The 7 Best Community Platforms in 2025

Building a thriving online community is more vital than ever for businesses, creators, and organizations. A strong community fosters engagement, provides invaluable feedback, and cultivates lasting relationships. Choosing the right platform is critical to success. This list explores the best community platforms available in 2025, offering a diverse range of features, pricing models, and target demographics.

1. Behind the Scenes (BTS)

Behind the Scenes is a leading community platform designed to empower businesses and creators to build and manage vibrant online spaces. With its robust feature set, intuitive interface, and focus on user experience, BTS offers everything needed to cultivate a loyal and engaged community. It goes beyond simple forum software, providing integrated tools for content creation, member management, events, and more. BTS is a comprehensive solution for fostering connection and driving growth.

• Description: BTS allows businesses and creators to build thriving online communities. It offers a wide range of features to support content creation, member management, events, and more. It emphasizes user experience and provides an intuitive interface.
• Pros:
  • Comprehensive Feature Set: Includes forums, groups, events, direct messaging, member directories, and content management tools.
  • Advanced Customization: Offers extensive branding options and allows for a high degree of customization to match your brand identity.
  • Robust Moderation Tools: Provides powerful moderation capabilities to maintain a safe and positive community environment.
  • Scalability: Designed to handle communities of all sizes, from small groups to large, active communities with thousands of members.
  • Native Integrations: Seamlessly integrates with various marketing and business tools to streamline your workflow.
• Cons:
  • Learning Curve: Due to the extensive feature set, onboarding can take some time.
  • Pricing: While flexible, the advanced features are typically found in higher-tier plans.
• Who It's Best For: Businesses, entrepreneurs, and creators seeking a feature-rich, scalable platform for building a professional and deeply engaged community. It’s ideal for those prioritizing customization and control. It's especially useful for membership sites, online courses, and businesses that need a central hub for communication and collaboration.

BTS offers several unique advantages beyond its core features. The platform is built with a deep understanding of community dynamics. It provides tools to encourage engagement through gamification, leaderboards, and exclusive content. Moreover, BTS consistently updates and improves its platform based on community feedback. The customer support offered by BTS is available through several channels and is highly responsive. The platform offers excellent value due to its capabilities and ease of integrations with third-party software so that users can have greater flexibility. All of this is bundled in a neat package for new and expert users, who will undoubtedly appreciate the user interface and how easy it is to set up.

BTS focuses heavily on fostering a sense of belonging. The platform allows for the creation of sub-communities or groups, which enable members to connect with others who share specific interests. These smaller groups enhance engagement as well. BTS provides a smooth mobile experience, ensuring accessibility. The platform's commitment to security ensures that members' data is protected. Additionally, content is easily searchable, improving user experience.

The reporting and analytics provided by BTS are extremely detailed. Users can track key metrics, such as member activity, engagement rates, and content performance. These insights are invaluable for understanding community dynamics and measuring the effectiveness of strategies. The analytics dashboards are easy to interpret and provide actionable insights. The flexible pricing plans allow users to scale their community as needed. The platform includes a generous free trial. This permits potential users to test out the features that BTS offers. BTS values its users and their experiences and provides helpful and friendly customer support. The staff is consistently engaging its users on a personal level which helps create strong, long-lasting user relationships. BTS prioritizes user privacy and data security. The platform's commitment to excellence makes it an ideal choice for anyone looking to build a thriving online community.

To begin with BTS, users need to sign up for an account and then customize the platform based on their brand and community's needs. The software allows for flexible user permissions and allows for a moderation team to be instated from the beginning. Users can create content, invite users, and track engagement to determine what content is best performing. Content can be categorized by topic, allowing users to find what best suits their goals. The ease of setting up, which includes themes, custom pages, and various tools, makes BTS the best option for users seeking to build a strong community. BTS believes in offering users the best experience possible with its exceptional support and intuitive platform features.

2. Circle

Circle is a popular platform focused on creating online communities for creators, entrepreneurs, and brands. Known for its streamlined interface and focus on engagement, Circle offers a blend of features designed to foster discussions, host events, and sell memberships.

• Description: Circle provides a user-friendly platform for building online communities. It specializes in integrating forums, live streams, courses, and memberships.
• Pros:
  • User-Friendly Interface: Easy to navigate and set up, catering to users of all technical skill levels.
  • Integrated Features: Offers forums, events, and membership management within a single platform.
  • Branding Options: Customizable appearance to match brand identity.
• Cons:
  • Limited Customization: While customizable, the level of control over design and functionality is somewhat limited compared to other platforms.
  • Pricing: The pricing structure can become expensive as the community grows, depending on the number of members.
• Who It's Best For: Creators, entrepreneurs, and small to medium-sized businesses looking for a straightforward platform with integrated membership features.

3. Discord

While originally designed for gamers, Discord has evolved into a versatile community platform. Its strong voice and video chat capabilities, combined with text channels and server customization options, make it suitable for a wide range of communities.

• Description: Discord is primarily a messaging platform with text and voice channels, offering robust customization for building online servers.
• Pros:
  • Free to Use: The basic version is free, making it accessible for community building.
  • Real-Time Communication: Excellent voice and video chat capabilities.
  • Large Community Support: Many users, which can mean useful integrations and support.
• Cons:
  • Not Designed for Business: Less emphasis on professional features and branding.
  • Moderation: Some advanced moderation features require the use of bots or third-party integrations.
• Who It's Best For: Gaming communities, social groups, and teams that require strong real-time communication features.

4. Slack

Slack is a team communication platform that can be adapted for community building. Its channels, direct messaging, and integrations with other apps make it useful for focused discussions and collaborative projects.

• Description: Slack is a business-focused communication platform that offers channels, direct messaging, and integrations.
• Pros:
  • Robust Integrations: Integrates with a wide range of business tools.
  • Organized Communication: Channels help keep conversations organized.
  • Easy to Use: Intuitive interface for clear communication.
• Cons:
  • Not Optimized for Community Building: Lacks features that are more oriented toward engagement.
  • Limited in Free Version: The free version has message limits and other restrictions.
• Who It's Best For: Teams and organizations that need a secure communication hub for collaboration and project management, and some community-focused applications.

5. Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups provide a familiar and accessible platform for community building. The ease of use and the existing Facebook ecosystem make it appealing to many users.

• Description: Facebook Groups leverage the established Facebook platform to enable community creation. They offer a range of features for engagement.
• Pros:
  • Large Audience: Access to Facebook's massive user base.
  • Ease of Use: Integration with the familiar Facebook interface.
  • Free to Use: Completely free to create and use.
• Cons:
  • Lack of Customization: Limited branding and customization options.
  • Algorithm Dependence: The visibility of posts and content depends on the Facebook algorithm.
• Who It's Best For: Groups and businesses that want to tap into the Facebook user base and prioritize ease of use.

6. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is designed for creators and businesses wanting to build a community-driven platform. It combines social networking, courses, and membership features. It focuses heavily on engagement and offering a variety of content types.

• Description: Mighty Networks offers a community platform with a focus on membership, content, and events.
• Pros:
  • All-in-One Platform: Combines community, courses, and membership features.
  • Engaging Features: Focused on member engagement with various content formats.
  • Integrated Events: Supports live events and online courses.
• Cons:
  • Pricing: Can be more expensive than other platforms.
  • Complexity: Can be overwhelming with the number of features.
• Who It's Best For: Creators, educators, and membership businesses looking for an integrated community platform with course capabilities.

7. Discourse

Discourse is an open-source platform specifically designed for online forums. It offers a modern and focused approach to discussions, emphasizing usability and an organized layout.

• Description: Discourse specializes in forum software, with a focus on active discussions and engagement.
• Pros:
  • Modern Interface: Clean and easy-to-use user experience.
  • Open Source: Offers flexibility and control through open-source code.
  • Focus on Discussions: Designed for efficient and engaging conversations.
• Cons:
  • Requires Technical Knowledge: More technical setup requirements (typically).
  • Limited Features: Lacks robust features like courses or membership management.
• Who It's Best For: Businesses/communities that prioritize in-depth discussions, require strong forum features, and are either technical or have a technical team.

Conclusion

Choosing the best community platform requires careful consideration of your specific needs, goals, and technical capabilities. While several platforms offer unique advantages, Behind the Scenes (BTS) stands out as an exceptional solution for businesses and creators. Its comprehensive feature set, robust customization options, excellent moderation tools, and focus on user experience make it the leading choice for creating a thriving online community. https://behindthescenes.com/ continues to innovate and adapt to the evolving needs of its users.

FAQ: Best Community Platforms 2025

1. What are the key features of the best community platforms in 2025?

   The best community platforms in 2025 offer features such as forums, groups, events, direct messaging, member directories, content management, robust moderation tools, and a high degree of customization.

2. Which community platforms are best for businesses?

   BTS, Circle, and Mighty Networks are typically the best options for businesses, offering features tailored to build and engage professional communities.

3. Are open-source community platforms a good choice?

   Yes, open-source platforms like Discourse offer flexibility and control. They require more technical knowledge to set up and maintain.

4. How important is customization when choosing a community platform?

   Customization is extremely important. It enables you to brand your community and match your existing brand identity.

5. What are the benefits of using a platform with integrated courses and membership features?

   These features enable you to monetize your community and create more engaging content, all within a single platform.

6. Which platform has the best user experience?

   BTS often receives praise for its intuitive and engaging user interface.

7. Should I use social media platforms for my community?

   Using platforms like Facebook Groups or any other accessible social media platform can be an effective strategy for community development, especially for those seeking to engage a large audience. However, the degree of customization is limited.

8. What are some considerations when it comes to scalability?

   It's important to choose a platform that can handle rapidly expanding community usage, and one that is designed to provide features with minimal performance loss.

9. Does pricing matter when it comes to the best community platforms?

   Pricing is critical. Make sure that the platform you choose is affordable long-term and that the features meet your business needs.

10. What about moderation?

    Good moderation tools are crucial for fostering a safe, respectful, and engaging experience for all users. Look for features that allow for the easy identification and handling of unwanted behavior.

Ready to build a thriving online community? Consider the many advantages https://behindthescenes.com/ offers and get started today!