Top 5 Circle.so Alternative 2024 (AI-Powered)

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Looking to migrate from Circle.so and find the best online community platforms as alternatives? This article explores how Circle and Circle 3.0 impact your community and it highlights the top Circle.so alternative with advanced features to consider.

What we will discover together:

• Circle: An online community platform designed for brands and creators, Circle facilitates the creation, engagement, monetization, and scaling of communities, courses, and events. However, it may fall short of a fully developed LMS crucial for educational engagement.

• The presence of an online community platform is a starting point, but it's the integration of a robust LMS that propels community growth. This integration enables members not only to learn but also to collaborate effectively, enriching the community experience.
• Introducing Disco’s Learning + Community Platform: A modern AI-powered LMS and community platform that outshines Circle in features. Disco is the all-in-one solution for virtual academies, associations, professional communities, nonprofits, and enterprises, blending AI-driven tools with comprehensive learning and community features to provide a seamless, unified experience.

Building and managing an online community is challenging, especially without an all-in-one platform. Many communities struggle to scale and lose money due to scattered operations across various tools.

While platforms like Circle aim to streamline community engagement and management, they may not fulfill all requirements, particularly around having a  robust LMS, member onboarding, and detailed analytics.

What is Circle.so?

In simple terms, the Circle community platform helps creators build and manage online communities, courses, and events under their brand. It offers tools for engagement, monetization, and customization, including the ability to create discussion posts to foster community interaction.

Circle.so excels in seamlessly integrating community and content, offering extensive customization options and advanced monetization tools. However, it falls short in offering a robust learning management system (LMS) with the flexibility of real businesses, customizable onboarding, and flexible membership options.

Comparing Circle vs Circle 3.0

Circle 3.0 builds on everything people loved about the original Circle but takes it to the next level. With the addition of gamification features like points and rewards, a sleeker layout, and customizable navigation, it's designed to make managing and engaging a community even easier.

New AI-powered tools, like automated content generation and activity tracking, bring a whole new level of efficiency, while performance improvements make the overall experience faster and more responsive. Circle 3.0 isn’t just an update—it’s a reimagined platform that makes community building more dynamic and fun.

While Circle is one of the top community software for creators looking to share and monetize their knowledge, it falls short for enterprises that need LMS-like functionality combined with community features.

A strong alternative is Disco, an all-in-one AI-powered learning and community platform designed to elevate education with community-based learning and grow communities through integrated learning activities.

Disco.co is trusted by leading virtual academies, membership communities, associations, and customer communities, including the Toronto Board of Trade, CourseHero, and Monitor Deloitte, solidifying its leadership in AI within the learning and community space.

5 features to look for when choosing a Circle.so alternative

While exploring alternatives to Circle.so, it’s vital to remember the essential community features that contribute to the success of a thriving community. It's also important to consider the community function of each platform, including how they enhance user interaction and integrate with other features. There are 5 must-have features that every community manager should seek when choosing an alternative to Circle.so:

Key feature #1: Robust LMS and learning capabilities

The ability to create learning experiences within your community platform is essential. Nowadays, online communities aren’t just about social feeds, discussion forums, and messaging—every member expects to learn and grow in a community.

By integrating learning into your platform, you attract members looking to acquire new skills while connecting with like-minded individuals.

While Circle integrates community and content, its structure isn't advanced enough to offer a transformative learning environment. It only has basic LMS functionalities, making it harder for community managers and members to navigate and monetize online courses.

Imagine having a comprehensive course builder within your community platform—that’s what Disco LMS offers. Disco allows you to integrate various learning products like self-paced courses, cohort-based learning, events, and hybrid online courses seamlessly into your community.

Beyond that, you can edit, update, and create content using Disco AI, send bulk invites, duplicate courses in one click, and issue certificates while maintaining  custom branding throughout your community.

Here are the key learning features that Disco LMS offers compared to Circle:

• A robust curriculum builder integrated with community features
• AI-powered curriculum generator to create initial content
• Personalized learning paths using subgroups and groups
• Custom onboarding with powerful automation capabilities
• A customizable certification tool
• A comprehensive analytics dashboard that includes member reports, product reports, engagement reports, and learner progress tracking—allowing you to monitor not only learner participation in your content but also in community activities.

Key feature #2: AI-powered learning

AI integration in a community platform is a game-changer. Imagine having AI as your assistant, answering queries, writing prompts, and suggesting engagement strategies for your community.

Although Circle incorporates AI for customer engagement and content moderation, its AI features focus more on supporting community activities rather than enhancing learning.

In contrast, Disco AI does more than automate tasks—it helps generate ideas, answer member questions, and build learning products like course outlines and quizzes. Built from the ground up as an AI-first platform, Disco’s native AI provides deep personalization and insights, making it a more comprehensive AI experience for both learning and community management.

Key feature #3: Deep customization options

Circle is known for its sleek and intuitive interface, but its customization options for branding and white labeling could be more robust. In today’s world, building your brand through customization is key to connecting with your community.

When choosing an alternative to Circle, look for a platform like Disco that goes beyond basic customization. Disco offers flexible architecture, modular design tools, and advanced customization features, allowing you to easily integrate tools, customize your brand colors and labels, and connect your custom domain.

Features that you should look for in highly customizable LMS are:

• has a flexible architecture with drag and drop design tool
• modular blocks that allow you to custom your home
• advanced writing editor where you can embed tools easily
• integrate your favorite tools into one platform
• capability to custom your brand color, logo, visuals, labels, and appearances
• connect your custom domain effortlessly

With Disco, many communities, such as Ten-More-In, The Commons, YSpace, PORCH, and Female Founders, have fully branded and customized their platforms, making them truly their own.

Key feature #4: Personalized onboarding with groups/subgroups

When managing a large community, connecting and onboarding members is critical. Larger communities have a hard time facilitating connections among their members because of the massive scale, which can lead to low engagement.  The trick to fostering connection in large groups is to organize members into subgroups, creating smaller pockets and communities under one big umbrella.

Look for a Circle.so alternative that allows you to categorize members based on interests, location, and profiles, keeping members engaged in smaller, more personalized groups.

Here’s how you can apply these steps in your community:

Another critical factor in community building is understanding members through the onboarding process. The best communities understand the importance of member onboarding. While Circle’s onboarding is simpler and doesn't have comprehensive customization, Disco empowers community leaders to personalize onboarding flows, enabling them to deliver more value through the membership.

Here's how it works:

Key feature #5: Comprehensive analytics dashboard

Wondering which of your members are falling behind? Many community platforms don’t offer the kind of insights you need to track member behavior.

In addition to tracking engagement scores, Disco provides member reporting, learner progress tracking, product reports, and engagement trends. It dives deeper into member behavior, helping you identify who needs support and who’s excelling in both learning and community activities.

In summary, Disco is the best alternative to Circle due to its advanced LMS capabilities, AI-powered learning, deep customization, personalized onboarding, and comprehensive analytics. These features elevate your community by delivering a transformative learning experience, providing the tools needed for future-ready, thriving communities.

The 5 best alternatives to Circle.so: AI-powered community platforms

If you're considering alternatives to Circle.so and contemplating a migration to a new platform, you've landed at the right place. Here, we'll delve into the finest alternatives to Circle available online.

• Disco. The all-time best Circle.so alternatives
• Mighty Networks. One of learning's most tenured platforms
• BetterMode (formerly Tribe). A customizable community platform
• Discord. The most popular community app for Gen Z
• Slack. The #1 communication tool for remote teams

#1. DISCO.CO: The all-time best Circle.so alternatives

Looking for the best alternative to Circle? Introducing Disco, a world-class AI-powered learning community platform designed for virtual academies, professional communities, associations, and enterprise communities.

Disco is widely recognized as the top choice for both community and learning platforms. It’s expertly crafted to support learning within communities and help them thrive through education. The Disco platform integrates education and social interaction seamlessly, making collaboration more effective and accessible for everyone.

It has become the preferred option for virtual academies, membership groups, corporate communities, associations, and customer-based communities, earning the trust of top entities such as the Toronto Board of Trade, CourseHero, Baptist Health, and Monitor Deloitte. Additionally, Disco is recognized as the Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company, making it a credible platform for modern and innovative communities.

Disco empowers the learning communities of the future with its modern operating system, helping community leaders boost revenue, create transformative learning experiences, and operate seamlessly.

💡 Take advantage of Disco's 14-day free trial to kickstart your community-building journey. If your community exceeds 500 members, book a demo with our team for a free consultation and personalized pricing.

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#2. Mighty Networks: One of learning's most tenured platforms

Mighty Networks is one of learning's most tenured platforms, providing online communities a place to collaborate and grow their learning experiences for over half a decade.

Their target audience already lives on different sites like Slack or Discord, but Mighty Networks offers stronger membership community capabilities and is beginning to support communities in building out better online course management and support for different learning experiences.

Pros: Mighty Networks

• Affordability: Some of the most affordable pricing for communities of all sizes
• Tenure: MN enjoys name and brand recognition as an original platform for online communities
• Strong community aspects and integrations to support community curation and growth

Cons: Mighty Networks

• Members have noted difficulty navigating the platform, often leading to a distracting learning environment
• Administrators have noted difficulty setting up the platform to best support a community and supplemental experiences
• For creators looking for a true learning management system to build a community and business, it doesn't have the same functionality and customization options to build a tailor-made learning experience

Both Circle and Mighty Networks base their core offerings around community empowerment but lack when it comes to building out full learning experiences.

Founders would need to find a new platform entirely or use multiple platforms to create a well-rounded member experience in which community enrichment and learning exposure can happen simultaneously, as they do on platforms like Disco.‍

#3. BetterMode (formerly Tribe): A customizable community platform

Bettermode, formerly Tribe, is a platform that was built for companies to have an all-in-one communication platform, with a customizable community feature to their unique needs. BetterMode offers a robust community function, allowing users to integrate apps, customize with blocks, and manage customer-brand relationships effectively. Bettermode lets you integrate apps, customize with blocks, your own branding, colors, and logos, and manage customer-brand relationships in their proprietary tool.

Pros: Bettermode

• Highly customizable (no code necessary) so brands can create the online community they want with the ability to upload content and link outs to events
• Multiple ready-made community templates to save you hours of work from scratch
• A hands-on team that wants to help customers create their unique space

Cons: Bettermode

• Expensive for smaller communities and businesses
• No functionality to create online courses, events, and other learning experiences, so it's irrelevant for online communities that want a one-stop-shop for hosting learning experiences and communities on one platform

Unlike Circle, Bettermode is not a learning platform or a learning management system. It's not equipped to host learning experiences or allow for curriculum creation and duplication and is rather a deeply integrated community platform similar to Slack or Discord.

It wouldn't be suited as an all-in-one learning and community management solution, like Disco, so it's important to consider if and when learning experience integration like virtual events and courses might become a part of your larger offering so you find a solution that brings both aspects of your business together, rather than keeping them on separate platforms.

#4. Discord: The most popular community app for Gen Z

Discord is one of the most popular community apps on the market, with a specific focus on interest groups and affinities like art, gaming, and podcasting--similar to Facebook Groups. Discord's goal is to create spaces that bring people together “to talk every day and hang out more often,” says the brand's website.

Discord boasts over 300 million registered users. The simple UX and deep brand recognition make it a favorite of founders and creators in the learning industry, but it's not necessarily equipped to handle the integration of cohort-based courses, self-paced courses, and other learning experiences as it is the deeper community aspect.

Pros: Discord

• Very affordable, if not entirely free, for large communities to gather on
• Name and brand recognition lend themselves to easier member onboarding and navigation
• Great for live streaming capabilities to members for webinars, live events

Cons: Discord

• Not designed for learning communities — while content can be dropped into Discord, you can't seamlessly run self-paced or cohort-based on the platform, so you would need a separate platform to host and create or duplicate curriculum
• Not as customizable as other community platforms with tool integrations and branding‍

While Discord enjoys brand recognition from millions of active users today, it doesn't have the same impact in the learning industry due to its lack of learning integrations.

Some communities still lean on it for the community aspect of their business, choosing to host learning experiences on a separate platform, but learning truly thrives when it's coupled with community. Platforms like Circle and even Disco are better suited for learning communities that want to incorporate and monetize better learning experiences.

#5. Slack: The #1 community tool for remote teams

If you’ve spent time in a corporate setting or a modern startup, chances are you’ve used Slack. “Slack is your digital HQ,” the brand boasts, proving it’s more of a business solution than it is a hub for learning businesses, but it corners the market on communication and collaboration tools for both commercial and private use.

Slack, a popular team chat platform, provides all the features necessary for collaborating with teammates and community members together, like the ability to create discussion posts, video and audio calls, group chat, custom emoji creation, tool integration, threads, channels, and more. This makes it super favorable as a community tool, but not an all-in-one learning platform like Circle and Disco.

Pros: Slack

• Can be easily integrated into Disco's learning platform
• Deep brand recognition for easy member onboarding and channel maintenance
• Customizable with custom emojis, channels, threads, and spaces for members to hang out
• Affordable for brands and customers of most sizes and scales at under $15 a month for almost all plans‍

Cons: Slack

• Not dedicated to learning communities; while integrations run deep, Slack doesn't afford founders and teams the capability to host learning experiences like courses and events. Founders need the capability to host all types of learning experiences, including courses and masterminds, and monetize them with all the tools and functionality of a payment processor.
• Would have to be used separately in conjunction with another learning management system or platform

The biggest advantage of Slack communities

Slack is wonderful — it's why platforms like Circle (and Disco!) offer deep integration with Slack!

Disco's integration with Slack for learning communities provides a seamless experience for community engagement and learning within the popular communication platform. The integration enables a cohesive environment where community members can easily interact, learn, and collaborate.

Integrate Slack into your community in minutes:

Our Final Note

Circle is one of many community platforms that have hit the market as the learning industry continues to rapidly grow. Founders need to consider not only what their online community and learning business look like today, but what they may look like in a year, three years, or even five or ten years down the line.

Do you see a place for extended learning opportunities in your business plan? If so, there is a need for much more robust community solutions, especially if you're a virtual academy, professional community & association, accelerator/incubator, or corporate community that's ready to scale entirely.

💡 Take advantage of Disco's 14-day free trial to kickstart your community-building journey. If your community exceeds 500 members, book a demo with our team for a free consultation and personalized pricing.

Circle 3.0 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is better than Circle?

While Circle is highly regarded for its comprehensive community-building features, there are alternatives like Disco, Mighty Networks, Slack, and Discord. Generally, the best alternative to Circle.so is Disco. However, the "best" platform depends on your needs, such as pricing, integrations, or specific features like event hosting or monetization options.

Is there a free version of Circle?

Circle does not offer a completely free version. However, they offer a 14-day free trial where you can explore the platform's features. After the trial, there are various pricing tiers to choose from depending on your community's needs.

What is Circle used for?

Circle is primarily used to build and manage online communities. It offers features such as content hosting, community discussions, event planning, and paid membership options, making it suitable for creators, businesses, and organizations looking to engage their audience in one centralized hub.

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✨ Don't forget to join this live conversation with Greg Shove, CEO of Section, and Candice Faktor, Co-Founder of Disco, as they discuss how Section has changed how they make, market, sell and deliver their own learning products with the use of AI.