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Indie Community tools

14 community products built by independent developers and small teams.

Looking to replace something? Circle · Discourse · Facebook Groups · Mighty Networks · phpBB · vBulletin

Bettermode

Customizable community platform for brands

Bettermode is a community platform for customer communities, forums and knowledge sharing.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Buy Me a Coffee

Accept tips, memberships and sales from supporters

Buy Me a Coffee lets creators receive one-time support, run memberships and sell digital items from a simple page.

Commission · Web, iOS, Android · Website ↗

Circle

Community platform for creators and brands

Circle lets creators and businesses host communities, memberships, courses and events in one branded space.

Paid · Web, iOS, Android · Website ↗

Discourse

Open-source community forum software

Discourse is open-source discussion forum software available as hosted plans or self-hosted.

Free plan · Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android · Website ↗

Flarum

Free, open-source forum software

Flarum is a lightweight, extensible open-source forum platform that you host yourself.

Free · Web, Self-hosted · Website ↗

Heartbeat

Community platform with chat, courses and events

Heartbeat is a community platform combining chat, threads, events, courses and payments.

Paid · Web, iOS, Android · Website ↗

Ko-fi

Accept tips, memberships and shop sales from supporters

Ko-fi lets creators receive one-off donations, monthly memberships, commissions and shop sales from fans through a simple page.

Free plan · Web · Website ↗

Memberful

Membership software for creators and publishers

Memberful lets creators sell memberships and subscriptions on their own websites with integrations for WordPress and podcasts.

Paid · Web · Website ↗

Memberstack

Add memberships and logins to Webflow sites

Memberstack adds user accounts, gated content and paid memberships to websites, especially Webflow.

Free plan · Web, API · Website ↗

Mighty Networks

Community, courses and memberships platform

Mighty Networks lets creators and brands run communities, courses, events and paid memberships, including branded apps.

Paid · Web, iOS, Android · Website ↗

NodeBB

Open-source community forum built on Node.js

NodeBB is open-source forum software built on Node.js with real-time discussions, plugins and themes, available self-hosted or as a hosted service.

Free plan · Web, Self-hosted · Website ↗

Open Collective

Transparent fundraising and expense management for groups

Open Collective lets communities, open-source projects and groups raise and spend money transparently, with public budgets and fiscal hosting.

Commission · Web · Website ↗

Skool

Community, courses and events in one place

Skool combines a community feed, courses, calendar and gamification for paid or free groups.

Paid · Web, iOS, Android · Website ↗

Talkyard

Community forum, Q&A and blog comments in one

Talkyard is open-source software for community discussions, question-and-answer forums, team chat and blog comments, available hosted or self-hosted.

Free plan · Web, Self-hosted · Website ↗

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