Buyer's Guide: Online Community Management
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Mighty Networks to have intuitive ease of use, simplifying connection and program setup for new creators.
Users commend the responsive and proactive customer support from Mighty Networks, enhancing their overall platform experience.
Users appreciate the expansive features and resources of Mighty Networks that enhance connectivity and user experience.
Users feel the absence of critical features like voice notes and feed organization hinders their experience with Mighty Networks.
Users find the high pricing of Mighty Networks a limitation, especially if community growth is slow.
Users find the difficult setup of Mighty Networks frustrating, often requiring external help and significant time investment.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the ease of use of Circle, appreciating its intuitive design and clean layout for enhanced experience.
Users value the responsive support and continuous feature additions from the Circle team, enhancing their overall experience.
Users appreciate the seamless user interaction on Circle, enabling meaningful engagement and organized community discussions.
Users find the missing features like limited calendar events and underdeveloped website builder frustrating and restrictive.
Users express concern over Circle's high subscription costs, which may limit accessibility for small communities and organizers.
Users express frustration over limited customization options in Circle, hindering personalizability of courses and user management.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users praise the exceptional customer support from Hivebrite, noting quick responses and helpful, knowledgeable team members.
Users value the customizability and continuous updates of Hivebrite, enhancing their community experience effectively.
Users value the ease of use of Hivebrite, finding it user-friendly and simple to navigate as admins.
Users find limited customization options in Hivebrite, hindering their ability to optimize user experiences effectively.
Users find Hivebrite's expensive pricing a challenge, especially for small non-profits needing cost-effective solutions.
Users express frustration over bugs in functionality, particularly during critical events, impacting their overall experience with Hivebrite.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users appreciate the ease of use of Webex Events & Webinars, enhancing their experience with seamless integration and interaction.
Users appreciate the user-friendly event management features of Webex Events, enabling efficient organization and engagement.
Users value the customization and engagement tools of Webex Events & Webinars, greatly enhancing event experience and interaction.
Users express frustration over the limited customization options in Webex Events & Webinars, hindering their overall experience.
Users report a steep learning curve with Webex Events, particularly for non-tech-savvy first-time users.
Users find missing features in Webex, such as limited host control and basic UI, hindering their experience.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users highlight the ease of use of Gainsight Customer Communities, enhancing connectivity and community engagement effortlessly.
Users value the easy connectivity and sense of community that Gainsight Customer Communities fosters among customers.
Users value the seamless branding customization of Gainsight Customer Communities, enhancing customer connection and loyalty effectively.
Users find the limited customization options in Gainsight Customer Communities restrict their ability to tailor the platform effectively.
Users find the poor interface design of Gainsight Customer Communities limits usability and makes suggestions difficult to send.
Users find the difficult learning process challenging due to constant updates and sometimes disorganized community content.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Glue Up's ease of use remarkable, appreciating its intuitive interface and seamless module integration.
Users value the well-organized event management of Glue Up, enhancing sponsorships and attendee communication effectively.
Users praise the responsive customer support of Glue Up, enhancing their overall experience and ease of use.
Users find the missing features frustrating, particularly for integration and essential event management functionalities.
Users find the system overwhelming, especially for new staff, with notable challenges in setup and technical support.
Users find the learning curve steep, making initial integration and staff training challenging without proper onboarding.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Bevy incredibly easy to use, enhancing engagement and making event management seamless for all participants.
Users praise Bevy for its excellent event management feature, which simplifies organizing and hosting large virtual events.
Users value Bevy for its strong community engagement, enhancing connections through user-friendly virtual events and empowered leaders.
Users find limited communication features on Bevy, making networking and direct member interaction challenging.
Users find the pricing too expensive for startups, making it inaccessible for smaller organizations or early-stage communities.
Users find Bevy's limited customization options restrictive, particularly when creating complex event pages and workflows.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Bettermode to be extremely user-friendly, thanks to its intuitive setup and supportive resources available.
Users value the customization options in Bettermode, enabling easy setup and tailored community experiences for diverse needs.
Users love the intuitive design of Bettermode, making customization and community building effortless and enjoyable.
Users find Bettermode lacking in customization options, limiting their ability to fully adapt the platform to their needs.
Users express frustration over limited functionality, noting a lack of customization options and missing features like surveys and polls.
Users face access limitations with Bettermode, needing to use Chrome instead of a dedicated app for convenience.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users commend Viafoura's responsive customer support, appreciating their quick issue resolution and valuable collaboration.
Users find Viafoura to be easy to use, praising excellent support and seamless implementation throughout their experience.
Users value the powerful moderation tools of Viafoura, enhancing community engagement and fostering meaningful discussions.
Users find the red tape in content management to be a frustrating barrier for efficient progress.
Users find the analytics dashboard confusing, making it challenging to access and utilize reporting features effectively.
Users find Viafoura's limited features hinder their performance analysis and integration efforts, impacting overall usability.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the ease of use of Nas.io, appreciating its straightforward interface and quick setup for managing content.
Users value the efficient client service and seamless functionality of Nas.io for managing products and community.
Users appreciate the efficient organization management in Nas.io, enjoying seamless community building and member tracking.
Users find the poor interface design of Nas.io distracting and lacking guidance for new users.
Users experience frequent connectivity issues with Nas.io, often needing to restart for a better experience.
Users find the branding appearance in emails unattractive when using the free plan of Nas.io.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users love the ease of use in Commune, appreciating its intuitive interface and supportive community environment.
Users appreciate the intuitive interface of Commune, allowing easy navigation and personalized community experiences.
Users appreciate the access convenience of Commune, benefiting from community support and a user-friendly mobile app.
Users find the booking process outdated, preferring a more customer-centric approach for obtaining quotations.
Users feel that Commune lacks essential features, indicating a need for more functionality in the web app.
Users feel that Commune lacks essential features in the web app, limiting its overall functionality and usability.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users commend the excellent customer support from BigMarker, appreciating quick, professional assistance whenever needed.
Users appreciate the ease of use of BigMarker, enhancing their webinar experience with seamless functionality and customizations.
Users appreciate the user-friendly interface of BigMarker, which simplifies navigation and enhances overall webinar engagement.
Users report integration issues with Salesforce and email delivery, affecting their overall experience with BigMarker.
Users find the difficult learning curve of BigMarker challenging, requiring time to master its feature-rich interface.
Users experience missing features like better slide sharing and face issues with audio and live recording glitches.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users find Heartbeat to be extremely easy to use, supported by ample resources and a helpful community.
Users appreciate the easy-to-use features of Heartbeat, enhancing community management with ongoing support and updates.
Users appreciate the excellent customer support of Heartbeat, which promptly addresses questions and enhances the user experience.
Users experience frequent bugs with Heartbeat, often facing issues with the camera's finger registration accuracy.
Users find the difficult setup of Heartbeat requires significant study and reliance on third-party configurations.
Users find Heartbeat's pricing to be expensive, with limited trial options complicating integration and decision-making.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users value the ease of use of Café, finding it simple to coordinate hybrid work and engage with teams.
Users value the team collaboration features of Café, simplifying coordination and enhancing connectivity for hybrid teams.
Users appreciate the easy hybrid work coordination offered by Café, enhancing scheduling and teamwork for hybrid teams.
Users report experiencing interface clunkiness and connectivity bugs, affecting usability and overall satisfaction with Café.
Users face complexity issues with the interface and management tasks, impacting usability for larger teams.
Users find the interface confusing, leading to difficulties in managing schedules and larger teams effectively.
This description is provided by the seller.
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Users commend Clowder for its exceptional customer support, highlighting quick responses and effective assistance when needed.
Users find Clowder to be remarkably easy to use, enhancing engagement and support throughout their events.
Users love Clowder for its intuitive design, making navigation easy and enhancing overall engagement across all levels.
Users note the missing features in Clowder, like interactive maps and video uploads, impacting their event experience.
Users find the difficult setup process a challenge, particularly with requiring usernames and passwords for access.
Users find the event feature lacking, requesting improvements like interactive maps and custom event scheduling.
Online community management software enables organizations to design, govern, and scale owned digital spaces where customers and members interact. As engagement expands beyond simple forums into support deflection, product feedback, education, and advocacy, manual approaches introduce inconsistency and moderation risk. A dedicated community management platform centralizes conversations, content, and governance, allowing teams to operationalize engagement across customer community software and enterprise community platforms rather than treating community as a side project.
Based on 500 G2 reviews, buyers most often adopt online community management to improve retention, reduce support load through peer-to-peer answers, and create structured feedback loops with product teams. Overall satisfaction is strong at 4.54/5 stars, with ~92% of reviews rating 4+ stars. Users rate Meets Requirements and Ease of Use highest, while Ease of Setup and Ease of Admin lag, reflecting a category that delivers clear value once properly configured. Likelihood to recommend reinforces that well-run community management becomes a durable growth lever.
Pricing is typically subscription-based, with costs driven by the number of admins and members, branding and white-labeling, analytics depth, automation, and security features like SSO. When comparing affordable community management platforms for small business with enterprise community platforms, buyers should factor in not just licensing, but the ongoing operational effort required to moderate, analyze, and continuously evolve the community.
G2’s top-rated PSA software includes Mighty Networks, Circle, Hivebrite and Webex Events & Webinars. (Source)
Gainsight Customer Communities
Satisfaction reflects user-reported ratings across factors such as ease of use, feature fit, and quality of support. (Source 2)
Market Presence scores combine review volume, third-party signals, and overall market visibility. (Source 2)
G2 Score is a weighted composite of Satisfaction and Market Presence. (Source 2)
Learn how G2 scores products. (Source 1)
Based on G2 reviews, online community management delivers the most durable value when organizations treat community as an operating discipline rather than a content or engagement tactic. High-performing teams establish structure early, clearly defining member roles, designated spaces or groups, moderation rules, and a lightweight taxonomy, which reduces friction later as engagement scales.
Teams that see the strongest outcomes strike a balance between engagement flexibility and operational control. While rich interaction features matter, long-term adoption depends on whether community managers can run the platform without excessive manual effort. The most effective implementations tightly integrate online community management with adjacent workflows, support deflection and escalation, marketing-led advocacy and events, and product feedback and beta programs, so conversations consistently translate into action.
For buyers evaluating affordable community management platforms for small businesses versus enterprise community platforms, the real decision point is governance, not just price. Smaller teams often win by prioritizing speed and low administrative overhead, while larger or customer-facing organizations benefit from permissions, SSO, auditability, and reporting that allow customer community software to function as a system of record. The right fit depends on how central the community is to your operating model and the level of complexity you need to manage as it grows.
Online community management is the practice of creating and maintaining a digital space where members interact, ask questions, share knowledge, attend events, and provide feedback. It includes moderation, content programming, member onboarding, analytics, and governance. In software terms, it often means using a platform to centralize discussions, member profiles, resources, and engagement workflows, allowing the community to scale reliably.
Start with structure (spaces, rules, roles), then establish recurring rhythms (welcome flows, weekly prompts, events, and support patterns). Set clear moderation policies and escalation paths. Track participation metrics (active members, posts, response time, unanswered questions) and adjust programming based on what actually drives return visits. The most effective teams connect the community to support, product, and marketing workflows.
The purpose is to establish an ongoing, owned relationship with your customers, members, or employees. Communities reduce support load through peer-to-peer answers, increase retention by building belonging, and generate product insights through continuous feedback. For many organizations, they also become an advocacy and education channel—helping users learn faster, connect with peers, and stay engaged beyond individual transactions.
Core features typically include discussion spaces, member profiles and directories, role-based permissions, moderation tools, notifications, analytics, and content management (posts, resources, announcements). Many platforms add events, courses, direct messaging, and integrations with CRM/help desk tools. For larger orgs, SSO, advanced governance controls, and deeper reporting become critical to scale safely and consistently.
The biggest benefits are scalable engagement and operational efficiency. You get one place to host discussions, organize content, and manage members, reducing fragmentation across email and social channels. Many teams also see support deflection, faster response times, stronger loyalty, and better product feedback. Over time, a well-run community becomes a compounding asset that lowers acquisition costs and improves retention.