Navigating Community Software: Top 10 Hivebrite Alternatives and Competitors Analyzed

Are you looking for the best Hivebrite alternatives? You’ve come to the right place!

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the 10 best competitors to Hivebrite, highlighting their unique features and what sets them apart.

Whether you’re searching for advanced features, flexible pricing or tailored use cases, this guide is here to help you find the perfect fit for your online community.

But before we jump in and explore your viable alternative to Hivebrite, let's see what exactly a community platform is and why you need one.

What is Hivebrite?

Hivebrite is a community management platform that helps organizations build and engage a vibrant network of supporters. Portals can be open to the public or invite-only. Some of Hivebrite's notable clients are the University of Notre Dame, Insight Partners, and the World Wildlife Fund.

Hivebrite's ideal use case

Hivebrite platform is best suited for professional and educational institutions. For example, organizations use Hivebrite to manage communities of university alumni, non-profit volunteers, or corporate alumni. However, Hivebrite isn't the best option for building open customer communities.

Hivebrite's top features

• Customization—With a building-block approach, you're in control of the features, branding, access rights, and more.
• Event management—Create detailed events and share them with your online community.
• Job board—Offer members access to employment and volunteer opportunities.
• Social networking—Members can network through forums, instant messaging, and an elaborate member directory.
• Reachability—Reach customers through email invites, automated newsletters, and a mobile app for iOS and Android.
• Online payments—Membership and event fees are easily paid through the platform.

Hivebrite's pricing and plans

Hivebrite's pricing plans Connect, Scale and Enterprise are tailored to each client's needs.

10 alternatives to Hivebrite — starting with Bettermode

Bettermode

Community built with Bettermode

Bettermode is a comprehensive community software for businesses, known for its intuitive block-based builder and handy app ecosystem. Community managers can add functionality through the App Store and embed the community into existing apps or websites for a dynamic social experience. Check out our detailed comparison of Bettermode vs Hivebrite for customer community building.

Bettermode is a popular Hivebrite alternative for businesses in the SaaS space that use the community platform to obtain customer feedback while educating customers on how to make the most of their products. Businesses in the e-commerce and education sectors also use Bettermode to build brand communities and engage and retain their audiences. Notable clients who use Bettermode are ConvertKit, ASUS, IBM, Linktree, and Ford.

Bettermode's ideal use case

Bettermode is a business and enterprise platform that's an ideal fit for community-led brands that want to engage, educate, and support their customers while building brand leadership. For coaches or creators looking to generate revenue from their communities, Bettermode may not be the best option.

Bettermode's top features

Let's take a look at Bettermode's key features:

• Pre-built community templates—Bettermode offers a host of pre-built Space templates that were modeled off successful communities. This allows you to quickly launch popular use cases like customer support and product updates, and then customize them according to your needs.
• Design Studio—Customize your community from top to bottom, with flexible layouts, header and footer options, navigation options, and a theme to suit your brand. Zero coding is needed! Simply select, arrange, and configure Blocks to create a unique community that's all yours.
• Enhanced customization options—Its newest feature, the Section Block, simplifies content creation by making it easier to organize content on your community pages, giving you more control to customize your designs exactly the way you want.
• Web-based approach—Bettermode is a web-based tool enabling users to access the platform from any device with an internet connection. With no software installation required and automatic updates, community members can quickly start using the platform.
• Post types—This feature allows community managers to create unique post types for different use cases. For example, you can enable event posts that showcase location and time or Q&A posts that let members upvote or follow their favorite questions.
• Detailed analytics—Bettermode offers powerful analytics tools that help community managers track how members engage with the platform. Users can view reports on activities like post interactions, member participation and event attendance.
• Strong integration capabilities—Bettermode offers seamless integration with software you're already using, like Slack, HubSpot, and Intercoms. This list of third-party integrations is always growing, ensuring your business workflow stays uninterrupted.
• Robust moderation tools—Bettermode provides strong moderation tools to keep the community a safe and welcoming space for all community members. These tools help community managers manage posts, control user permissions and set rules.
• An App store—Pick and choose apps from Bettermode's App Store for added functionality and an enhanced user experience.
• Embedding—Embed your online community into your existing mobile app or website to create a social experience along every step of the customer journey. You'll also improve community adoption by ensuring your target audience comes across your community while using your website or product.
• Individual spaces—Community members can create individual spaces for different topics or interests.
• Developer portal—A dev portal lets you build custom apps and integrations using API and Webhooks. This means you can fully customize your community on top of Bettermode, for a feel and functionality that's your own.

Bettermode's pricing and plans

Bettermode offers three subscription plans, Lite at $24 USD/mo, Pro at $59 USD/mo, and Bussiness at $119 USD/mo. There is also Freemium Signup, which means that anyone can use the platform cost-free forever.

Mighty Networks

Owing to its course-builder and paid memberships, thousands of influencers, coaches, entrepreneurs, and content creators use Mighty Networks.

Mighty Networks' ideal use case

Mighty Networks, another alternative to Hivebrite, is ideal for solopreneurs and creators who plan to host a large number of events for their communities. With limited integrations, Mighty Networks isn't the top choice for business use cases.

Mighty Networks' top features

• Welcome section—Design a custom landing page and guide new members through their first steps.
• Virtual events—Live streaming, group chat events, and an event calendar help members connect virtually in real time.
• Unlimited hosts, members, and moderators—Scale your community.
• Monetization—Monetize your memberships by selling courses and subscriptions.
• iOs and Android capabilities—Members can access the community from anywhere via mobile apps.

Mighty Networks' pricing and plans

Mighty Network offers five different plans with annual purchase — the Community Plan at $41 USD/mo, the Courses Plan at $99 USD/mo, the Business Plan at $179 USD/mo, the Path-to-Pro Plan at $360 USD/mo and the Mighty Pro Plan with custom pricing. All plans include a free trial.

Circle

Circle's ideal use case

Circle is a great Hivebrite alternative for brands and content creators whose communities involve training or learning. Circle lacks some of the features required by larger brands and is more suitable for small or medium-sized businesses.

Circle's top features

• Teachable integration—Creators of online courses can easily create an e-learning community with Circle.
• Events feature—Connect members through group chats and in-person or virtual events. Select plans also include live streaming for coaching calls, online classes, or broadcasts.
• Gated access—Choose to lock certain spaces and monetize them with one-time payments or subscription fees.
• Member directory—Rich member data and direct messaging help members build meaningful relationships and stay connected.

Circle's pricing and plans

Circle lets you choose between four monthly payment plans: Basic at $49 USD/mo, Professional at $99 USD/mo, Business at $219 USD/mo and Enterprise at $399 USD/mo. Each one comes with a 14-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you find Circle a bit pricey, check out its 10 best alternatives.

Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums is among other alternatives to Hivebrite that helps brands build communities focused on improving customer support, brand advocacy, and retention. This platform is often used by customer experience executives, product managers, or marketing champions. If you want to learn more about Vanilla Forums and see how it compares to other platforms such as Discourse click here.

Vanilla Forums' ideal use case

Vanilla Forums is a solid choice for customer-centric companies that want to build a community of loyal advocates. With no monetization options, Vanilla isn't ideal for those hoping to monetize their community membership.

Vanilla Forum's top features

• Ideation—Members can submit or vote on product suggestions, helping brands with product creation.
• Self-service help center—Users have access to a knowledge base that includes product-related user guides and help docs.
• Q&A functionality—Encourage open discussion between members with question-and-answer tools.
• Customizable themes—Match your community to your branding by customizing your theme and even adding your own CSS.

Vanilla Forums' pricing and plans

Vanilla offers flexible pricing according to three plans: Essential, Corporate, and Enterprise. There's also a free open-source version of Vanilla—a simpler version of the cloud-based product — which is best suited for small businesses.

Graduway

With a focus on empowering your community, Graduway helps educational institutions inspire their students, alumni, and donors to be proactive. More than 400 colleges and universities use Graduway, including UCLA and the University of Arizona.

Graduway's ideal use case

Graduway is a top choice for professional organizations like educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and non-profits. It's not the best solution for small businesses.

Graduway's top features

• Recruitment—Integrate prospective students and their parents into the online community, and send them personalized greetings through video, calls, or emails.
• A video-first platform—A virtual network connects members around the world through video.
• Mentor matching tools—Encourage members to share advice, engage in knowledge sharing and benefit from mentorship through automated mentor matching.
• Fundraising software—In 2021, Graduway merged with Gravyty, a leading software that uses AI and machine learning to help teams scale their fundraising.

Graduway's pricing and plans

Graduway offers custom pricing based on their clients' needs.

Discord

Popular with school clubs and gaming groups, Discord is one of the alternatives to Hivebrite known for its user-friendly voice and text chat functionality. Friends and enthusiasts get together on Discord to chat about common interests or just hang out.

Discord's ideal use case

Discord is user-driven and most useful for non-commercial communities. Most Discord servers are private, and members are in control of the conversation.

Discord's top features

• Topic-based channels—Discussions can be organized under specific topics separate from the group chat.
• Voice chat—Members can easily see who's online in different voice channels and jump in the chat to contribute.
• Video streaming and screen-sharing—Members can watch each other share their screens or stream games.

Discord's pricing and plans

Most users enjoy Discord's free version. The platform also offers an enhanced version, Discord Nitro, at $9.99 USD/mo or $99.99 USD/year. Discord Nitro Basic provides many of the same features as Nitro but excludes server boosts and it's $2.99 per month.

Discourse

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Discourse calls itself a “100% open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.” The platform can be used as one of the alternatives to Hivebrite, functioning as a forum or a long-form chat room. To see if Discourse suits your needs, explore our roundup of the top 10 alternatives.

Discourse's ideal use case

Discourse is typically used by organizations looking for forum software. This message board configuration makes it less suited to smaller communities with fewer members.

Discourse's top features

• A user trust system—Members can flag inappropriate content and boost positive posts with likes and badges. There's also built-in spam blocking.
• Just-in-time loading—A one-page format allows members to scroll continuously with the newest content at the top.
• Social media functionality—Discourse offers all the modern functionalities of social media, such as dynamic notifications, quoting of replies, and the ability to paste images in posts.

Discourse's pricing and plans

Discourse offers three types of plans: Standard at $100 USD/mo, Business at $300 USD/mo, and Enterprise with custom pricing. They also offer discounts for educational and non-profit organizations.

Slack

Though specifically designed to enable workforce communication, Slack also offers community-building functionalities. For example, Slack is often used to build professional communities, such as marketers, who can discuss their work and ask for advice from their peers.

Slack's ideal use case

Slack is well-suited for companies that prioritize instant communication among community members. Users share information on an ongoing basis and engage in meaningful discussions. However, due to an inability to customize the community and a lack of specialized community features, Slack isn't the best choice for advanced community building.

Slack's top features

• Instant messaging—Contribute to organized topics or direct message individual members in real-time.
• Audio/video capabilities—Share audio and video clips that can be played back at any time.
• Integrations—Easily integrates with thousands of other business tools.

Slack's pricing and plans

Slack offers a free version with limited features. Paid plans are the better choice for community building, but keep in mind that plans are priced according to the number of active users. This means you'll pay more as your community grows. Options are the Pro plan at $7.25 USD/mo per user, the Business+ plan at $12.50 USD/mo per user, and the Enterprise Grid plan with custom pricing. Prices are valid when paying yearly.

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Reddit

Reddit is a social network where members curate content (links, text posts, images, and videos). Users discuss news, share passions, and connect over shared interests by joining specific communities within a massive network.

Reddit's ideal use case

Reddit is mainly used by niche communities and is popular among Millennials and Gen Zers. Businesses and brands can find success on Reddit but will need to be well-versed in the platform's culture and rules.

Reddit's top features

• Rankings—Users upvote content to move it up the rankings, increasing the number of people who'll see it. Rankings tell you which content is most engaging to group members.
• Follow function—Members can subscribe to subreddits, posts, and user profiles.
• Community creation—Members who have been around for at least 30 days can create their own online communities (subreddits).

Reddit's pricing and plans

Reddit is free but offers paid advertising and partnerships.

Facebook groups

Creators, solopreneurs, and organizations use groups on Facebook to build and interact with their followers. Facebook groups are easy to set up but lack customization options and aren't great for building brand loyalty.

Facebook groups' ideal use case

A Facebook group can be a good place to start when first venturing into building online communities. A downside is that there are many outside distractions from different content feeds. Facebook groups are often used alongside other community platforms.

Facebook groups' top features

• Communication—Connect with members one-on-one through private messaging, or engage with members through polls, Q&As, and discussions.
• Admin control—Groups can be made public or private and admins can be appointed to monitor group settings.
• Event hosting—Easily host live events to engage members.

Facebook groups' pricing and plans

Groups on Facebook are free to create and only require a Facebook account. However, advertising your group and events will cost you.

Comparison table

Here’s a comparison of all the tools discussed in this article. It highlights key features, pricing, use cases and more, allowing you to easily evaluate each option based on your community needs.

Conclusion

While many alternatives to Hivebrite offer great community-building features, Bettermode stands out as the best option for brands looking to create engaging, customizable communities.

With its intuitive block-based design and customization options, seamless integration options, detailed analytics and robust moderation tools, Bettermode ensures a smooth experience for both community managers and members.

If you’re ready to see what Bettermode can do for your community, request a demo today!

This article was originally published on September 21st, 2022, and was updated on October 24th, 2024.

FAQs

Is Hivebrite worth it?

Whether Hivebrite is worth it depends on your organization's needs. Hivebrite offers features for community engagement, member management, and event organization, along with a user-friendly interface. However, its high cost may be a concern for smaller organizations.

In comparison, BetterMode is a strong Hivebrite competitor and offers full control over your community data. It focuses on simplicity, making it easy for members to use it without much training.

Who uses Hivebrite?

Hivebrite is used by various organizations such as:

1. Universities and colleges: For managing alumni networks and improving student engagement.
2. Non-profit organizations: To bring volunteers together and encourage community involvement.
3. Companies: For creating networks of former employees and boosting member engagement.
4. Professional associations: To help members network and develop their careers.
5. Interest groups: Communities focused on specific hobbies or interests.

What is Hivebrite used for?

Hivebrite is used for creating and managing online communities and offers features like:

1. Community engagement: Makes interaction through forums and messaging easier.
2. Member management: Manages member profiles and memberships.
3. Networking: Connects users based on shared interests.
4. Event Management: Organizes and promotes events.
5. Content sharing: Enables resource sharing within the community.
6. Fundraising: Manages donations and fundraising campaigns.

Does Hivebrite have a mobile app?

Yes, Hivebrite offers a mobile app allowing users to access community features on the go. The app enables members to engage with the community, participate in discussions, manage events and receive notifications directly from their mobile devices.

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