The Eight Best Places to Build a Private Community

Building and running private communities is becoming a more important endeavor for creators, cohorts, coaches, companies, and more. People are looking for a safe space to connect with others online, and a private community is one way to accomplish that goal.

You might be ready to start your journey on building a closed group, but what platform might you use? There are a number of options available, and in this article, we’re going to share our picks for the top eight private community platforms – for both communities and workplaces.

Platforms for Private Communities

Creators, coaches, and cohorts alike all need a place to gather and connect, and one of the best means is through a closed, private community. Here are our top four picks.

Discourse

Discourse helps you build helpful, thoughtful, respectful communities – both in public and private.

Discourse

With an Internet full of toxicity and centralized platforms, Discourse is built with civility and decentralization in mind. There are a number of features for private communities, too.

Top 3 Features

  1. Community-led moderation tools to encourge healthy, focused discussion.
  2. Integration with various membership platforms, like Memberful, Patreon, and a native plugin with Stripe.
  3. Multiple private community "modes", from invite-only, public with some private spaces, to paid membership access.

“Discourse is easy to use and allows users to communicate easily and efficiently which is vital. Members can come together in one place and ask questions, answer questions, as well as get help and assistance when needed.” - Review on G2

Pricing: Free for self-hosting, $100/mo managed

Circle

Circle is an all-in-one platform for communities and brands, including discussions, members, live streams, chat, events, and memberships.

Circle

Top 3 Features

  1. Built-in membership platform so members can pay to get access to content.
  2. Sectioned-off, private spaces for groups.
  3. Live video to connect with your community.

Pricing: $39/mo

MightyNetworks

MightyNetworks is a platform designed to build a business powered by community, with community features, live streams, online course capabilities, events, and memberships.

MightyNetworks

Top 3 Features

  1. Online course platform capabilities.
  2. Built-in events to gather and connect with your group.
  3. Paid memberships so you can build a business off your community.

“The ability to combine Community, Content and Courses [with a] simple and well designed platform makes Mighty Networks a great place to build our business on.” - Review on G2

Pricing: $39/mo

Discord

Discord is an invite-only chat platform for gaming and socializing, with audio chats, video calls, live streams, and more.

Discord

Top 3 Features

  1. Bot integrations, which extend the functionality of Discord.
  2. Patreon-style paid memberships where fans can support your work.
  3. Threaded chats to help organize the chaos of chat just a little bit more.

Pricing: Free

Private Platforms for Workplaces

Companies are communities, too! With remote work becoming the standard for many organizations, the need for a central, private platform for company communications is all the more necessary. Here are our top four picks.

Slack

Slack is a private chat platform designed to be your company’s digital headquarters, with private messaging, video calls, and more.

Slack

Top 3 Features

  1. Threaded chats to keep conversations on track.
  2. Video calls to connect with coworkers without needing a separate platform.
  3. Integrations with existing workplace platforms like Google Docs, Trello, and more.

Pricing: Free, or $6.67/user/mo

Friday

Friday is a remote team collaboration platform aiming to be your company’s intranet, with discussions, directories, and integrations with platforms you already use.

Friday

Top 3 Features

  1. Custom company dashboard so you know what's going on -- relevant to you.
  2. Automated employee check-ins so you don't need to waste time on meetings asking for a status update.
  3. Customizable directories to find out more about those you work with.

“I love how easy it is to set up your profile, set up the necessary integrations between both Google & Outlook based accounts. Helps give me a snapshot of my entire day, personal and professional. I also love the automated daily email that serves as an "executive dashboard" to give me a true snapshot of my day. “ - Review on G2

Pricing: Free, or $99/mo

Twist

Twist is an asynchronous messaging platform built for remote work and preventing interruptions.

Twist

Top 3 Features

  1. Built around asynchronous communication
  2. No presence indicators
  3. Conversation history open to the entire organization (with permission controls)

“Twist is a tool that facilitates communication within the organization. The conversations are structured and there is no way to get lost in the topics. Its interface is intuitive and lightweight, it is easy to set up. “ - Review on G2

Pricing: Free, or $5/user/mo

Discourse for Teams

Discourse for Teams helps you build a thoughtful, healthy place to collaborate with your company.

Discourse for Teams

Top 3 Features

  1. Track discussions relevant to you by following categories or tags
  2. Designed around long-form, thoughtful communication instead of short bursts of information.
  3. Flexible for multiple styles of company use (i.e. knowledge base, company communications, announcements, etc.)

Pricing: $20/mo

Choose Your Own Community Adventure

If you’re just starting out, what’s grabbing your interest? Or if you’re running a private community already, where are you hosting it? I’d love to hear from you in the discussion linked below.