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Best Community Platforms in 2026

Community platforms help groups share conversations, organize events, and shape how members take part. Compared on private spaces, moderation tools, and event hosting, these entries also let you weigh member limits, mobile apps, and custom domains. NodeBB, Whaller, and Octo are examples among the options to examine. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add useful cost considerations. Consider how much access control your group needs, who will moderate participation, and whether members need to connect through mobile apps or attend events. The listed features offer practical ways to compare platforms against the structure and activities of your community.

126 apps
Research read 28 Sept 2026
How the order is worked out

1

UNA
by UNA
Free plan Open source AndroidAPIiPhone+3

UNA offers a broad set of community and collaboration tools with no-code configuration and self-hosting. Standard is free, while paid tiers add direct support and auto-updates with different limits.

9.3 Free plan Visit site
2

Minds
by Minds
Free plan Open source AndroidAPIiPhone+5

Choose Minds for a social network with creator tools, community features and an open-source license.

9.1 Free plan Visit site
3

ProfileGrid

Free plan Open source APISelf-hostedWeb

ProfileGrid offers a free plan and paid plans differentiated by site allowance and support duration.

8.5 Free plan · paid from $79 Visit site
4

NodeBB
by NodeBB
Free plan APILinuxMac+3

NodeBB covers community discussions, moderation, integrations, and extensions, with a free self-hosted option and paid hosting from $20/mo.

7.7 Free plan · paid from $20/mo · 14-day trial Visit site
5

Whaller
by Whaller
Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+4

7.7 Free plan · paid from €3/user/mo Visit site
6

Octo
by Octo
Free plan AndroidiPhoneSelf-hosted+1

Octo combines private community features with branded apps and integrations. The free tier covers up to 99 users; larger groups may need a paid package or a custom proposal.

7.6 Free plan · paid from $29/mo (annual) Visit site
7

Meetup
by Meetup
Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+1

Meetup combines event discovery with organizer tools, from free membership to larger-scale Pro community features.

7.6 Free plan Visit site
8

HumHub
by HumHub
Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+2

HumHub offers a broad set of collaboration features with a choice between self-hosting and managed SaaS.

7.6 Free plan · paid from €144/mo Visit site
9

Reddit
by Reddit
Free plan WebiPhoneAndroid

Reddit is suited to people seeking community spaces with web and mobile access, private areas, events, and moderation tools.

7.5 Free plan Visit site
10

Thigmo

Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+2

Thigmo combines a broad set of event, community, marketing, and CRM functions, with a free plan for unlimited members and events.

7.5 Free plan · paid from $70/mo Visit site
11

Nodyx

Free plan APILinuxMac+3

Choose Nodyx if your community wants its own self-hosted forum, chat, and voice installation with no feature gating.

7.5 Free plan Visit site
12

PeepSo
by PeepSo
Free plan AndroidiPhoneSelf-hosted+1

Choose PeepSo if you need community features such as groups, member profiles, and an activity stream, with a free plan to start.

7.5 Free plan · paid from $149/yr Visit site
13

HuddleSpot
by HuddleSpot
Free plan AndroidiPhoneWeb

HuddleSpot brings community discussions, courses, events, and payments into one platform. Its free Starter plan has member and space limits, while Pro is listed at a substantial monthly price.

7.4 Free plan · paid from $39/mo · 14-day trial Visit site
14

FluentCommunity

Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb

FluentCommunity combines community features, courses, privacy controls, and moderation in a self-hosted WordPress plugin.

7.4 Free plan · paid from $199/yr Visit site
15

Rallyhood
by Rallyhood
Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+1

Choose Rallyhood if your group wants communication, events, resource sharing, and payments together, with a free starting plan.

7.4 Free plan Visit site
16

Oxwall
by Oxwall
Free plan AndroidiPhoneSelf-hosted+1

Choose Oxwall if you want a self-hosted, customizable community platform with social features and monetization options.

7.4 Free plan Visit site
17

Discourse
by Discourse
Free plan Self-hosted

Discourse offers self-hosting and managed plans, with a free option and paid hosting from $100/mo. Compare staff seats, storage, and page-view allowances with the needs of your community.

7.3 Free plan · paid from $100/mo · 14-day trial Visit site
18

Zapnito
by Zapnito
Free plan APIWeb

Zapnito brings customer education content, community features and behavior analytics into one B2B platform. Check the registered-user ranges and Essential course exclusion when choosing a plan.

7.3 Free plan · paid from $348/yr · 14-day trial Visit site
19

OpenPeeps

Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb

OpenPeeps brings community conversations, events, and groups into a self-hosted GPL platform.

7.3 Free plan Visit site
20

Ummah

Free plan AndroidiPhoneWeb

Choose Ummah if your Muslim organization needs member access, events, and donations in one platform, with iOS, Android, and browser options for members.

7.3 Free plan · paid from $19/mo Visit site
21

Hubzilla
by Hubzilla
Free plan AndroidLinuxSelf-hosted+1

Choose Hubzilla for a free, open source platform combining federated social functions, publishing, storage, and portable identity.

7.3 Free plan Visit site
22

OpenSourceCommunity

Free plan Self-hostedWeb

Choose OpenSourceCommunity if you want a configurable community platform with discussion, learning, event, chat, and social intelligence tools.

7.2 Free plan Visit site
23

Raklet
by Raklet
Free plan AndroidiPhone

Raklet combines membership administration, communications, events, and renewals in one platform.

7.2 Free plan · paid from $49/mo (annual) Visit site
24

Community Engine
by Community Engine
Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb

Pick Community Engine when you need community governance, event management, payments, integrations, and flexible deployment from one platform.

7.2 Free plan · paid from £8,000/yr Visit site
25

Fandom

Free plan AndroidiPhoneWeb

Choose Fandom if your fan community needs free, unlimited-size public wiki hosting with mobile editing and community features. Look elsewhere if the wiki must be private or needs UCP live chat or SMW.

7.2 Free plan Visit site

#1Places #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 on this list can be bought by the makers of the software on it. See the price

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