An objective, feature-by-feature comparison of the most popular community platforms. Updated July 2026.
Choosing the right community platform is one of the most important decisions for creators, educators, and community builders. This repo provides transparent, data-driven comparisons to help you evaluate your options.
- What's New in 2026
- Feature Matrix
- Pricing Comparison
- Head-to-Head Comparisons
- Platform Profiles
- Decision Guide
- Methodology
Recent additions to Tenant.so that changed this comparison:
- Discord Bot (native) — install the Tenant.so Discord bot in one click; milestone alerts, daily digest, and
/tenant-latest//tenant-joinslash commands. Try it free at tools.tenant.so/discord. - Free Member Tier (freemium) — configurable free signup with paywall-aware sidebar scoping and dedicated landing spaces.
- Member Invitations — admin invite wizard with true opt-in flow (no force-create bulk imports).
- Monero/XMR Payments — NOWPayments-backed Monero support joins cards, BNPL, ACH, and other crypto.
- Cascade Intelligence — macro/market liveboards (niche, but live in production for finance communities).
- Free AI Tools — Community Name Generator and Course Outline Generator at tools.tenant.so — no signup required.
| Feature | Tenant.so | Circle | Skool | Kajabi | Mighty Networks | Teachable | Heartbeat | Thinkific | Discord |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Spaces | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Online Courses | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Built-in Email | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Real-time Chat | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Gamification | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| AI Assistant | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Native Discord Bot | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | N/A |
| Member Invitations (opt-in) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free Member Tier | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Quizzes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Affiliate Program | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Crypto Payments | Yes (incl. Monero) | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BNPL / ACH | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| 0% Platform Fee | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Partial (0% platform, 2.9% via Thinkific Payments) | Yes |
| White-label / Custom Domain | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| API Access | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Limited | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile App | Beta (iOS submission) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-tenant | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Media Library | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Limited | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Polls | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| DMs | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Bookmarks | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Notifications | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Prices as of July 2026. Check each platform for current pricing.
| Platform | Starter | Mid-Tier | Top Tier | Payment Processing | Platform / Transaction Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenant.so | Early Access | — | — | Stripe + Crypto | 0% |
| Circle | $89/mo (Professional) | $199/mo (Business) | Custom (Plus) | Stripe only | 2% / 1% / 0.5% |
| Skool | $9/mo (Hobby) | $99/mo (Pro) | — | Stripe only | 10% / 2.9% |
| Kajabi | $179/mo (Basic) — plus a hidden-priced Starter/Kickstarter tier | $249/mo (Growth) | $499/mo (Pro) | Kajabi Payments or Stripe | 5% / 2% / 1% / 0.5% (3rd-party, Starter/Basic/Growth/Pro) |
| Mighty Networks | $79/mo (Launch) | $179/mo (Scale) | Custom (Mighty Pro) | Stripe only | 2% / 1% / 0.5% |
| Teachable | $39/mo (Starter) | $89/mo (Builder) | $189-399/mo (Growth/Advanced) | Stripe / PayPal | 7.5% / 0% / 0% / 0% |
| Heartbeat | $49/mo (Build) | $149/mo (Grow) | $849/mo (Scale) | Stripe only | 5% / 2.5% / 1.25% |
| Thinkific | $49/mo (Basic) | $99-199/mo (Start/Grow) | Custom (Plus) | Thinkific Payments or own Stripe | 0% platform fee; 2.9% via Thinkific Payments |
| Discord | Free | $2.99/mo (Nitro Basic) | $9.99/mo (Nitro) | — | — |
Hidden Costs to Consider
- Circle: Charges 2% / 1% / 0.5% transaction fees on all tiers (often missed when comparing to "0% platform fee" competitors). Storage capped at 200GB / 500GB / 1TB. Email Hub add-on starts at $99/mo. Extra admins $10/mo each.
- Kajabi: No free plan. Uses either Kajabi Payments (2.7-2.9% + $0.30 across tiers) or 3rd-party processors (which add a 5% / 2% / 1% / 0.5% platform fee on top for Starter / Basic / Growth / Pro). Starter tier still appears on the pricing page but its monthly price is hidden — Basic $179 is the first publicly-priced tier. Contact/product limits at every tier.
- Mighty Networks: 2% / 1% / 0.5% platform fee on transactions across tiers.
- Teachable: 7.5% transaction fee on the Starter plan; drops to 0% on Builder and above. No free plan anymore. Payment processing (2.9-4.99%) is additional.
- Heartbeat: 5% / 2.5% / 1.25% platform fees across tiers, on top of Stripe processing.
- Thinkific: No free plan anymore — 30-day trial only. Thinkific Payments charges 2.9% (standard payment-processor fee, not a Thinkific platform fee on top). Own-Stripe surcharges may apply on lower tiers. Non-US regions may have additional fees.
- Skool: Transaction fees on both tiers (10% on Hobby, 2.9% on Pro) — often overlooked when comparing to "0% platform fee" competitors.
Live, detailed comparison pages on tenant.so:
- Tenant.so vs Circle — Full feature parity analysis
- Tenant.so vs Skool — Community-first comparison
- Tenant.so vs Kajabi — All-in-one platform showdown
- Tenant.so vs Teachable — Course platform comparison
- Tenant.so vs Mighty Networks — Feature and pricing breakdown
- Tenant.so vs Thinkific — Course-focused comparison
- Tenant.so vs Heartbeat — Chat-first vs all-in-one
- Tenant.so vs Discord — Free chat vs monetizable community
Tenant.so is an all-in-one community operating system. It combines community spaces, online courses, built-in email marketing, real-time chat, events, gamification (streaks, recognition badges, leagues), an AI assistant (Jarvis), a native Discord bot, a free member tier, an affiliate program, and flexible monetization — including cards, BNPL, ACH, and crypto (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero) — all at 0% platform fees.
Best for: Creators and businesses who want to replace their entire SaaS stack (Circle + ConvertKit + Zapier + course host + Discord bot build) with a single platform.
Standout features:
- Multi-tenant architecture (run multiple communities from one account)
- Built-in email campaigns (no need for ConvertKit/Mailchimp)
- Crypto, BNPL, and ACH payments at 0% platform fee (including Monero/XMR)
- AI-powered course assistant with RAG over your course content (Jarvis)
- Native Discord bot — install-once, milestone alerts, slash commands, daily digest
- Opt-in member invitations (no dark-pattern bulk imports)
- Free member tier with paywall-aware sidebar scoping
- Affiliate program with built-in coupon and payout management
- Cascade Intelligence liveboards (macro/market data) for finance communities
- 31+ integrations built in
- Real-time chat powered by Ably
- Free public tools at tools.tenant.so (name generator, course outline generator, Discord bot)
Circle is a community platform with spaces, courses, and events. Popular with creators and brands.
Best for: Creators who want a clean community experience with course capabilities.
Limitations: No built-in email. No real-time chat. No gamification. Extra charges for media storage. Recent price increases have frustrated many users.
Skool is a simple community + course platform with gamification. Founded by Sam Ovens.
Best for: Course creators who want simplicity and a built-in leaderboard.
Limitations: No custom domain. No events. No API. No email. No chat. Limited customization. Two-tier pricing ($9 Hobby / $99 Pro) with 10% and 2.9% transaction fees respectively.
Kajabi is an all-in-one platform for courses, coaching, memberships, and email marketing.
Best for: Course creators who want email marketing and sales funnels built in.
Limitations: Community features are basic. No real-time chat. No gamification. Expensive (Basic starts at $179/mo; Pro tier is $499/mo). Starter tier still exists but its price is hidden. 3rd-party payment processors pay 5% / 2% / 1% / 0.5% platform fees on Starter / Basic / Growth / Pro. No crypto/BNPL payments.
Mighty Networks is a community platform with courses, events, and a native mobile app.
Best for: Community builders who want a branded mobile app.
Limitations: 2% / 1% / 0.5% platform fee on transactions across tiers (Launch $79/mo, Scale $179/mo, Mighty Pro custom). Limited API. AI features are new and basic.
Teachable is a course platform with basic community features.
Best for: Educators focused primarily on course delivery.
Limitations: Community features are an afterthought. Starter plan ($39/mo) takes a 7.5% transaction fee — higher tiers (Builder $89, Growth $189, Advanced $399) drop to 0%. No free plan. No real-time chat. No events.
Heartbeat is a chat-first community platform with events and threads.
Best for: Teams and communities that prioritize real-time conversation over content.
Limitations: No courses. No email. No gamification. Charges 5% / 2.5% / 1.25% platform fees across Build ($49), Grow ($149), and Scale ($849) tiers.
Thinkific is a course platform with community add-ons.
Best for: Educators who want a 30-day trial to test before committing, and who focus primarily on course delivery.
Limitations: No free plan anymore (30-day trial only). Community features are limited. No real-time chat. No gamification. No events. No native email marketing. Three publicly-priced tiers plus custom Plus: Basic $49, Start $99, Grow $199, Plus custom.
Discord is a free chat platform with voice channels, roles, and bots.
Best for: Gaming, crypto, and developer communities. Budget-friendly option.
Limitations: Not designed for monetization. No courses. No email. No SEO visibility. Hard to organize content. Community feels "hidden" behind login. (Tip: if you want to keep your Discord and add a community/course layer on top, use Tenant.so's native Discord bot.)
- One platform to replace Circle + email + course host + Zapier + Discord bot build
- Built-in email marketing (save $79-129/mo)
- Crypto (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero), BNPL, or ACH payments
- Gamification (streaks, badges, leagues)
- AI-powered course assistant with RAG
- Native Discord integration without custom dev
- 0% platform fees
- Multi-tenant architecture
- Established platform with large ecosystem
- Clean, modern UI
- Strong integration marketplace
- You don't need built-in email or chat
- Maximum simplicity
- Built-in leaderboard gamification
- You don't need custom domains, events, or API access
- Built-in email + sales funnels
- Coaching features
- You have the budget ($179+/mo, up to $499/mo)
- Free platform
- Real-time voice and text chat
- Developer/gaming audience
- You don't need courses or monetization
This comparison is maintained by the Tenant.so team. While we build a competing platform, we're committed to accuracy:
- All features are verified against each platform's current public documentation and pricing pages.
- Pricing is updated quarterly.
- We welcome corrections — open an issue if you find an error.
- Comparisons focus on features, not opinions.
Found an error or want to add a platform? See CONTRIBUTING.md.
Maintained by Tenant.so — The Community Operating System