10 Best Community Engagement Platforms in 2025

In today's digital era, community engagement is compulsory for every organisation, brand, and company. Apart from promoting unity and cooperation among members, it facilitates decision-making, increases online visibility, and boosts productivity.

However, to maximise the benefit of community engagement, you need a safe and secure platform. Hence, this article discusses the top 10 community engagement platforms in 2025, their key features, pros, cons, and pricing. It also highlights important factors to consider when choosing a platform so you won't make costly mistakes.

What Is a Community Engagement Platform

Community engagement platforms are digital tools or software that enable organisations to plan and manage various engagement activities with business partners, team members, professionals, or groups of people who share similar ideas. These platforms provide a safe and conducive environment for online meetings, video conferences, and other collaborative activities that enhance the growth, unity, and overall success of a brand.

A community engagement platform isn't the same as a social media network, although they share some functionalities and features. Unlike social media, which allows open public participation, only like-minded individuals or people who share the same job, club, or habit can effectively use platforms for community engagement.

Engagement tools are designed for strategic conversations and online events within a team or organisation. At the same time, social media networks mostly deal with surface-level interactions among users who may not share common interests or goals. The primary purpose of social media networks such as Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram is to reach a wider audience, react to trending content, and connect with diverse people across the world for casual discussions or entertainment. Also, with the decrease in the desire to create communities on social media, digitalised users prefer to participate in small thematic communities, as the recent research by The Verge shows. 

On the contrary, community engagement platforms focus on ensuring smooth communication, fostering trust and long-term collaboration, and sharing exclusive information among team members, private groups, or like-minded communities.

Unlike social media, where anyone can post content at any time, engagement platforms, such as Discord, provide customisable moderation tools that allow administrators to manage participation, content, and privacy within the community. Due to this, users, aka community members, can feel this digital space as the third place.

Why Community Engagement Matters

Community engagement is more than a sense of solidarity; it's a foundation for every successful community. It's a series of activities, events, and actions that protect the interests of the community members, make the digital gathering more lively and productive, and ensure seamless communication.

1. The Growing Role of Community

There has been a tremendous rise in the impact of community on organisational growth, product sales, and brand visibility. Unsurprisingly, 86% of businesses admit community management is essential to their success, while 72% plan to invest more in engaged communities before the end of the year. Likewise, active communities are a guaranteed source of reliable feedback. When brands create a secure digital space where past and present customers give honest reviews on products and services, they obtain first-hand information and helpful clues on how to perform better in the market.

An increase in the global market size of online community engagement platforms also shows that community engagement is essential. Statistics offered by Amra & Elma , one of the top New York digital agencies, claim that community platforms recorded an impressive increase in sales, which signifies a significant shift in how companies communicate and interact with their audience, buyers, and members.

What does it imply?

The above stats and reports imply that companies that pay more attention to strategic community engagement and invest heavily in communities will possibly generate more leads, gain more visibility, become more popular, and record higher sales than those who rely only on social media marketing in this year and beyond.

It also implies there is a drastic shift in the way customers and consumers want to be addressed by their favourite brands or organisations. There is a noticeable shift from broadcast-style communication methods in which the audience can't react or respond to the information.

Instead, collaborative and participatory means of communication are becoming the new normal, leaving organisations with no option but to adopt the new trend to remain relevant and competitive.

2. Increased Retention Rate

Retention is simply the ability of a brand or organisation to retain first-time community members and convert them into ardent and active participants in the community.

Many organisations and companies create an official social media page as a means of interacting with the target audience, but they couldn't convert their followers or retain first-time clients like they wanted. The reason for the poor result isn't far-fetched: some social media networks lack customer-retaining features, which is why companies must explore community engagement platforms.

In the same report, organisations or brands with active online communities experience a 53% higher retention rate than those without because they interact with their first-time customers, request their honest feedback, make them feel important, organise enticing activities, and provide special treatments to members alone.

They explore data, gamification, and other features provided by community tools to capture people's attention, entertain them, make them register, and convert them into long-term members.

What does it mean?

This implies that the years ahead will witness a steady rise in platforms for community engagement because brands won't treat member retention as an afterthought. It also suggests that organisations will invest in platforms that guarantee high member retention, quality community support features, and other exciting tools.

If done accurately, community engagement makes members feel loved, welcomed, and happy, leading to an increased retention rate. That's not all—members of an active and valuable community will invite their relatives and friends to join, thereby increasing the number of participants in the long run.

Why is retention necessary?

Have you heard about love brands? No love brand is possible with a low retention rate.

Retention is one of the crucial yardsticks determining the success of an ad campaign, community engagement efficiency, and marketing success rate. Retention is critical because it prevents organisations from spending huge funds on lead generation. Companies focus on converting retained members into consistent customers or premium members, growing their loyalty and trust in the brand.

The Rise of Branded Community Platforms

A Community Platform Marketing Statistics report revealed that 60% of companies own a branded online community, while 58% of brands participating in the community-related survey use three or more tools to run their community business. Organisations are investing in proprietary or branded platforms rather than relying on open social media groups on Facebook.

They now run memberships, own community apps, or dedicated forums that feature their brand identity to control the experience, data, environment, and monetisation. This trend not only encourages stronger relationships between brands and customers — it ensures better control over engagement, retention, data insights, member experience, and monetisation opportunities.

How to Choose the Right Platform

Choosing the right platform can be challenging, considering the wide range of options available. Below is a table containing six crucial factors to consider before selecting a community engagement platform.

Top Community Engagement Platforms in 2025

After reviewing different solutions, below are the top community engagement platforms:

1. Bettermode

Known for its no-code customization, Bettermode is an engagement platform that helps businesses manage their online spaces, websites, and resource centres. It is suitable for companies without extra developers because it allows customising layouts and appearance without writing a single line of code. Communication is a two-way process, and Bettermode enables brands to engage users meaningfully.

It includes a forum enabling peer-to-peer discussions, Q&A sessions, and user feedback. Bettermode also creates dedicated sections where members can access articles, documents, and guidelines.

It allows tracking of community growth, retention, engagement metrics, and user activity. It can be connected with Slack, HubSpot, and Google Analytics.

Pros

• Over 2000 apps and software integrations via Zapier
• Self-service and a knowledge base that reduces support tickets
• Embeddable widgets that ensure seamless web integration
• Can host thousands or millions of active members at once

Cons

• It is more expensive compared to some options in the market
• Some users outline slow support response time
• Multiple integration tools can be overwhelming and uncoordinated

Pricing

Bettermode offers three pricing options, including a free plan, an advanced (Pro) plan with a monthly fee, and an enterprise plan for larger businesses.

2. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is designed for coaches and brands which wish to create an active community without encountering technical complexity. It incorporates courses, memberships, and seminars for users' benefit and satisfaction.

Mighty Networks is suitable for brands in the e-learning industry as it offers multiple course creation tools. It supports long streaming sessions and encourages active participation through gamification elements. Schedule polls and surveys to keep the community engaged even when the manager isn't available.

Pros

• Clean interface and robust API
• Strong community-building features such as ‘People Explorer’
• Suitable for creators selling courses and memberships
• Responsive customer support

Cons

• Pricing is on the higher side, especially for inexperienced or new brands and creators
• Additional transaction fees make it more expensive

Pricing

Mighty Networks offers five pricing options, including community plan, courses plan, business plan, growth plan and mighty pro. Each plan has a unique monthly fee starting from $41.

3. Skool

Skool is a streamlined platform that combines community, courses, and gamification to boost engagement and help brands achieve their business goals. Created by Sam Ovens and backed by Alex Hormozi, it's designed for creators who want to teach and connect with members without unnecessary complexity.

Skool offers unlimited courses with progress tracking and a forum where members interact, join discussions, schedule events, watch live videos, and attend online tutorials.

Pros

• Suitable for engagement-focused brands
• Top gamification elements that drive active participation
• Clean and ad-free interface
• Active Skool community for support and networking

Cons

• No annual-billing discounts
• Limited customisation options
• No quizzes, certificates, or progress tracking for courses

Pricing

Skool offers just two subscription plans: Hobby and Pro. Each of them includes a free trial.

4. Swarm

Swarm is a digital engagement platform designed to manage professional networks for brands using advanced AI technology. It offers an online store where people can purchase the client’s products or services and focuses on video communication.

Pros

• It encourages seamless partnerships
• Swarm allows branding customisation
• Fast and responsive customer support

Cons

• Transaction fees on every membership subscription
• May not be the best solution for large-scale businesses or brands with large teams

Pricing

Swarm offers four pricing options, which differ in the number of potential community members.

5. Heartbeat

Heartbeat is built for communities that thrive on live interactive sessions and real-time engagement. It's perfect for cohort-based programs, coaching groups, and membership communities centred around events and conversations. Heartbeat connects with Zapier, Stripe, Google Calendar, Zoom, and Notion for more community productivity.

Pros

• User-friendly interface designed for engagement
• Strong support with live webinars and an active community
• Templates for events, docs, and workflows

Cons

• Limited customisation compared to other platforms        
• It is sometimes challenging to set up
• Some communities are inaccessible    

Pricing

Heartbeat offers three pricing options, which differ in the number of members.

6. Kajabi

Kajabi is a digital product platform that combines course creation, marketing automation, website building, and community management. It features spaces for interaction and live sessions where all members can participate equally. It also allows assignment creation to motivate active participation.

Pros

• It's an all-in-one solution that eliminates the need for multiple tools
• Comprehensive marketing and sales features
• Strong analytics and reporting

Cons

• It's more expensive than many community-only platforms
• Too many features can be overwhelming for users

Pricing

Based on the number of your products and contacts. All options include a free trial and a monthly fee billed annually.

7. Discord

Discord is a free communication platform built initially for gamers but now used by diverse communities for real-time text, voice, and video chat. It's ideal for casual engagement without the cost of traditional community platforms. Discord organises conversations by topics, projects, or specific purposes for seamless usability, and allows users to create watch parties around YouTube content.

Pros

• Core features are entirely free
• Excellent voice and video quality
• Highly customisable through bots and integrations
• No member limits
• An active developer community for support

Cons

• Not designed for structured courses or content delivery
• The interface can be perceived as a bit overwhelming and uncoordinated
• Native moderation tools are limited
• Lacks built-in payment processing
• Security and privacy concerns for sensitive communities

Pricing

Discord offers a free Basic plan and a paid plan, Nitro. Nitro includes additional tools for connection and customization.

8. Slack

Slack is a business communication platform designed for team collaboration. While some communities use it for member engagement, it works best for workplace communication. It organises conversations by topic or project with threaded discussions for a better user experience. Slack supports file sharing, direct messages, video calls, and app integrations.

Pros

• Excellent for team and internal communication
• Enhances real-time collaboration capabilities
• Professional, business-focused interface

Cons

• Using it can be overwhelming due to multiple channels
• Lacks community-specific features like courses or events

Pricing

Slack provides four pricing options, including a free plan, Pro, Business, and Enterprise, which differ in the number of team members. All charges are annual.

9. Circle

Circle is an all-in-one community platform designed for creators who want a polished, professional space for their audience. It combines discussions, courses, events, and monetisation tools with extensive customisation. It features content modules for structured learning.

Pros

• Clean and intuitive interface
• Excellent features for course creators
• Strong engagement tools
• API available for custom development

Cons

• Significant price difference between tiers
• Initial setup can be time-consuming
• Limited features available on the free plan

Pricing

Circle offers five pricing options with monthly fees.

10. Hivebrite

Hivebrite is known for building strong private online spaces and is widely used by alumni associations, educational institutions, NGOs, and membership organisations. It allows brands to establish a customised space with logos, colours, and fonts. It integrates with CRM systems, payment gateways, and email marketing tools.

Hivebrite supports high engagement through discussion groups, a search directory, activity feeds, newsletters, and gamification.

Pros

• It's easy to set up
• Monetisation options help to earn more
• Customisation tools facilitate personal branding

Cons

• Undisclosed price to the public
• Only a few software are integrated
• No advanced features like live streaming

Pricing

Hivebrite's plans are not publicly available. Potential customers must request a demo to receive a personalised quote.

How Does Watchers Differ From External Platforms

First, an embeddable solution that lets you build a thriving community without relying on any external platform. Watchers is not just a chat where users can exchange greetings, but a reliable solution designed to build convenient communities, entertain members, boost revenue generation, and help businesses achieve their goals. Simply speaking, Watchers allows you to have your own Discord right on your website or app.

Industry Versatility

Watchers is suitable for all niches and industries — from sports to education, VoD to media, from finance to entertainment. In all these domains, users always have something to share or discuss, and you can provide the environment for it.

x4 Engagement Growth

Whether you're looking to scale your business through an active community or hoping to improve retention, a precisely integrated and well-developed community chat can significantly increase time spent, engagement, retention, and other key metrics.

Through polls, surveys, gamification, valuable content, and other engagement techniques, we motivate members to participate in events and share your products across their social media pages.

Advanced AI Moderation

Through machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP), our AI moderation tools analyse content, remove violations, and flag problematic users. You don’t need to constantly monitor the community — simply configure moderation rules.

AI Assistants

AI agents provide instant solutions to simple problems and contribute to higher engagement. The Watchers’ flagship assistant, AI Couch, helps users find sports information and statistics instantly without leaving the chat.

Smooth Integration and Deep Customisation

Integration with Watchers is fast and simple, and the tools visually blend into your platform. Not only fonts and colours are customisable — buttons, layouts, stickers, avatars, and more can be adapted to your brand.

Comparison Table

Standard Platforms

How Community Platforms Work in the Real World

Doubting whether engagement platforms can boost community growth and help you achieve goals? Here are some cases showing communities formed around the company, platform, or content.

Running NinjaTown On Bettermode

Jennifer Lee, a community manager at WebinarNinja, narrated how she and her team built a branded online community, NinjaTown, using Bettermode's spaces, SSO, leaderboard, and app integration. In her review, she said Bettermode allows her to share resources, interact with the members, and achieve more customer success.

In her words, Bettermode's analytics feature enables her to "view specific days and times when our members are most active, as well as which spaces are getting the most engagement."

Seth David's Transformation With Circle Platform

Despite his thriving education business, Seth David, founder of Nerd Enterprise, was struggling because he ran too many tools. He uses Kajabi for courses and emails, Slack for community engagement, Zoom for events, and the stress was getting too much for him. Divided attention became the order of the day, and he couldn't focus on what truly mattered. That was a sad reality until he switched to the Circle engagement platform, which offered him an all-in-one solution. Due to Circle, David manages his community, organises live events, sends emails, and arranges interactive sessions with members of his community.

Sports TV broadcaster's x4 Engagement Growth With Watchers 

A sports broadcaster who obtains the right to show the World Cup cannot be wrong in deciding to build a community around their brand to allow viewers to watch and discuss games together with digital crowds. Thus, we helped the broadcaster build the community in-app, giving viewers a chance to banter, analyse, and have an interactive experience before and after every game.

We also placed a catchy call-to-action on the pages, asking users to register and participate in the discussion forum for some rewards. As a result, the client's TV recorded 95,000 unique views every match day, a four-hundred per cent increase in engagement and time spent on their website, and improved retention rate.

Six Best Practices for Boosting Engagement

Here are eight proven practices to boost engagement and improve retention rate in your community:

1. Exciting Onboarding Experience

Give new members a welcome experience which will explain everything they need: how to use tools, what they will get, what they can discuss, and what they should expect.

2. Enable Deep Discussions and Simple Talks

Every member of an organisation wants to be seen, heard, and respected. They want their opinions to be shared with the public without hindrances. Create unrestricted opportunities for members to build relationships, connect, and share values, and make it even stronger with special content from the experts.

3. Keep The Community Engaged

Communities with high engagement are known for their rapid growth and high retention because members are always ready to support and help each other. If it is a community built in-app, it can grow the overall time spent on the hosted platform by 400%.

4. Encourage Feedback and Insights

Allow members to freely express their views and opinions on occurrences, events, products, or promotions in the group platform. Let people share what they think, provide forms for feedback, polls, and other tools for people to express themselves.

5. Segmentation and Personalisation

Sending personalised messages and tailored content to new and existing members will trigger more active participation. Also, it is crucial to allow community members to customise their spaces and profiles.

6. High Responsiveness

A swift response to members' queries and requests will foster cordial relationships between the founder and members. They would love to interact and share their struggles since they know the founders will provide quality responses in no time. AI bots and assistants can be helpful here, as well as responsive community managers.

Enhance Community Engagement with Watchers

If you'd like to boost community engagement and convert passive members into paid customers, you can book a call with our product team. We will help you achieve this by building the best community-engagement strategy for your app or website.

FAQs About Community Engagement Platforms

Here are five frequently asked questions commonly asked by companies seeking the best community engagement platforms:

What is a community engagement platform?

A community engagement platform is a software or digital application that helps businesses build and manage their online space through built-in features and embedded tools.

How to measure engagement?

There are various metrics that can help: it can be MAU or DAU of active users, number of user interactions, user retention, session duration, and CR (conversion rate). The number of participants converted to paid members can help you measure if you're on the right track.

What are the three C's of successful community engagement?

The three C's of successful community engagement are Communication, Collaboration, and Commitment. Communication is consistent interaction between the organisation and the community that ensures everyone is heard. Collaboration is a working relationship between members, leaders, and community admins that ensures everyone works together to achieve the community goals. Commitment is the determination and loyalty shown by members towards achieving the targets.

What is the best community engagement platform?

It always depends on your needs. Still, if you follow the need to convert your community members into paid users, it is much better to build a community internally, avoiding external platforms that actually get your users and do not return them.

References

• The future of the internet is likely smaller communities, with a focus on curated experiences | The Verge
• Top 20 community platform marketing statistics 2025 | Amra & Elma
• Broadcast communication style | Scribd
• What is Community Engagement? | Penn State Research
• Strengthening ethical community engagement | WOR on ResearchGate
• What is Community Engagement? Definition, Types & Real Examples | Watchers Blog
• In-App Communities: What They Are and How to Build One | Watchers Blog