How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Circle is a community-first platform, and the best alternative depends on whether courses, community, or marketing drives your business.
- Mighty Networks is the best community-led pick, with native mobile apps, Community Design, and 500 million dollars earned by hosts in 2025.
- Thinkific is the best course-led pick, with a drag and drop course builder, AI-assisted generation, and commerce tools built in.
- Kajabi is the best all-in-one pick, with courses, coaching, communities, memberships, newsletters, and podcasts in one system.
- Skool is the best gamified pick, with a simple community plus classroom design and a discovery marketplace.
- Podia is the best small business pick, with courses, community, coaching, events, email, and a website in one place.
- Heartbeat is the best lightweight pick, with Pulse AI building courses, offers, pages, channels, and workflows by chat.
- Discord is the best free pick, with real-time chat, voice, and video at no cost, but no native payments or courses.
- Bettermode is the best customer community pick, with no-code customization, SOC 2 Type II compliance, and integrations across Salesforce, HubSpot, and Intercom.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Mighty Networks | Community-led | See website | Free trial |
 Thinkific | Course-led | See website | Free trial |
 Kajabi | All-in-one | See website | Free trial |
 Skool | Gamified | See website | No free plan |
 Podia | Small business | See website | Free trial |
 Heartbeat | Lightweight | See website | Free trial |
 Discord | Free | Free | Free plan |
 Bettermode | Customer community | See website | Free trial |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best Circle alternatives
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial
Mighty Networks is the best community-led pick. Its homepage describes the community platform that delivers, with community, courses, and events, and 500 million dollars earned by hosts in 2025. Features include native mobile apps on members home screens, Community Design with monthly themes, weekly events, and daily questions now available as an AI Cohost tuned to your community and goals, member engagement where 84 percent of content is created by members and 59 percent of active members return weekly, and plans for every stage from launching a first community to scaling to millions. The typical host on the Launch Plan earns 14,400 dollars per year from 30 members at 48 dollars per month, and the free trial runs 14 days with no credit card required.
The trade-off is price at scale. Branded apps require Mighty Pro, and comparison sources cite Launch from about 79 dollars per month. For community-first businesses, Mighty Networks is the best pick.
What we like- Native iOS and Android apps, not web wrappers
- Community Design framework with AI Cohost
- 500 million dollars earned by hosts in 2025
- 84 percent member-led activity
- Free 14-day trial with no credit card
Watch out for- Pricing by quote on the homepage for some plans
- Comparison sources cite Launch from about 79 dollars per month
- Branded apps require Mighty Pro
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial
Thinkific is the best course-led pick. Its homepage describes an online course platform to sell courses and communities, trusted by 20,000 plus teams scaling learning programs. Features include an easy-to-use platform with AI-powered content and design tools, a simple drag and drop course builder, SCORM, video and slide import, a branded native mobile app, live cohorts, self-paced and blended formats, quizzes, assignments, and certificates, learning paths and prerequisites, community inside the Learner Hub with discussions tied to lessons, live events, moderation tools, and weekly email digests, and commerce with hosted checkout, one-time, subscription, and payment-plan pricing, coupons, bundles, upsells, and order bumps, multi-currency checkout, automated sales tax and VAT, B2B invoicing, refunds, dunning, and revenue, MRR, and churn reporting. Thinkific reports 4.4 out of 5 from over 425 reviews on G2 and a top 50 G2 award for customer service.
The catch is community depth. Community features are course-tied, not standalone-first like Circle. For experts and businesses adding community to courses, Thinkific is the best pick.
What we like- Drag and drop course builder with AI-assisted generation
- Community lives inside the Learner Hub
- Built-in commerce with subscriptions, payment plans, coupons, and tax
- 20,000 plus teams and 4.23 billion dollars earned by customers
Watch out for- Pricing by quote on the homepage
- Comparison sources cite plans from about 40 dollars per month billed annually
- Community features are course-tied, not standalone-first
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial
Kajabi is the best all-in-one pick. Its homepage describes turning what you know into what you are known for, with all-in-one because six separate tools is not a business plan. Features include courses that turn knowledge into a scalable product, coaching with structured programs and payments, communities where connection drives retention and recurring revenue, memberships for predictable recurring revenue, newsletters for sharing thought leadership, and podcasts for growing authority, all in one connected system for products, payments, and marketing. Kajabi offers subscriptions, one-time payments, and plans, upsells, downsells, and order bumps, automated tax calculation, email, automations, and landing pages, and a free 30-day trial.
The trade-off is price and focus. Comparison sources cite plans from about 143 dollars per month billed annually, and community is one module among many. For course-first businesses that want marketing built in, Kajabi is the best pick.
What we like- Courses, coaching, communities, memberships, newsletters, and podcasts in one system
- Payments with subscriptions, upsells, and automated tax
- Funnels with email, automations, and landing pages
- Free 30-day trial
Watch out for- Pricing by quote on the homepage
- Comparison sources cite plans from about 143 dollars per month billed annually
- Community is one module among many, not the core
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo free plan
Skool is the best gamified pick. Its homepage describes discovering communities or creating your own, with a directory of communities covering AI, marketing, sales, and more, each with member counts, ratings, and monthly prices. Comparison sources describe Skool as simple gamified communities with community plus classroom, simple UX, and a flat price, and note it has no branded mobile app and no native email marketing.
The catch is depth. Skool is simple by design, so teams that need advanced automation or branded apps should look at Circle, Mighty Networks, or Heartbeat. For simple coaching communities, Skool is the best pick.
What we like- Simple community plus classroom design
- Gamification with levels and leaderboards
- Discovery marketplace with thousands of communities
- Comparison sources cite plans from about 99 dollars per month flat
Watch out for- Homepage extract is a community directory, so product details rest on comparison sources
- No branded mobile app
- No native email marketing
#5Podia
Best for: Small business4.4/5 on
G2 (23 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit podia.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial
Podia is the best small business pick. Its homepage describes courses, community, and everything in one place, with your courses, community, coaching, and email all in one place. Features include online courses with drip lessons, quizzes, downloads, and progress tracking, email with newsletters, welcome automation, and sales data, events with tickets, reminders, and replays, coaching with 1:1 sessions and group programs, a website with pages, blog posts, and a custom domain, and community with group chats, DMs, topic-based spaces, and free or paid memberships, all connected to the rest of your business. Podia reports 15,000 plus creators who have earned 900 million dollars plus, with a free 14-day trial and no credit card required.
The trade-off is mobile. Podia has no branded mobile app. For small businesses that want one tool for everything, Podia is the best pick.
What we like- Courses, community, coaching, events, email, and website in one place
- 15,000 plus creators with 900 million dollars plus earned
- Free 14-day trial with no credit card
- Drip lessons, quizzes, and progress tracking
Watch out for- Pricing by quote on the homepage
- Comparison sources cite plans from about 42 dollars per month billed annually
- No branded mobile app
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial
Heartbeat is the best lightweight pick. Its homepage describes an online community platform for creators and coaches, with everything you need to turn an audience into a business you own, in one place for memberships, courses, events, and payments. Features include Pulse AI learning your brand and voice, then setting up your space, channels, and first pages in minutes, branded communities on your own domain on web and mobile, courses and live events next to the conversation, memberships, courses, and offers with payments built in, and fees that drop as you scale. Heartbeat reports 37,000 plus communities built and 27 million dollars plus paid to builders, with plans from 49 dollars per month, Build at 49 dollars for up to 350 members, Grow at 149 dollars, and Scale at 849 dollars, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required.
The catch is fees. The transaction fee is 5 percent on Build, 2.5 percent on Grow, and 1.25 percent on Scale, on top of Stripe card processing, typically 2.9 percent plus 30 cents. For creators who want a lightweight, AI-assisted start, Heartbeat is the best pick.
What we like- Pulse AI builds courses, offers, pages, channels, and workflows by chat
- Community, courses, events, and payments built in
- 37,000 plus communities built
- 14-day free trial with no credit card
- Plans from 49 dollars per month on the homepage
Watch out for- Transaction fee of 5 percent on Build, 2.5 percent on Grow, and 1.25 percent on Scale, on top of Stripe processing
- Branded app only on Scale at 849 dollars per month
Starting priceFree
Free planFree plan
Discord is the best free pick. Its homepage describes group chat that is all fun and games, great for playing games and chilling with friends, or building a worldwide community, with a space to talk, play, and hang out. Features include custom emoji, stickers, and soundboard effects, avatars and custom statuses, high quality and low latency streaming, hop-in voice and text chats without calling or inviting, and availability on PC, phone, and console with tools to manage multiple group chats.
The trade-off is monetization. Discord has no native payments, courses, or membership tiers, so paid communities need third-party tools. For free casual communities, Discord is the best pick.
What we like- Free real-time chat, voice, and video
- Custom emoji, stickers, and soundboard effects
- Streaming with high quality and low latency
- Available on PC, phone, and console
Watch out for- No native payments, courses, or membership tiers
- Moderation at scale is manual
- Branding and data ownership limited
Starting priceSee website
Free planFree trial
Bettermode is the best customer community pick. Its homepage describes an all-in-one customer community platform to engage, support, and grow, with launch fast with no code and turning engagement into measurable retention and growth. Features include modern, on-brand experiences proven to drive engagement, customization with drag and drop tools and out-of-the-box integrations, measurable ROI through retention and advocacy, native integrations with Notion and Slack, custom user roles with granular permissions, offline mode in the mobile app with auto-sync, AI-powered personalized onboarding, and security built in with SOC 2 Type II compliance and GDPR support. Bettermode connects to Salesforce, HubSpot, Intercom, and Segment, with APIs and webhooks for custom workflows, and helps move users, content, and structure from your current platform with guided migration and minimal downtime.
The catch is price and monetization. Comparison sources cite plans from about 399 dollars per month, and monetization is limited compared with creator platforms. For SaaS and product teams building customer communities, Bettermode is the best pick.
What we like- No-code customization with drag and drop tools
- SOC 2 Type II compliance and GDPR support
- Integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Intercom, and Segment
- Guided migration with minimal downtime
Watch out for- Pricing by quote on the homepage
- Comparison sources cite plans from about 399 dollars per month
- Monetization built in is limited compared with creator platforms
How we chose
We compared tools that replace Circle across its core jobs: community spaces, courses, events, memberships, and payments. Each vendor homepage was opened to confirm the vendor exists today and matches its category, with all eight homepages opened fresh for this article. We kept a mix of community-led, course-led, all-in-one, gamified, small business, lightweight, free, and customer community picks, since Circle users range from solo creators to SaaS teams. Pricing is taken from vendor homepages where published, and written as See website where vendors price by quote or on pricing pages not shown on the homepage. Circle pricing cited in this article comes from comparison sources, since Circle itself is the product being replaced.
Switching from Circle without losing members
Your members do not migrate automatically, so export member lists with roles and access levels, map spaces to the new platform structure, and re-invite in batches to protect engagement. Budget time for rebuilding automations and workflows, since logic rarely transfers between vendors. Ask each vendor to show the member experience during the demo, since good community tools have it ready.
Test with a small group first. Run the new platform alongside Circle for one event cycle, compare engagement, attendance, and payment success, and fix gaps before moving the whole community. Finally, check transaction fees carefully: platform fees plus Stripe processing can change total cost dramatically as your revenue grows.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Circle?
Mighty Networks is the best community-led alternative, Thinkific is the best course-led alternative, and Kajabi is the best all-in-one alternative. The right pick depends on whether community, courses, or marketing drives your business.
Which Circle alternative is cheapest?
Discord is free, Heartbeat starts at 49 dollars per month, and Podia starts at about 42 dollars per month billed annually. Circle itself starts at about 49 dollars per month on comparison sources.
Which alternative has a branded mobile app?
Mighty Networks offers branded apps on Mighty Pro, Thinkific offers a branded native mobile app, and Heartbeat offers a branded app on Scale. Skool and Podia do not offer branded mobile apps.
Which alternative is best for customer communities?
Bettermode is the best customer community pick, with no-code customization, SOC 2 Type II compliance, and integrations across Salesforce, HubSpot, and Intercom.
Do these tools include courses?
Mighty Networks, Thinkific, Kajabi, Skool, Podia, and Heartbeat include courses. Discord and Bettermode do not focus on courses.
How long does migration take?
Member migration takes a few days to a few weeks, automation rebuilds take one to two weeks, and full engagement recovery takes one to two months. Heartbeat offers free migration on every plan.
Sources we checked (8)
- https://www.mightynetworks.com
- https://www.thinkific.com
- https://www.kajabi.com
- https://www.skool.com
- https://www.podia.com
- https://heartbeat.chat
- https://discord.com
- https://bettermode.com
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.