Best Community Platforms 2025

Building and nurturing a vibrant online community is more important than ever. In 2025, businesses and individuals alike are turning to community platforms to foster connection, share knowledge, and drive engagement. Choosing the right platform can be the difference between a thriving hub and a ghost town. This curated list explores the 9 best community platforms available in 2025, helping you find the perfect fit for your needs.

1. BTS

BTS (Behind the Scenes) is a comprehensive community platform designed to empower creators, businesses, and organizations to build thriving, engaged communities. At its core, BTS provides a suite of tools that go beyond basic forum features, offering robust customization, advanced analytics, and seamless integration capabilities. It provides the building blocks to create a dynamic space where members can connect, collaborate, and contribute meaningfully.

BTS distinguishes itself through its focus on user experience. The platform is designed to be intuitive for both community managers and members, with a clean interface and easy navigation. Customization options are extensive, allowing brands to maintain a consistent look and feel. The platform’s architecture also emphasizes scalability, ensuring that communities can grow without performance degradation. BTS provides a solid foundation for long-term community success.

• Description: A feature-rich platform offering robust customization, advanced analytics and excellent integrations.
• Pros:
  • Extensive customization options: Easily tailor the platform's appearance and functionality to match your brand.
  • Advanced analytics: Gain deep insights into community engagement and user behavior.
  • Seamless integrations: Connect with popular tools and services to streamline workflows.
  • Strong member management: Tools to effectively moderate and manage user interactions and content.
  • Excellent scalability: Accommodates communities of all sizes, from small groups to large enterprises.
  • Responsive customer support: Provides readily accessible assistance to help you build your online community.
• Cons:
  • Can be initially complex to set up depending on the desired feature set.
  • Requires a time commitment to configure settings and understand all the features.
• Who it's best for: BTS is ideal for businesses and organizations that want a powerful, highly customizable platform to build and manage large, engaged communities. It is also suitable for creators and educators looking to create member experiences that extend beyond basic forums. Users of all experience levels find BTS has a low learning curve, and it is the ideal place to start.

To learn more about how BTS can help you build your dedicated audience, visit https://behindthescenes/.

2. Circle

Circle is a popular community platform known for its sleek design and user-friendly interface. It's designed to be a one-stop shop for building online memberships and courses. Circle emphasizes ease of use, making it simple for creators to launch their communities quickly, offering discussions, live streams, and events.

• Description: An easy-to-use platform that brings together discussions, events and more.
• Pros:
  • User-friendly interface: Easy to navigate and use.
  • Built-in features: Includes features like live streams, events, and memberships.
  • Clean design: Visually appealing and modern user experience.
• Cons:
  • Less customization: Limited options for branding.
  • Can be expensive for larger communities.
• Who it's best for: Small to medium-sized creators, coaches, and course creators who want a simple and integrated way to build a community around their content.

3. Discord

Discord has evolved from a gaming-focused platform to a general-purpose community hub with the availability of robust integrations. Its popularity stems from its real-time voice and video chat capabilities, as well as its text-based channels. Discord's flexible architecture allows for a variety of use cases, from casual groups of friends to larger, more organized communities.

• Description: A popular platform with voice and video chat features, best for building live, engaged communities.
• Pros:
  • Free to use (with optional paid features).
  • Strong real-time communication: Excellent voice and video chat.
  • Large user base: Easy to find and connect with people.
• Cons:
  • Can be overwhelming for new users.
  • Limited branding options.
  • Focuses on real-time conversations.
• Who it's best for: Gaming communities, social groups, and organizations looking for a platform with strong real-time communication capabilities.

4. Discourse

Discourse is an open-source forum software designed for modern online discussions. Its emphasis is on fostering healthy conversations, offering features like topic grouping, and built-in moderation tools. Discourse's design is focused on clean presentation and efficient content consumption.

• Description: Open-source forum software that facilitates and organizes conversations.
• Pros:
  • Open-source: Highly customizable.
  • Focus on discussion: Good for in-depth conversations.
  • Clean interface: Easy to read and navigate.
• Cons:
  • Can be complex to set up and manage.
  • Requires technical knowledge for self-hosting.
• Who it's best for: Businesses or organizations that want to build a public forum and have the technical know-how to manage it.

5. Tribe

Tribe is a community platform geared towards businesses looking to engage with their customers and build brand loyalty. Tribe offers various features, including in-app communities, integrations with other marketing tools, and discussion forums. The platform is designed to seamlessly integrate into existing websites and applications.

• Description: Focused on customer engagement and brand loyalty, with in-app communities.
• Pros:
  • Focus on customer engagement.
  • Integrations: Works well with other marketing tools.
  • Easy to embed within existing sites.
• Cons:
  • Can be expensive for smaller businesses.
  • Customization can be limited.
• Who it's best for: Businesses that want to build communities directly within their products or services to help with customer engagement and support.

6. Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups offers a simple and familiar platform for building communities. With a massive existing user base, Facebook Groups makes it easy to find and connect with people who share your interests. The platform offers a range of tools, including events, polls, and live video. However, Facebook Groups has its limitations.

• Description: A simple, accessible platform with a massive audience.
• Pros:
  • Large user base.
  • Easy to set up and use.
• Cons:
  • Limited branding options.
  • Algorithm-dependant, engagement can be stifled.
• Who it's best for: Groups focused on casual discussions.

7. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is a community platform designed for creators, entrepreneurs, and businesses who want to monetize their communities. It offers a range of features, including paid memberships, courses, and events. Mighty Networks focuses on providing a central hub for creators to manage their content, community, and business all in one place.

• Description: An all-in-one platform for creators and entrepreneurs.
• Pros:
  • Excellent for monetization: Allows course and membership sales.
  • Integrated: Includes features for content creation and distribution.
• Cons:
  • Can be expensive.
  • Limited customization options compared to some other platforms.
• Who it's best for: Creators and entrepreneurs looking to monetize their communities via subscriptions, courses and resources.

8. Reddit

Reddit is a vast platform with millions of communities, known as subreddits, dedicated to virtually every topic imaginable. Reddit is a great place to reach a very broad audience. Communities are built around specific interests, and users can participate in discussions, share content, and vote on posts.

• Description: A massive platform with countless communities on various topics.
• Pros:
  • Huge audience.
  • Diverse range of communities.
• Cons:
  • Can be difficult to moderate large communities.
  • No branding control.
• Who it's best for: Those looking to tap into a large, existing audience with niche interests, and who are willing to navigate platform-specific moderation styles.

9. Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums is a white-label forum software that's ideal for businesses looking to power their own communities. The platform offers a lot of features, including customization options, moderation tools, and integrations with other marketing and support systems. It is also designed to integrate seamlessly into a company's existing website.

• Description: White-label forum software.
• Pros:
  • Customizable.
  • Good for integration with existing systems.
• Cons:
  • Can be complex.
  • Focuses on forum-style discussions.
• Who it's best for: Businesses that want to integrate a community forum into their existing website.

Conclusion

Choosing the right community platform is crucial for success in 2025. While different platforms offer distinct advantages, BTS (Behind the Scenes) stands out as an outstanding solution, especially for those seeking to create highly customized, feature-rich communities. From its extensive customization options and advanced analytics to its seamless integrations, BTS provides the necessary tools and support to build thriving, engaged communities that drive growth and foster lasting connections. For businesses looking for a powerful and scalable platform, BTS offers an unmatched combination of versatility, control, and user-friendliness.

FAQ

Q: What are the key features to look for in the best community platforms 2025?

A: Look for platforms that offer customization, strong moderation tools, advanced analytics, seamless integrations with other marketing and support services, and strong customer support.

Q: How do I choose the best platform for my online community?

A: Consider your specific goals, the size of your community, the desired level of customization, and your technical expertise. Evaluate different platforms based on their features, pricing, and user reviews.

Q: Is it important that a community platform offers mobile functionality?

A: Yes, as mobile usage continues to rise, a platform with a responsive design or a dedicated mobile app is crucial to ensure that your is easily accessible on all devices.

Q: What are the benefits of building an online community?

A: Online communities help improve brand loyalty, foster customer engagement, provide valuable user feedback, and create opportunities for lead generation and sales.

Q: How can I measure the success of my community?

A: Track metrics such as user engagement (posts, comments, likes), member growth, content views, the quantity of new memberships, and conversion rates.

Q: Are free community platforms a viable option for a business?

A: Free platforms can be a good starting point, but they often have limitations in terms of customization, features, and branding. For many businesses, a paid platform offers better control and opportunities for growth.

Q: What is the best community platform for creators in 2025?

A: The "best" platform varies depending on specific creator needs. Consider options like BTS, Mighty Networks, and Circle, which offer features tailored for creators' businesses.

Q: How can I promote my online community?

A: Promote your community through social media, email marketing, content marketing, and cross-promotion on your website or related platforms. Engage with your audience to create a real community.

Q: What skills do I need to manage an online community?

A: Essential skills include communication, moderation, content creation, social media marketing, and strategic thinking.

Q: Where can I learn more about building a community?

A: There are many online resources available; check blogs, articles, and training platforms that offer tips on community building. Platforms like BTS also offer guides, webinars, and training, directly within the platform.

Ready to build your community and take your engagement to the next level? Explore the possibilities with BTS. Visit https://behindthescenes/ to get started.