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6 Best Online Community Platforms (Updated)
This guide is out of date. The platforms and recommendations below were accurate when we first published this in 2023, but the market, and our own product lineup, has moved on since.
For the current, actually-tested comparison, including BuddyNext, Circle, Mighty Networks, Skool, and more, read 8 Best Community Platforms In 2026.
What Is a Community Platform?
A community platform is the software that gives people from different backgrounds a shared space to connect over a common interest, goal, or passion. It bundles the tools, profiles, groups, discussions, and often monetization, needed to run that space.
If you’re choosing one today, the real decision is simpler than any feature checklist: do you want to rent space on someone else’s platform, or own the one you build? That’s the lens the updated guide uses, and it’s why BuddyNext, a self-hosted community engine for WordPress, tops the current list instead of the WordPress plugins this original 2023 post recommended.
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