What is Circle used for?

Circle is a hosted community platform for creators and brands that combines discussions, courses, events, live streams and branded mobile apps. It is a good fit for creators running a paid membership community, brands hosting a customer community with courses and coaches combining live events with discussion.

How much does Circle cost?

Paid plans for Circle start at $89 per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.

Is Circle open source?

No. Circle is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Circle include Discourse, NodeBB and Flarum.

What are some alternatives to Circle?

Circle competes with Mighty Networks, Skool and Bettermode. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Circle alternatives.

Circle: features, pricing and alternatives

About Circle

Circle is a platform for building a branded online community with discussion spaces, events and courses in one place. It is aimed at creators, coaches and brands who want to host members under their own name rather than inside a social network.

Community tools include a personalized feed, posts and comments with rich media, direct messaging, member directory, automated moderation, search across the full history, gamification and analytics. Courses, events and live streams run alongside, and the vendor also offers branded iOS and Android apps with push notifications and app store submission.

Circle is a commercial, vendor-hosted product with a free trial and published pricing. It is for people who want to run paid memberships or customer communities without stitching together separate course, event and forum tools.

Key features

Discussion spaces with rich media posts
Courses, events and live streams
Member directory and direct messaging
Automated moderation and search
Gamification and analytics
Branded iOS and Android apps

Good fit for

→Creators running a paid membership community
→Brands hosting a customer community with courses
→Coaches combining live events with discussion

Tags: community; courses; events; memberships; creators; branded-app; live-streaming

Circle: questions and answers

What is Circle used for?: Circle is a hosted community platform for creators and brands that combines discussions, courses, events, live streams and branded mobile apps. It is a good fit for creators running a paid membership community, brands hosting a customer community with courses and coaches combining live events with discussion.
How much does Circle cost?: Paid plans for Circle start at $89 per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.
Is Circle open source?: No. Circle is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Circle include Discourse, NodeBB and Flarum.
What are some alternatives to Circle?: Circle competes with Mighty Networks, Skool and Bettermode. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Circle alternatives.