By 2030, the creator economy is expected to be worth over $500 billion, but follower count will no longer be the primary metric for success. What matters now is building a real community of people who actually care about your content.
If you’re a creator, you probably feel exhausted jumping between Instagram, Discord, email, and other platforms to talk to your audience. The algorithms keep changing, and you never know who will see your posts. It’s frustrating and time-consuming.
Online community software centralizes everything, making it easier to connect with your fans.
In this guide, we gathered 10 of the best online community platforms for creators. We’ll show you their features, prices, and which ones work best for different types of content.
Why content creators need dedicated community software in 2026
The creator economy is moving beyond follower counts and ad revenue.
Today, it’s all about building real communities where creators have direct relationships with their fans. This happened because social media platforms keep updating their terms of service and rules.
One day, your posts reach thousands of people; the next day, only a few hundred. Community management has become essential for sustainable growth.
The “1,000 true fans” strategy is getting popular.
Instead of trying to get millions of casual followers, focus on building relationships with 1,000 people who love your work enough to support you financially. Each true fan might pay $100 per year through memberships or courses. That’s $100,000 in annual revenue from just 1,000 dedicated supporters.
Platform risk is a big problem for creators. TikTok and Instagram frequently update their algorithms, which can significantly reduce your reach overnight. By building your community on dedicated software, you protect yourself from these disruptions.
Key benefits of online community platforms
Membership software gives you a predictable income through subscription fees, while reducing support costs through peer-to-peer support. The average membership is around $48 a month, which is significantly more stable than relying on viral videos or ad revenue.
These platforms take conversations beyond Facebook groups into discussion forums where you have complete control. You can have threaded discussions, host live events, and create spaces where members interact with each other, not just with you.
With your own software, you own all the data, relationships, and content. No risk of algorithm changes making your posts invisible.
Membership software supports multiple income streams in one place– courses, coaching, exclusive content, and digital products all under one roof.
Essential community features to look for in community management software
Discussion and engagement tools
Modern community software needs robust discussion features to keep members engaged, as these tools facilitate meaningful interactions that naturally build a thriving community.
Threaded discussions form the foundation, maintaining conversations clear with nested replies that keep communication concise. This approach works perfectly for real-time chat and seamlessly extends into direct messaging for private discussions.
Building on this organizational structure, the ability to format posts with bold text, lists, and embedded media elevates discussions by making them more engaging and informative for all participants. This enhanced formatting capability flows naturally into comprehensive commenting systems, where reactions such as likes and emojis encourage ongoing interaction while helping to surface the most valuable contributions from community members.
Content delivery systems
Course creation and hosting enable you to create and offer online courses, seamlessly supporting both self-paced and cohort-based formats within the same software environment.
These courses naturally draw from content libraries that store all your guides, PDFs, videos, and articles in a single searchable location, creating a well-organized resource library that enables effective knowledge sharing across your entire community.
To enhance the learning experience, drip scheduling and content gating work together to strategically release content over time while restricting access by membership level, ensuring members receive information when they’re ready for it.
For video-first creators especially, seamless video integration ties all these elements together; it isn’t optional, it’s essential for delivering engaging educational experiences.
Monetization infrastructure
Built-in payment processing, usually via Stripe, handles secure transactions and supports membership tiers, enabling the creation of packages tailored to various audiences.
Transaction fees typically range from 1% to 8% depending on the platform, with Stripe itself charging an additional 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
Live interaction capabilities
Native livestreaming is built into the software, allowing you to broadcast live without external tools, though third-party integration with platforms like Zoom and StreamYard provides additional flexibility when needed.
These streaming capabilities work seamlessly with advanced event scheduling and RSVP systems, helping you plan webinars and workshops while tracking attendance and managing participants.
To extend the value of these online events, recordings can be captured for replay, ensuring that live content remains available and accessible long after the event concludes.
Gamification and engagement mechanics
Leaderboards and point systems tracked through community analytics create friendly competition that naturally motivates participation, while badges and achievement unlocks reward members for reaching meaningful milestones.
These recognition systems work hand in hand with challenges and milestones that encourage specific behaviors, such as making your first post or completing a course. Supporting all these gamification elements, progress tracking lets users see their progress in real time, building a genuine sense of accomplishment that keeps them engaged over the long term.
The best online community software for content creators in 2026
1. Uuki – best for white-label communities with web3 features
Uuki is a community management platform that enables creators to build, grow, and monetize their own branded communities with custom domains and interfaces. It features public and private spaces for discussions, as well as a built-in learning management system for managing courses and events.
The software features robust member engagement tools, including gamification and karma points, to boost participation. What sets Uuki apart is its Web3 features, such as NFT gating, which supports creator economies and token-gated communities for exclusive access.
The platform simplifies community management with automated workflows.
The mobile-first interface, featuring branded mobile apps, multilingual support, and integrations with thousands of apps, provides you with flexibility and scalability as your community grows.
Pricing starts at around $15/month, with tiered features leading to enterprise options, making it affordable for creators at all stages.
This is ideal for creators and organizations seeking fully branded, monetized communities with integrated learning and modern Web3 features. Perfect for creators building a branded online community with a dedicated platform and their own branded app.
2. Raklet – best for membership organizations
Build branded, private communities and manage memberships in one place.
Raklet excels at community building for membership organizations. Sell tickets for events and collect donations or subscription payments without needing to juggle multiple tools– customizable member databases with over 60 fields and CRM tools to track engagement and manage relationships.
Event registration, attendance management, surveys for feedback, fundraising campaigns, and social features such as discussion forums, group discussions, a member directory, and direct messaging. Mobile apps and Zapier integration for on-the-go access and workflow automation, no technical skills required.
Plans start at $49/month for basic tiers.
For content creators, nonprofits, small businesses, and membership organizations looking for an all-in-one, no-code community and membership management software.
3. SocialEngine – best for custom social networks
SocialEngine is an award-winning software that enables the building of feature-rich, branded online community networks without requiring coding knowledge. It supports extensive social interaction tools, including forums, groups, activity feeds, blogs, video sharing, and event management.
The software features built-in monetization options, including paid memberships and subscriptions, with flexible payment integrations. Mobile apps for iOS and Android are included for on-the-go engagement.
SocialEngine’s highly configurable admin panel, featuring tools for community managers to track member experience and drive community engagement, along with a plugin ecosystem, enables extensive customization to meet the specific needs of your audience and scale as your community grows.
Pricing begins with a one-time fee of approximately $499 for the core software, with options for hosting and additional customizations.
Best for creators and niche community builders seeking a customizable, white-label social network software with comprehensive engagement features.
4. Skeepers influencer marketing – best for brand-creator collaboration
Skeepers is an all-in-one influencer marketing software that helps brands find and manage influencers across all scales, from nano to macro. It features campaign creation with detailed briefs and posting guidelines, real-time analytics, and content rights management, allowing you to reuse content across marketing channels.
The key feature is Live Shopping, which lets brands host live events where viewers can make purchases in real time, thereby increasing conversion and engagement rates. Skeepers focuses on collecting user-generated content, collaborating with influencers, and optimizing data-driven campaigns. It has social media monitoring and sentiment analysis to track brand perception and sentiment.
Custom pricing is based on brand size and campaign needs, typically involving enterprise-level agreements.
Best for beauty, fashion, and retail brands that want to use micro and nano influencers, user-generated content, and live commerce to increase customer engagement.
5. Honeycommb – best for mobile-first social networks
Honeycommb is an all-in-one online community platform that lets you create fully customised, branded social networks with native mobile apps for iOS and Android. It features rich social elements, including user-generated content, groups, live streaming with real-time chat and reactions, and direct messaging.
The software features a separate Admin Control Centre where community managers can access community analytics and track member experience, enabling easy customisation, moderation, and membership management with minimal technical complexity. Honeycommb supports custom domains, single sign-on, verified profiles, and deep integrations, a seamless community experience that’s all about engagement and revenue.
The home feed displays content from followed profiles and groups; premium group options enable monetization. Pricing varies depending on services and customisation, and usually requires a custom quote for white-label and mobile app development.
Best for creators seeking to build online communities with a white-label, mobile-first approach and dedicated support.
6. Webex Suite – best for enterprise collaboration
Webex Suite by Cisco is a comprehensive suite of collaboration software designed for business continuity and productivity in large enterprises. While not a traditional community management platform, it offers robust collaboration tools. It includes meetings, calling, messaging, webinars, events, polling, and video messaging, with AI features such as automated meeting summaries and real-time transcription.
Webex offers flexible deployment options – including cloud, hybrid, and on-premises – to meet the security, compliance, and resilience requirements of regulated industries. Advances like AI-generated content, quizzes, and deep integrations with Jira and Salesforce enhance workflows and engagement during live and virtual events, including video messaging, whiteboarding, team messaging, and real-time translation with captioning for accessibility.
The suite includes marketing tools and integration capabilities.
Pricing is tailored for enterprise-level organizations and customized based on size and specific features required. Best for enterprises and organizations that need secure, AI-powered, integrated collaboration for meetings, events, and team communication at scale.
7. Squarespace – best for creative portfolios with community
Squarespace is user-friendly software with beautiful, mobile-responsive templates, powerful design tools, and community features similar to those of online community platforms. The 2025 Refresh update includes AI-powered design assistance and AI-generated content tools to help you stand out online.
Squarespace supports e-commerce with product management, payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, and Square, and order tracking. Its business suite includes SEO tools, email marketing, booking systems through Acuity Scheduling, and the ability to sell memberships and digital content. The software has member areas where you can create online courses, host paywalled content, invite members to exclusive spaces, and build a community around your brand.
The platform’s core features support the development of thriving online communities.
Plans start at $16/month for Personal and go up to $49/month for Advanced Commerce. Advanced features are available in higher-tier plans. Best for creatives, small businesses, and entrepreneurs looking for a design-driven, all-in-one website builder with community and e-commerce features.
How to choose the right community management platform
By Creator Type: YouTubers and video creators need Uuki, Honeycommb, or Squarespace for video hosting and engagement. Podcasters and audio creators benefit from uuki, Raklet, or SocialEngine for seamless content delivery. Course creators should consider Uuki, SocialEngine, or Squarespace for their course-building and learning management needs.
By Business Stage: Just starting (under 100 members/few users)? Try Uuki, Squarespace, or Raklet. Growing (100-1,000 members)? Consider Honeycommb, SocialEngine, or Raklet. Established (1,000+ members)? Look at Webex Suite, Zendesk, or enterprise-level options from Uuki and Honeycommb. Consider which core features vs advanced features you need, and whether a business plan makes sense for your growth stage.
The role of quality content in community success
No matter how good your software is, members only stay if your content is consistent. Even the best online community platforms can’t compensate for poor content. Community managers must prioritize quality to keep the most successful communities engaged. Consistency trumps perfection when building a loyal community.
Video content gets 1200% more shares than text and images combined. On community pages, members spend 88% more time engaging with video content. However, producing quality video is time-consuming, requiring 10-20 hours a week for planning, recording, editing, and optimization.
This is where many creators hit a wall. Brilliant creators are outsourcing their video editing to professional services like Vidpros, allowing them to focus on community engagement and content strategy while ensuring their videos have a broadcast-quality look. The ROI is straightforward: the more time spent engaging members, the higher the retention rate, which, in turn, translates into more recurring revenue.
A balanced content mix works best: educational content (40%), which teaches something valuable, behind-the-scenes content (30%), which builds connection and creates a thriving community, community-generated content (20%), which features members and encourages community building, and promotional content (10%) for soft sales.
Capping off
Your community will only grow if you consistently create great content. Video content works exceptionally well because people engage with it way more than text or images. However, creating videos requires a significant amount of time, sometimes up to 10-20 hours per week for just one video.
Many successful creators solve this problem by hiring professional editors, such as Vidpros, to handle their video editing. This frees up significant time, allowing them to focus on engaging with their community members and creating more effective content. Most creators save 10-15 hours per week by outsourcing their editing.
When you spend less time editing and more time connecting with your members, they’re more likely to stick around and keep paying for your content. That means more money for you in the long run.
Want to get back 10+ hours per week? Book a call with Vidpros and let them handle your video editing so you can focus on growing your community.
