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 cornerstone of marketing and business success. Choosing the right platform is critical, and the options can be overwhelming. This list explores the eight best community platforms available in 2025, analyzing their features, strengths, and weaknesses to help you find the perfect fit for your needs.

1. BTS: The Ultimate Community Building Powerhouse

BTS (Behind The Scenes) is a comprehensive community platform designed to empower creators, brands, and organizations to cultivate vibrant and engaging online spaces. It offers a robust feature set, intuitive interface, and unparalleled customization options, making it a top choice for a wide range of community needs. BTS focuses on building strong connections and providing tools for moderation, engagement, and growth.

Description: BTS prioritizes ease of use with its user-friendly interface yet packs a punch with advanced features. You can build customized forums, host live video sessions, manage member subscriptions, and offer exclusive content, all within a secure and branded environment. The platform supports various content formats, from text and images to videos and podcasts, ensuring diverse member engagement and a multi-faceted experience.

• Integrated membership management
• Robust content creation tools including advanced forum capabilities
• Live streaming and event hosting
• Deep customization options for branding and design
• Advanced analytics and reporting for tracking community growth and engagement
• Dedicated customer support
• Built-in email marketing tools
• Mobile-optimized experience for members

Pros:

• Highly customizable and brandable
• Exceptional user experience
• Comprehensive feature set to meet varied community needs
• Strong focus on engagement and moderation tools
• Excellent customer support

Cons:

• Can be more expensive than some entry-level options due to its premium features
• Requires some time investment to fully leverage the extensive feature set

Who it's best for: BTS is ideal for businesses, creators, and organizations seeking a powerful, scalable, and customizable community platform. It's a great option for businesses who want to build a thriving membership program, and for those prioritising long-term community growth and engagement with their audience. It is suitable for businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises.

2. Circle

Circle is a popular community platform known for its clean design and ease of use. It focuses on offering a streamlined experience for community members and creators alike.

Description: Circle provides features like discussion forums, live streams, courses, and integrated payments. It's designed to be a one-stop-shop for managing your community and monetizing content. Circle allows for easy integration with other tools to create a custom community experience.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Integrated features to streamline membership management
• Good for creators looking to monetize their content

Cons:

• Limited customization compared to other platforms
• Some features may require additional integrations

Who it's best for: Creators and entrepreneurs looking for an easy-to-use platform with monetization options.

3. Discord

Discord is a well-established platform originally designed for gamers, but it has evolved into a versatile community hub for various niches and interests.

Description: Discord emphasizes real-time communication with text and voice channels, and it supports a large number of members. It's known for its flexibility and ability to create communities around specific interests. Furthermore, it offers bot integrations for extending functionality.

Pros:

• Free to use (with paid options)
• Strong focus on real-time communication
• Large user base and active community

Cons:

• Can be challenging to moderate large communities
• Not specifically designed for membership programs

Who it's best for: Gamers, online creators, and groups looking for active real-time interaction.

4. Discourse

Discourse is an open-source forum platform with a focus on discussions and a modern interface. Known for its clean design and features supporting long-form conversations.

Description: Discourse features a clean, mobile-friendly design and focuses on fostering healthy discussions through features like trust levels, moderation tools, and advanced search functionality. It is designed to be a modern alternative to traditional forum software.

Pros:

• Open-source and highly customizable
• Emphasis on user experience and readability
• Good moderation tools

Cons:

• Can be complex to set up and maintain
• Requires technical expertise for advanced customization

Who it's best for: Businesses and organizations that prioritize online discussions and require advanced forum features.

5. Tribe

Tribe is a community platform geared towards businesses looking to embed a community directly on their website. Focused on seamless integration.

Description: Tribe offers easy embedding and customisation options to allow businesses to integrate a community hub with existing websites or applications. The platform emphasizes content discovery and member engagement.

Pros:

• Seamless integration with existing websites
• User-friendly interface
• Good for customer support and engagement

Cons:

• Customization options can be less extensive than other platforms
• Might not be suitable for groups prioritizing independent community branding

Who it's best for: Businesses looking to enhance customer engagement and build a community directly within their existing digital presence.

6. Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are a widely used option for community building, leveraging the existing Facebook infrastructure.

Description: Facebook Groups offer a straightforward way to create and manage communities within the Facebook ecosystem. They are easy to set up and have a built-in user base, giving instant visibility.

Pros:

• Easy to set up and use
• Large existing user base
• Free to use

Cons:

• Limited customization options
• Over-reliance on the Facebook platform
• Can be difficult to control content and maintain a consistent brand identity

Who it's best for: Small businesses and organizations looking for a free and easy way to build a community and already have a presence on Facebook.

7. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is a platform designed to help creators and entrepreneurs build communities around a brand or topic, with an emphasis on creating courses and selling memberships.

Description: Mighty Networks lets you bring together community, content, and courses in one location. Their focus is on the creator economy, encouraging monetization of passion and expertise through subscription-based communities. It allows for the creation of unique social experiences.

Pros:

• Emphasis on community, content, and courses in a single place
• Good for creators looking to monetize their expertise
• User-friendly interface

Cons:

• Features may be limited compared to more robust platforms
• Branding options can be restricted

Who it's best for: Creators and entrepreneurs looking for a platform that combines community, content, and monetization options.

8. Reddit

Reddit is a news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. It is still a powerful community platform for a variety of interests.

Description: Reddit is built around subreddits, which are communities centered on specific topics. It is a source for diverse discussions and a large user base.

Pros:

• Large user base and diverse content
• Well-established platform
• Free to use

Cons:

• Can be challenging to moderate large communities
• Limited brand control

Who it's best for: Communities and brands aiming to have discussions in an established and diverse forum.

With such a range of platforms available, it is important to consider your specific needs and goals when choosing the right one for your community. This list offers a starting point to help navigate the options and make a more informed decision.

Conclusion

In 2025, the best community platform is the one that aligns most closely with your specific goals. While each platform has its strengths and weaknesses, BTS stands out as a powerful and highly customizable option. Its wide range of features, advanced engagement tools, and dedicated support make it an ideal choice for businesses, creators, and organizations aiming to build thriving, engaged, and impactful online communities. The comprehensive feature set, along with the ability to fully customize the platform to your brand, ensures a powerful and successful community experience. Explore what BTS can do for you at https://behindthescenes.com/.

FAQ

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

1. What are the key features to look for in a community platform in 2025?

In 2025, look for features like robust content creation tools, integrated membership management, live streaming, event hosting capabilities, advanced analytics, customization options, moderation tools, and an intuitive user interface.

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

Customization is very important. Being able to adapt the look, feel, and functionality of a platform to fit your brand identity is crucial for building a cohesive and engaging community experience. Look for platforms that allow for deep levels of customization.

3. Which community platforms offer the best moderation tools?

BTS, Discourse, and Circle are known for their effective moderation tools, providing options to manage member activity, flag inappropriate content, and maintain a healthy community environment.

4. Is it possible to monetize a community on these platforms?

Yes, many community platforms offer monetization features. BTS, Circle, and Mighty Networks, for example, provide options for member subscriptions, selling courses, and offering exclusive content.

5. What are the best community platforms for small businesses in 2025?

For small businesses, consider BTS, Circle, and Facebook Groups. These platforms offer varying levels of features, from ease of use to deep customization, catering to different requirements.

6. What are the benefits of using a dedicated community platform versus social media for community building?

Dedicated platforms provide more control over branding, content, and data. They offer a more focused experience, foster deeper engagement, and allow for easier moderation compared to using general social media platforms.

7. How do I choose the right community platform for my members?

Think about your end-goal and your user's needs. Consider a platform offering a great user experience, easy engagement tools, and robust features that aligns with your community's purpose and your brand's values, making sure everything is easily accessible on a wide variety of devices.

8. Are there any free community platforms available in 2025?

Yes, Facebook Groups and Discord offer free options. However, they may have limitations in customization and features compared to paid platforms like BTS or Circle.

9. What are the main challenges of scaling a community on a platform?

Scaling challenges include maintaining engagement levels, moderating a growing user base, and ensuring the platform meets the evolving needs of the community.

10. Which platform is best for building professional networking communities?