Independent · sourced · Updated June 2026
Best Community Platforms (2026)
The cheapest community platforms is Discourse at $0/mo. 1 offer a free tier (Discourse). This page compares 7 options on entry price, free tier, HIPAA/SOC 2 and best-for — every figure linked to its source, updated June 2026.
7 options compared on price, free tier, compliance and fit — ranked cheapest-first. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it; quote-only tiers show “—”, never a guess.
Key takeaways
- Cheapest: Discourse at $0/mo (Free).
- Typical paid price: from $9/mo, median $89/mo, up to $399/mo — across 7 with published pricing.
- Free tier: Discourse.
- Tracked: 7 vendors, data current through 2026-06-15.
Comparison
| # | Community Platform | Entry price | Free | HIPAA | SOC 2 | Best for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discourse | $0/mo Free | Yes | — | Yes | Developer communities and open-source projects needing a public, SEO-indexed forum | discourse.org |
| 2 | Skool | $9/mo Hobby | No | — | — | Creators, coaches, and hobbyists wanting a dead-simple community + course platform | skool.com |
| 3 | Heartbeat | $49/mo Build | No | — | — | Coaches and consultants building paid membership communities with courses and events | heartbeat.chat |
| 4 | Mighty Networks | $79/mo Launch | No | — | Yes | Creators and coaches building revenue-generating membership communities | mightynetworks.com |
| 5 | Circle | $89/mo Professional | No | — | — | Content creators and course sellers building paid membership communities | circle.so |
| 6 | Kajabi | $89/mo Starter | No | — | — | Solopreneurs and expert creators who want one tool replacing email, courses, community, and website | kajabi.com |
| 7 | Bettermode | $399/mo Starter | No | — | Yes | B2B SaaS companies building branded customer communities (support, feedback, advocacy) | bettermode.com |
Prices are the lowest published self-serve monthly rate as captured on the linked source. Annual-billing and usage details are on each vendor's record in our open dataset.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest community platforms?
Discourse has the lowest published entry price at $0/mo (Free), as of 2026-06-15.
How much does community platforms cost per month?
Across the 7 community platforms with published paid pricing, the median starting price is $89/mo, ranging from $9/mo to $399/mo, as of 2026-06-15. 1 also offer a free tier.
Which community platforms have a free plan?
Discourse offer a free tier.
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How we compiled this
Published self-serve USD pricing was collected from each vendor's official pricing page on the access date. monthlyUsd records the month-to-month rate; where only annual billing is published, the annualized monthly rate is used and the month-to-month rate noted. annualDiscountPct is set only when both monthly and annual rates are explicitly stated or when a precise discount figure is published. Quote-only / contact-sales tiers carry monthlyUsd null. minutesIncluded, callsIncluded, overagePerMin, overagePerCall are null on every plan (non-telephony vertical). hipaa and baa are true/false only when explicitly stated on the pricing page; else null. Corroboration sources are independent third-party review/comparison pages accessed on the same date.
Last verified 2026-06-15. We re-check published prices and compliance on a recurring cadence and update this page when they change.
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