Community Platforms

8 Best Private Online Community Platforms for 2027 (Compared)

We compared eight online community platforms for private, members-only groups by features, pricing and fees, so you can pick the right home for your community.

8 Private Online Community Platforms for Building Connections header image

Oct 19, 2026

The best online community platforms in 2027

Best for coaching and expert-led communities: Swarm, from $19/month billed yearly
Best for a simple, low-cost start: Skool, from $9/month (10% transaction fee)
Best for customisation and automations: Circle, from $89/month billed yearly
Best all-in-one for networks: Mighty Networks, from $79/month billed yearly
Best for courses plus marketing tools: Kajabi, from $143/month billed yearly
Best for course-first businesses: Thinkific, from $40/month billed yearly
Best for brand and customer communities: Bettermode, from $149/month billed yearly
Best for large organisations and alumni networks: Hivebrite, from $895/month billed annually

Communities thrive because of engagement. That is especially true with online communities.

But how do you engage best? Which websites and applications are great for community building?

We've updated this guide for 2027 with current pricing, transaction fees and a comparison table, plus free options and what to look for in online community software. Private online community platforms are all-in-one tools that help you engage members with discussions, courses, virtual events and video. Finding the right one is the tricky part. There are many options, and not all fit every business. Below are eight strong choices, compared side by side.

What Are Private Online Community Platforms?

Private online community platforms are digital spaces open only to select members. They give like-minded people a place to connect and take part. To join, people usually need an invite, an application or a paid membership.

Public vs private online communities

The two main types are public and private. Public communities, like open Facebook Groups, subreddits or forums, let anyone read and join. Private communities limit who can get in. Private communities tend to have fewer members but deeper conversations, because people know who they are talking to.

What to look for in online community software in 2027

Online community software is the platform your members log in to: where they talk, learn, meet live and pay you. Most tools now cover the basics, so the differences that matter are in how members actually take part. Before you pick one, check these seven things:

How members communicate. Text-only feeds make it easy to lurk. Look for video, voice and text replies, threads and direct messages.
Live events. Can members join a live session from inside the community, or do you have to send out a Zoom link every time? Are recordings saved for people who missed it?
Courses. Can you build lessons with video, text and files, set the lesson order, and let members discuss each lesson?
Payments and fees. Check the transaction fee on each plan, not just the monthly price. A 10% fee on a $9 plan costs more than a $79 plan once your community earns enough.
Branding. Custom domain, your colors and logo, and whether you can have your own app or members have to download the platform's app.
Privacy and roles. Private spaces, member approval, and roles for moderators and admins.
Price as you grow. Look at member limits, the number of spaces, and what the next plan up costs.

Paid memberships are already common. Circle's 2025 Community Trends Report found that 54% of respondents were already tapping into paid memberships, and 41% were using recurring subscriptions, alongside offerings like coaching and courses. Dedicated platforms also stick around: CMX 2025 Community Industry Report found that more than half of communities surveyed had existed for five or more years.

Platform	Best for	Starting price	Transaction fees	Your own branded app
Swarm	Video-first coaching and creator communities	$19/mo billed yearly ($29 monthly)	5% on Launch, 0% on Growth and Scale	Scale plan, $149/mo billed yearly
Skool	Simple, low-cost communities	$9/mo	10% + 30c on Hobby, 2.9% + 30c on Pro	Not offered (members use the Skool app)
Circle	Customization and automations	$89/mo billed annually	2% Professional, 1% Business and Scale, 0.5% Circle Plus	Circle Plus, custom pricing
Mighty Networks	All-in-one networks	$79/mo billed annually	2%, 1% or 0.5% by plan	Mighty Pro, by quote
Kajabi	Courses plus marketing	$143/mo billed annually ($179 monthly)	No Kajabi revenue share; card processing applies (2%, 1% or 0.5% with a third-party processor on Basic, Growth or Pro)	Included on Pro
Thinkific	Course-first businesses	$40/mo billed annually	Thinkific Payments about 2.9%; third-party gateway fees vary by plan	Add-on, $199/mo (included on select Plus plans)
Bettermode	Brand and customer communities	$149/mo billed yearly ($199 monthly)	Not listed on the pricing page	Not listed on Starter
Hivebrite	Large organizations and alumni networks	$895/mo billed annually	Not listed on the pricing page	Available as an extension

Prices checked October 2026. Check each platform's site for current pricing.

The 8 Best Private Online Community Platforms

While there are dozens of options, these eight are truly the best. To break it down further, we used the criteria from above.

Swarm

Some of the companies that trust Swarm include National University, ThriveDX, vidlQ, among others.

What sets Swarm apart is its focus on moving away from the traditional model of text-based, faceless communication.

Asynchronous video communication instead of conventional chat-based community groups like the ones we have gotten used to using Slack for work is the main medium of communication.

Members can create short videos to get their message across and others can see the video messages on their own time.

Why is this important?

Let us use an example from one of our most popular creator types:

From a personal trainer coaching perspective, you can see a member perform an exercise over video without scheduling a cumbersome Zoom call to explain precisely how to perform this specific exercise.

This extends to other creator communities as well- video messages allow for deeper conversations that save time by being asynchronous.

The asynchronous aspect also allows the videos to live on in your community, so the advice you give specific members in response to their video messages can be accessed by other members using the searchable video feature.

You can also manage who your messages are going to by using the private DMs feature to message community members privately or create smaller private groups to address concerns that might be unique to certain community members.

User-Friendliness

While Swarm is newer to the game, many clients find it not only compares to its competitors but works better for them than the platforms they were using. Being a smaller company means more focus on our customers because we prioritize support.

While we have tried our best to make the platform as easy to use as possible, any questions that might arise are only a chat support message away from being answered, and we typically reply in under 35 minutes.

Beyond that, the first time you create an account, you will be greeted with a checklist to get through, which will help set you up for success.

It also gives you a place to start when creating your community.

We understand that it can be overwhelming at first, so the checklist provides a step-by-step approach to setting things up.

The left-hand side panel contains a list of ‘hubs’ that allow you to quickly switch between community discussions, your member directory, and your list of announcements.

At the bottom of the panel, you can see icons that can be selected to open your messaging tab, your ‘set aside tab’ where you can bookmark specific messages to handle later, and an activity tab that summarizes what is going on in your community.

From the perspective of your members, it is equally easy to maneuver between different hubs- they just have different access levels depending on the role you assign to them (admin, moderator, or mentor).

There are also apps available to members and community creators alike to access the platform on the go.

Here's an independent look at how Swarm compares to the other platforms on this list:

Features

Some features that might be particularly useful to potential users and are worth pointing out would be:

Live video: You can host live events and then auto-post recordings of those videos for any members that might not have been able to tune in live.
Organized messaging: Threaded video, screen, audio, or text discussions around topics make it easier for everyone to keep track of what is being discussed.
Screen sharing: Beyond just recording your screen and face at the same time, you can also reposition your face in real-time and toggle between your screen and face depending on what is being said.
Mobile app: A branded app can be created to increase your professionalism and help grow your brand among members.
Private messages: You can use video, audio, or text messages to have private conversations 1-on-1 or in a group with specific members for better control over communication.
AI integration: An AI assistant is built in so you can more effectively understand members’ questions and craft responses if needed.
Member polls: Polls are pretty self-explanatory- you can create them to ask members their views on specific topics and increase engagement within your community. This is also particularly useful when running a coaching business- polls can help you clear up any potential doubts or clarify common doubts for members.
Auto-transcribed: All audio and video conversations are automatically transcribed for members (and your own team) to recap at any point in the future.
Bookmark what is important: Your bookmarked list of questions works as a to-do list. Members sending over questions all at once can be overwhelming, which is why the bookmark feature exists. It allows you to bookmark something that requires more attention for later, and you can then come back to it when ready.
Pinning posts: Important information sometimes gets lost in long conversations. During those times, you can use the pinning feature to highlight important information for your community members.
Branding: Swarm allows you to use your own domain and branding to streamline your brand and create a more professional image to display to your community.
Spaces for communities: While running multiple communities, spaces keep everything in order. Each space is a dedicated place for a specific community.
Stripe integration: You can easily connect your Stripe account to accept payments for memberships all within the platform, and we do not take any additional fees or cuts from what you earn.

Pricing

Swarm pricing starts at $39 and goes up to $339 per month (these are the prices when you pay yearly).

The main difference between different pricing models is the number of spaces and members that can be added so this depends on how big your community is or how many communities you have.

The higher pricing tiers also offer a branded mobile app for communities, Zapier, and API access, as well as longer live stream capabilities.

The most extensive plan also includes concierge setup and onboarding, a dedicated success coach, and early access to any new features that are unrolled to users.

Compared to other platforms like Mighty Networks, Swarm is more wallet-friendly, which might be an important factor for some potential users to consider when making their final decision.

Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is one of the older private community-building platforms on the web, and it has over a decade of experience. Hundreds of well-known companies use Mighty Networks' services, including Mindbody, TED, KonMari, Athletic Brewing Co., and Keap.