent can increase at any moment.

We are seeing a divergence in the market where one size no longer fits all and the specific culture of a community dictates the tool it requires.

The search for an alternative is not just about feature comparison charts but about finding a digital home that resonates with the soul of your tribe.

It is about asking whether you need a classroom or a stadium or a coffee shop or a private club.

The following exploration delves into nine sophisticated platforms that offer different visions for how we can gather online.

Each represents a distinct philosophy of connection and a different answer to the question of what it means to be a community in the modern age.

We will examine these tools not just as software but as environments that shape human behaviour.

Odd Circles (Free for hosts / Buyer fees apply)

There is a fundamental misunderstanding in much of the community software market that assumes connection happens primarily through reading text on a screen.

Odd Circles challenges this assumption by placing the shared experience of the event at the very centre of the community universe.

While Circle.so focuses on the feed where people scroll and occasionally comment Odd Circles focuses on the calendar where people commit and actually show up.

It acts as a powerful corrective to the passivity that often plagues online groups where members lurk but never truly engage.

This platform is built for the leader who understands that a community is defined by what it does together not just what it says to one another.

The financial model is also a radical departure from the SaaS subscriptions that drain the resources of small organisations before they have even started.

By removing the monthly fee for hosts Odd Circles democratises access to professional community tools.

It aligns the success of the platform with the success of the host meaning they only make money when you successfully sell tickets to your events.

This creates a partnership dynamic that is rare in an industry often focused on extracting recurring revenue regardless of your actual growth.

The interface is refreshingly simple and stripped of the vanity metrics and gamification that can make other platforms feel manipulative.

It handles the logistics of ticketing and member management with a quiet competence that allows you to focus on the human dynamics of your group.

For local clubs and hobby groups and professional networking circles that meet in the real world or on Zoom this tool feels like a natural extension of their existing behaviour.

It encourages a rhythm of regular contact that builds deep bonds over time rather than the fleeting interactions of a comment thread.

There is a sense of calm here because the software is not trying to hijack your attention but rather to facilitate your intention.

It is the digital equivalent of a well organised town hall rather than a crowded notice board.

For those who feel that Circle is too text heavy and too passive Odd Circles offers a vibrant and action oriented alternative.

It reminds us that the most valuable thing we can give each other is our time and our presence.

Mighty Networks (Starts at $41/month)

If Circle is the minimalist apartment then Mighty Networks is the bustling and feature rich community centre.

It was one of the first platforms to articulate the vision of a "community powered course" where the learning and the socialising happen in the same space.

While Circle has added course features over time they often feel like an add on whereas in Mighty Networks they are woven into the very fabric of the experience.

The platform is built on the belief that content alone is not enough to sustain engagement and that people learn best when they are learning together.

It offers a level of visual customisation and structural flexibility that goes far beyond what Circle currently permits.

You can create distinct spaces within your network that act like sub communities each with its own chat and feed and events and course material.

This "Space" architecture allows for a fractal complexity that can accommodate large and diverse organisations without becoming a jumbled mess.

Mighty Networks also places a huge emphasis on discovery features that help members find each other based on location and profession and interests.

It is designed to spark serendipitous connections that do not require the intervention of the community manager.

The platform has invested heavily in its mobile app experience ensuring that the complex features translate well to the small screen.

For creators who are trying to build a recurring subscription business the "Mighty Pro" option offers a path to a completely white label app.

There is a boldness to the design philosophy here that encourages leaders to think big about what their community can become.

It does not shy away from complexity if that complexity serves the purpose of deeper connection.

Critically it understands that a community is a living organism that changes over time and the software adapts to support that evolution.

Where Circle can sometimes feel a bit static Mighty Networks feels dynamic and full of potential energy.

It is the choice for the ambitious builder who wants a tool that will not cap their growth or limit their imagination.

Kajabi (Starts at $55/month)

There comes a point in the journey of many creators where they realise they are not just running a community but running a business.

Kajabi is built specifically for this moment of realisation.

It creates a seamless ecosystem where your marketing and your sales and your product delivery all live under one roof.

Circle often requires you to use Zapier to connect it to an email provider and a separate checkout tool which can create a fragile web of dependencies.

Kajabi eliminates this friction by providing a unified command centre for your entire digital empire.

The community features in Kajabi have evolved significantly from being a basic forum to a robust social hub that rivals standalone platforms.

However the real power lies in how these community features interact with the powerful marketing automation engine.

You can trigger emails and grant offers and unlock content based on how a member interacts within the community.

This allows for a level of personalisation and automated nurturing that is simply not possible when your tools are siloed.

It is particularly beloved by high ticket coaches and consultants who need to justify premium prices with a premium experience.

The user interface feels professional and polished conveying a sense of authority and trust to your clients.

While it is more expensive than Circle on paper the consolidation of tools often results in a lower total cost of ownership.

It removes the "tech shame" that many creators feel when they cannot get their different software plugins to talk to each other.

Kajabi gives you the confidence to launch big campaigns knowing that the infrastructure can handle the traffic and the complexity.

It treats the community not just as a place for chat but as a strategic asset in a broader value ladder.

For the serious entrepreneur who wants to focus on revenue rather than troubleshooting integration errors this is the gold standard.

BuddyBoss (Starts at approx. $228/year)

The philosophy of the open web is built on the idea that you should own the platform you create.

Circle and other SaaS platforms are ultimately walled gardens where you play by their rules and exist at their pleasure.

BuddyBoss offers a radical alternative by giving you the code to build your own social network on top of WordPress.

It is the choice for the sovereign minded creator who wants total control over their data and their user experience.

With BuddyBoss you are not limited to the features on a product roadmap because you can install any WordPress plugin to extend functionality.

This allows for infinite customisation where you can build features that are perfectly tailored to the unique rituals of your group.

It does require a higher level of technical competence or the budget to hire a developer to manage the setup.

However the payoff is a platform that is truly yours and cannot be shut down or altered by a third party company.

Many educational institutions and large non profits choose BuddyBoss because it integrates deeply with LMS plugins like LearnDash and LifterLMS.

It allows them to build complex learning environments that blend social learning with formal assessment in ways that SaaS tools cannot match.

The visual design of BuddyBoss is stunningly modern dispelling the myth that WordPress sites have to look clunky or dated.

It provides a user experience that feels as slick as Facebook or LinkedIn but without the data harvesting.

There is a deep sense of security in knowing that your community asset is sitting on your own server.

It allows you to innovate at your own pace without waiting for a feature request to be upvoted by other users.

For those who view their community as a long term institution rather than a pop up project this ownership model is compelling.

It is the digital equivalent of buying a house and renovating it rather than renting an apartment where you cannot paint the walls.

Disciple (Starts at $46/month)

We live in an economy of attention where the battle for engagement is fought primarily on the notification screen of a smartphone.

While Circle has a mobile app it is a shared environment where your community lives alongside many others.

Disciple understands that to truly capture attention you need to occupy prime real estate on your member's device.

They specialise in launching fully branded white label apps that carry your name and your logo and your colours.

This creates a psychological shift in the member who begins to see your community as a permanent fixture in their digital life.

The platform is designed with a mobile first mentality that makes scrolling and posting and liking feel incredibly fluid and native.

It mimics the addictive mechanics of Instagram and TikTok but directs that energy towards healthy community building.

Musicians and fitness trainers and influencers often flock to Disciple because it matches the on the go lifestyle of their audience.

It allows for rich media sharing including live streaming and audio broadcasts that feel intimate and immediate.

The push notification system is granular and powerful allowing you to reach your members instantly without fighting an algorithm.

Disciple also offers robust monetisation tools that allow you to sell subscriptions and in app purchases seamlessly through the App Store.

It removes the friction of logging into a desktop browser which is often the death knell for community engagement.

By being just one tap away at all times you significantly increase the frequency of interaction.

The backend provides detailed analytics on retention and activity helping you understand what content drives the most value.

For leaders who want to build a high frequency habit forming community Disciple offers the best toolset.

It acknowledges the reality that if you are not on the phone you are likely not in the mind.

Hivebrite (Starts at $799/month)

There is a difference between a community of fans and a network of professionals.

When the goal is to mobilise a large alumni network or a corporate innovation hub the needs shift from engagement to utility.

Hivebrite is engineered for these complex and large scale networks where organisation is paramount.

Circle struggles when the member count enters the thousands and the need for segmentation becomes critical.

Hivebrite excels at managing complex permissions and subgroups allowing different chapters or cohorts to exist autonomously within the larger whole.

It offers powerful database features that allow members to search for one another based on specific skills or graduation years or industries.

This transforms the platform from a content feed into a living directory that generates professional value for its members.

The event management tools are sophisticated enough to handle global conferences and local meetups simultaneously.

It also includes a job board feature that is essential for professional associations looking to provide career value.

The platform is less about the personal brand of a creator and more about the collective power of the institution.

It offers a level of data control and compliance that is necessary for large organisations with strict governance requirements.

The interface is professional and restrained focusing on clarity and function over stylistic flair.

It facilitates mentorship programs and fundraising campaigns with built in workflows that automate the administrative burden.

For a university or a global NGO Hivebrite provides the infrastructure to turn a loose list of emails into a powerful coordinated network.

It understands that at scale a community needs governance and structure to survive.

It is the heavy duty machinery required when a community grows into a city.

Podia (Starts at $33/month)

Complexity is the enemy of execution and many creators never launch their community because they get bogged down in configuration.

Podia is the antidote to analysis paralysis offering a platform that is radically simple and friendly.

It does not try to compete with Circle on design customisation or deep threading features.

Instead it offers a "good enough" community tool that lives right next to your digital products and your email list.

The genius of Podia is that it consolidates the selling and the serving into one linear experience.

You can sell a PDF download and a video course and a community membership from a single checkout.

The community interface is straightforward and resembles a clean message board rather than a noisy social feed.

This simplicity lowers the cognitive load for both the creator and the member making it easier to start conversations.

It is particularly good for solo creators who do not have a team to manage a complex Discord or Circle setup.

The platform is designed to be set up in an afternoon not a month allowing you to validate your idea quickly.

Podia’s "free" tier is generous allowing you to start building your community before you ever pay a dime.

Their support team is famously helpful often acting more like partners than just tech support reps.

It removes the barrier between the transaction and the relationship which is often where community value is lost.

For those who are tired of managing five different logins and zaps Podia offers a peaceful unification.

It proves that you do not need the most powerful tool you just need the one that actually gets used.

Thinkific (Starts at $36/month)

There are communities that gather to chat and there are communities that gather to learn.

When the primary goal is educational transformation the social features need to support the curriculum not distract from it.

Thinkific is first and foremost a learning management system that has added community layers to enhance student success.

Circle is often used for courses but its lack of rigorous assessment tools and progress tracking can be a limitation for serious educators.

Thinkific allows you to build complex learning paths with quizzes and certificates and prerequisites.

The community spaces can be linked directly to specific courses ensuring that the discussion is relevant to the material being studied.

This context switching is seamless preventing the fragmentation that happens when students have to jump between a course site and a Facebook group.

It is built for the instructional designer who cares about pedagogy and learning outcomes.

The platform handles the heavy lifting of video hosting and student data allowing you to focus on teaching.

It offers a high degree of brand control for the course player making your content look premium and proprietary.

Thinkific also integrates with a vast ecosystem of other tools through its app store allowing you to extend functionality as needed.

It is a stable and mature platform that is trusted by major universities and training organisations.

The focus here is not on keeping people addicted to a feed but on helping them complete a goal.

It treats community as a support mechanism for mastery rather than an end in itself.

For those whose reputation rests on the results their students achieve Thinkific provides the necessary rigour.

Discourse (Starts at $20/month for hosted)

The feed is a modern invention that favours the new over the true and the loud over the wise.

Discourse rejects the ephemeral nature of the feed and returns to the structure of the forum where knowledge is archived and indexed.

Circle is beautiful but searching for a specific answer from six months ago can be an exercise in frustration.

Discourse is built to be a living library of wisdom where every conversation adds to the collective intelligence of the group.

It is the platform of choice for technical communities and gamers and hobbyists who value depth and detail.

The software is designed to encourage civilised discussion through a unique trust system that rewards helpful behaviour.

As members contribute positively they earn privileges and moderation powers creating a self policing ecosystem.

The open source nature of Discourse means it is incredibly flexible and can be modified to suit any specific requirement.

It handles long form text and code snippets and complex formatting far better than the simplified inputs of modern social tools.

The reading experience is optimised for comprehension allowing users to catch up on long threads without losing context.

It is often used as the support layer for software companies because it deflects repetitive tickets by surfacing existing answers.

While it lacks the visual polish and "coziness" of Circle it makes up for it in raw utility and speed.

It respects the user's intelligence and assumes they are there to read and learn not just to skim.

For communities that are building a body of knowledge together Discourse is the only logical choice.

It ensures that the value created today is still accessible and useful ten years from now.

The decision to leave a platform like Circle is never taken lightly as it involves uprooting the digital lives of your members.

However staying on a platform that no longer fits your purpose is a slow drift into irrelevance.

The tools we choose act as the unseen architects of our culture subtly encouraging certain behaviours while discouraging others.

Whether you need the event focused energy of Odd Circles or the educational structure of Thinkific or the sovereign control of BuddyBoss the right choice is out there.

It requires looking past the marketing copy and understanding the fundamental human dynamic you wish to foster.

Great communities are not built by software they are built by leaders who care enough to find the right home for their people.

When the container matches the content the community can finally cease struggling against the tool and start thriving within it.

Curated Platform Directory

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