FREEDOM251

Freedom251 › HelloBox

Instead of HelloBox

HelloBox alternatives

HelloBox gives creators, businesses, course groups, newsletters, podcasters, and existing groups a hosted place for public or private discussion. It manages hosting, scaling, backups, and SSL, supports member approval and several sign-in options, and lets people publish with rich text, Markdown, images, code, maps, and tweets. Its editor can continue, rewrite, or summarize drafts. Newsletters, social and chat integrations, custom domains, data export, and customer-run advertising round out the platform, while paid memberships and premium content remain on its roadmap.

  1. 1

    Sugester

    by Sugester
    Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+2

    Teams needing CRM, helpdesk, and project tools — Sugester combines CRM, live chat, helpdesk, tasks, projects, knowledge base, forum, email, and VoIP instead of HelloBox’s community focus.

    7.1 Free plan · paid from $12/user/mo · 30-day trial Visit site
  2. 2

    Apache Answer

    Free plan Open source APILinuxMac+3

    Self-hosted Q&A communities and knowledge platforms — Apache Answer is a free, self-hosted Q&A platform with voting, reputation, badges, advanced search, roles, and plugins.

    9.3 Free plan Visit site
  3. 3

    Discourse

    by Discourse
    Free plan Self-hosted

    Established forums with hosted or self-managed options — Discourse offers a forum alternative with self-hosting, mobile apps, private spaces, event hosting, and moderation tools, but hosted plans start at $100 monthly.

    7.1 Free plan · paid from $100/mo · 14-day trial Visit site
  4. 4

    Freshdesk

    by Freshdesk
    Free plan API

    Customer support teams managing tickets and service levels — Freshdesk centers on helpdesk operations with shared inboxes, SLA management, ticket automation, a help center, and customer portals.

    7.1 From $19/mo (annual) · 14-day trial Visit site
  5. 5

    Scoold

    Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb

    Self-hosted team knowledge bases and Q&A forums — Scoold is self-hosted and combines Q&A, forums, knowledge bases, full-text search, Markdown, files, APIs, and team identity options.

    7.0 Free plan · paid from €49/mo · 5-day trial Visit site
  6. 6

    Zoho Desk

    by Zoho Desk
    Free plan API

    Small support teams needing helpdesk essentials — Zoho Desk focuses on customer service with shared inboxes, SLA management, ticket automation, help centers, portals, APIs, and three included agent seats.

    6.5 Free plan · paid from ₹420/user/mo (annual) · 15-day trial Visit site
  7. 7

    Oracle Community Self Service

    Paid AndroidiPhoneWeb

    Enterprise customer communities tied to service knowledge — Oracle Community Self Service connects peer discussions with knowledge bases, incidents, agent participation, multilingual touchpoints, and community analytics.

    Pricing on request Visit site
  8. 8

    Flarum

    by Flarum
    Free plan APIExtensionSelf-hosted+1
    7.3 Free plan Visit site
  9. 9

    UserEcho

    by UserEcho
    Free plan API
    6.6 Free plan · paid from $19/mo (annual) · 15-day trial Visit site
  10. 10

    Zapnito

    by Zapnito
    Free plan APIWeb
    6.6 Free plan · paid from $348/yr · 14-day trial Visit site
  11. 11

    Circle

    Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+3
    6.5 From $89/mo · 14-day trial Visit site
  12. 12

    Forumbee

    by Forumbee
    Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+1
    6.4 14-day trial Visit site
  13. 13

    Invision Community

    Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+2
    6.2 30-day trial Visit site
  14. 14

    Talkyard

    Free trial APISelf-hostedWeb
    5.9 From €4/mo Visit site
  15. 15

    Answerbase

    by Answerbase
    Paid APIWeb
    5.8 From $149/mo · 30-day trial Visit site
  16. 16

    Forums.net

    Paid AndroidiPhoneWeb
    5.8 Visit site
  17. 17

    Higher Logic Thrive

    by Higher Logic Thrive
    Paid AndroidAPIiPhone+1
    5.8 Pricing on request Visit site
  18. 18

    LabiDesk

    Free trial Web
    5.8 14-day trial Visit site
  19. 19

    Zendesk Guide

    by Zendesk Guide
    Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+3
    5.8 From $55/mo (annual) · 14-day trial Visit site
  20. 20

    NextBee Community Platform

    Paid AndroidAPIiPhone+1
    5.7 From $1.90/user/mo Visit site
  21. 21

    WoltLab Suite

    Free trial ExtensionSelf-hostedWeb
    5.7 From €35.95/mo (annual) · 14-day trial Visit site
  22. 22

    Bettermode

    by Bettermode
    Paid Web
    5.6 From $399/mo (annual) · 14-day trial Visit site
  23. 23

    ComBase

    Paid Web
    5.6 From $249/mo (annual) · 14-day trial Visit site
  24. 24

    Gainsight Customer Communities

    by Gainsight Customer Communities
    Paid APIWeb
    5.6 Pricing on request Visit site
  25. 25

    Hivebrite

    by Hivebrite
    Paid WebiPhoneAndroid
    5.6 Visit site

The free plan allows 50 members and 10K monthly views, uses a .hellobox.co subdomain, and has limited features. Paid plans begin at $5 a month, with larger member and view allowances at higher tiers. HelloBox offers web and API access rather than mobile apps or self-hosting. Consider whether you need CRM and helpdesk workflows, a structured Q&A knowledge base, self-managed deployment, or a customer-support portal. Compare each alternative’s price, platform options, audience workflow, and focus before moving your community.

← Back to HelloBox The whole customer community software list