Alternatives to Circle

Discourse

Discourse suits organizations that want to host a discussion community and choose between self-hosting and managed hosting.

HumHub

HumHub suits organizations seeking an intranet, knowledge base, project hub, or community space.

Mobilize suits nonprofits, campaigns, committees, unions, advocacy organizations, and grassroots organizers that recruit volunteers or manage events.

Elgg

Elgg suits universities, schools, organizations, and companies building a community or collaboration platform they can host and extend.

Heartbeat

Heartbeat suits groups building an online community who need mobile apps, events, private spaces or moderation.

Invision Community suits groups and organisations that need forums, publishing, events or learning tools with configurable member access.

NodeBB

NodeBB suits organizations creating forums for brand communities or product support, as well as teams that want a self-hosted option.

Geneva suits people looking for group conversations, community discovery, or local events and meetups.

Fora

Fora suits creators, educators, and coaches building branded communities with discussions, courses, events, and member directories.

Jodel suits people aged 16 or older who want anonymous, nearby conversations and local posts.

It suits companies building customer communities, gathering product feedback, and connecting support, learning, and discussion experiences.

Mighty Networks

It suits community hosts who need private spaces, events, courses, or cohorts across web and mobile.

Wisdo may suit adults seeking peer support around mental health, chronic health conditions, life transitions, or social connection.

Nodyx

Nodyx suits communities that want to host their own forum, chat and voice space on a server they control.

It suits brands building customer communities for self-service, peer support, engagement, and collaboration.

Flarum

It suits site operators building self-hosted communities who need permissions, moderation, customization and API access.

Open Social suits organizations seeking tools for cross-organisation collaboration, customizable community structures and integrations with external systems.

Daisie

Daisie suits learners exploring creative subjects through workshops, recorded lessons, and peer or expert feedback.