7 excellent alternatives for Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups used to be the most popular way to connect with your audience to build brand trust as well as grow your business. The problem is, Facebook isn't the owner of your Facebook Group. Facebook is the owner.

It's time to look into why the content creators are searching for alternatives to Facebook Groups. And which ones made our top seven list.

Why are online creators looking for alternative options in Facebook Groups?

With 2934 active users per month -- and over 1,8 billion are active in groups on a monthly basis, Facebook is definitely a wonderful place to connect with your followers.

Although Facebook Groups used to be an effective way of bringing your business in touch with your clients, recent scandals concerning user privacy, along with a laundry list of other issues, are causing a lot of frustration and may even affected business owners who rely on Facebook.

This is causing many to look for alternatives in Facebook Groups.

What are all these issues, you ask?

In the first place, even though Facebook Groups are quick to create, the you can only customize them in a limited way. Everything from the font as well as the user interface how your followers interact with you is managed by Facebook which means you've no control over the way your audience interacts with you.

We'll get to the next point: your Facebook Group isn't managed or owned by you--it's Facebook's. This means you may be in a position to not promote certain types of content or communicate with your members in the way that you'd would like. Also, you're depending on Facebook to keep its platform up and running smoothly, which isn't always the case. Do we want to remind you of the social media outage in 2021?

Another downfall of Facebook Groups is visibility and revenue. If you don't upgrade your advertising budget, posts that are not paid for receive around 2.2 per cent of viewers. In other words, if your Facebook Group has 1,000 followers, only 22 of them will actually see your post!

The algorithm of Facebook also favors content from friends and family over posts from businesses. This makes it much more difficult to attract viewers with your posts however awesome it might be.

Additionally, running the administration of a Facebook Group can be hard to manage. Along with dealing with unpleasantness due to spam and troll accounts You can't alter your admin controls. This means you'll have to use Facebook's platform to allow people join, publish or regulate.

What Facebook Group alternative is best to meet the needs of a creator?

It is a question that you need to decide for yourself because what works in other companies might not work for yours. We wrote this guide to offer some solid advice to make the best decision for your needs.

The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing an alternative to Facebook Groups:

  Features  

Can you customize the platform? Are you able to operate it easily? Do you have the ability to setup everything efficiently and quickly? Are you pleased with the way it integrates into the other aspects of your company?

When choosing a platform, you need to make sure it has the right capabilities for your business. The details will be explored in the next section as we examine particular platforms further below.

  Platform interface  

How do you like the user interface? Do you feel comfortable setting it up, customizing your preferences, and making use of it? Are you confused or overwhelmed by it? If the latter is the case, do you have great solutions for support to assist you in getting familiar with the platform and help you troubleshoot? If you're having trouble understanding a system and you can't get the assistance you require then you're better off exploring other options.

  User experience  

Your community online thrives in the event that your users are engaging in a meaningful way, and it is crucial to think about the user experience that they will have when using the platform.

What does it look at from a users perspective? Does it seem easy to navigate and interact with?

If you are struggling to comprehend, that your neighbors will as well.

Check it out using your viewers' point of perspective and determine if it's something that they'd be happy engaging with, or whether it could be better.

  Budget  

Certain Facebook Group alternatives are more expensive than others and it's important to find the one that is within your budget.

More expensive doesn't always equal better. Check the factors listed above prior to deciding on one over one.

The last thing you want is to have an expensive platform whose user interface and experience is hard to work out.

What are the top online community alternatives to Facebook Groups?

There are a variety of options on the market that let you create your own online community that isn't on Facebook We provide you with the best seven most effective alternatives to Facebook Groups.

Let's dig in!

1. DISCORD

The platform that was initially designed as a place to play games has grown into an extremely popular platform for community building.

Discord comes with a number of amazing features to help build your online community outside of Facebook like private and secure public channels, private channels, custom-made bots that can interact with your members, direct messaging between members and admins, videos and audio calls as well as custom-designed permissions that differentiate between users and admins.

It is also possible to download and use it for free, or upgrade for $99.99 a year to unlock more options.

The process of creating a Discord community can be a difficult process, and you'll be confronted with a lengthy learning curve that can delay your online community-building process.

Your Discord server is also able to coexist with the rest of the online communities using this platform, meaning you'll need to ensure that you are distinct so that the people who visit your content instead of your rivals.

When it comes to branding Discord has a darker theme that may or not work with your brand aesthetic. It's unfortunate that this cannot be changed.

In addition, you cannot cost your customers for the use of your Discord server. If you'd like to charge this, then you'll have create a payment page on your own.

In the end, Discord is a great alternative to Facebook communities, with better functionality and features. However, if your goal is to monetize your audience and expand your company, Discord may not give you the features you need.

  2. REDDIT

More than 50 million people who are active on Reddit every day, the platform is a big contender for building an online community that isn't Facebook.

Reddit has a forum-like design that allows each topic to be allocated to a specific category, referred to as subreddit.

Some great things concerning Reddit is that it's totally cost-free, and you can set up an open or restricted subreddit, and it's easy to set up and then use .

But, like Discord it isn't able to provide customizing options for your brand and monetization options for your members. And similar to Facebook the platform isn't completely have control over your subreddit.

The subreddit could be removed if the platform's admins believe that you -- or one of your members--have broken rules through posting or commenting.

The amount of subreddits on the platform is very large, and therefore producing content to connect with users can be an effort.

While the platform is completely free, you will need to purchase an advertising-free version.

Reddit is an excellent option to build a completely open online community. However, as with Discord isn't the best option if you're looking to monetize your community online.

  3. MIGHTY SUPERNETWORKS

Mighty Networks allows you to build an online community and sell your courses in the same location.

With this platform, you can create free or paid communities for your followers, use customized branding, create an app for mobile devices, as well as create private zones where your followers can interact.

Mighty Networks also allows for live streaming, group or private chat, and the ability to have unlimited members and moderators.

The platform does not provide a no-cost plan and transactions are charged over the monthly fee.

If you're interested in online-based course options, you'll need to sign up for their Business Planfor $119/month, and If you're in need of additional devices, like payment processing, email marketing, a good website builder, or a website creator, you may need to pay extra to get these features.

Mighty Networks plans--and the transaction costs that go with them -- are their Free Trial ($0/month and 5percent transaction fee), Community Plan ($39/month and 3% transaction cost) and Business Plan ($119/month with a 2percent transaction cost) along with Mighty Pro (custom pricing).

It's a fantastic way to build an online community. However, it's important to take note of the transaction costs since they are likely to increase quickly when your group grows.

  4. TRIBE.SO

Tribe is an online community-building tool intended to be utilized through websites of businesses or through phone apps.

Some of the benefits of Tribe are that you can choose to build a public or private community, and integrate it with various other applications (such as Slack, Google Analytics, or Intercom, to name just a handful), and customize it to fit your brand aesthetics. In addition, it comes with an abundance of tools for managing your community.

Tribe lets members share content with different category tags.

You can get Tribe gratis for the first 100 members.

Then, you'll be able to pick from their Plus plan($59/month) to allow up to 2,500 members and extend your selection of applications and apps; or the Premium plan($299/month), which lets you remove the Tribe branding and increase membership to 25,000 users.

A major drawback is that Tribe does not allow instant messaging. This makes it difficult for administrators as well as members to get in touch with each the other.

Like the other options, Tribe doesn't offer any methods for paid memberships to your online community or selling digital goods to your members.

That means that the options for monetizing Tribe offers require you to work around these issues and set up payment methods that aren't part of the platform. Yikes! Another new tool to add to your tech stack.

Tribe is a great option for businesses with a long history that are looking to grow their online presence because it is focused on nurturing brand loyalty.

However, it's not as efficient in getting your message out to the world and can hamper your efforts to build a community, especially when you're only starting out.

  5. PODIA

Podia is an online platform that allows creators to share their work as well as a fantastic alternative to Facebook Groups.

With Podia it is possible to control the way you interact with members, provide free or paid subscriptions, as well as make sales of digital items.

Podia is also able to handle direct messages, website building, and email marketing. This makes it much easier to establish connections, and connect your company to your community online.

Because Podia integrates payment systems, you don't have to worry about having to setup these systems separately. It allows you to monetize your website and get the most of your online community.

Because you can create your site in Podia from the ground up You get a 100% customizable platform to match your brand's identity.

With Podia You can avail their free plan but you get charged an 8.8% charge for any transactions you make on the platform.

Paying plans aren't charged an amount for transactions. Currently, they comprise three plans: Mover Plan ($39/month), Shaker Plan ($75/month), and Earthquaker Plan ($166/month).

If you wish to access webinars, affiliate support and more You must change to the Shaker Plan.

Another downfall of Podia is the fact that it has a standard template with few customization options, so you'll have to spend much time making your own resources.

Podia doesn't offer an overview of the progress users are making with your courses either--you can check users' progress individually, which is mega time-consuming--making it harder for you to see at a glance whether your audience is engaging with your training.

If you require assistance in training so that you can get the most from Podia be aware that you'll get only one Q&A session each week. This could not be enough assist you in setting up your online community to make the most of its power.

  6. HIVEBRITE

Hivebrite is a platform for community building that allows a very large variety of people to join it.

This service offers you high level of customization and live feeds. It also gives you different access rights for your members, paid or free members, as well as the possibility to add other features when your community expands and evolves.

Over 500 organizations currently use Hivebrite, and their customer service is rated as outstanding.

However, Hivebrite doesn't display its pricing on its site, but the company claims that its prices start at $500/month. To find out more specific pricing information and other key details, it is necessary to sign-up for a free trial.

Hivebrite is an excellent option for big-budget enterprises to build an online community that they can monetize, but with the expense and complexity of the technology this might not be the best choice for independent creators and smaller businesses.

  7.

allows you to create secure groups, private or public, customize the platform to match the brand's image, and set up paid memberships. In addition, following the recent acquisition of the best-in-class community platform Vibely, it will soon offer live call-ins, competitions, leaderboards, accountability tools, real-time chat, and many more!

Y you can connect your company's web-based communitiesthanks the's custom web-based website tool and domain. They allow you to create videos as backgrounds and sales pages as well as pop-up forms, among many other elements.

integrates all the integrations needed for the creation, growth and then monetize an effective online community. This will help you save cash while allowing you to easily ramp up the amount of money you earn.

In addition, the monthly price is all that you require to manage your business as well as manage your online community, so you don't have to use multiple platforms to manage and grow your company.

Three payment options are available:

• The Basic Plan($119/month) comes with an online store that sells as many as three items with three pipelines. There is an unlimited amount of landing pages, as well as marketing emails, and you could have as many as 1,000 members active.
• The Growth Plan($159/month) comprises a website that can sell up to 15 products and pipelines. It also increases the number of active users up to 10,000. You can also establish 10 administrators as well as remove's brand.
• The Pro Plan($319/month) comprises three websites, which can offer up to 100 products and pipelines. It is possible to have up to 20,000 active users with 25 admin users.

This is a fantastic alternative to Facebook Groups for community owners, course creators, and coaches. Plus, it's a cost-effective method of running your company, since you only have to pay one monthly cost for a full suite of business growth software.

What's the best alternative for Facebook Groups?

Community forums are a great way where you can consolidate your brand's identity, publish relevant content that is geared towards the audience, and demonstrate to potential customers that you're interested in what they've got to say.

Being aware of your customer's preferences and needs could help you create a strategy that works to promote your brand. They're in the minds of your potential clients, which means you can make sure that your products and content are aligned to your audience effectively.

You'll only know what you're looking for and require to get from an online community building tool, but getting familiar with the options is an excellent way to ensure you make an informed selection.

That said, most online business owners love the fact that they have a complete set of tools to grow and make money from a group all together and at zero hidden costs.

offers a full stack of tools for business digitally all in one convenient package. It also offers a wide range of resources, such as product templates and free webinars that will make the experience more enjoyable.

And the best part? It's free to trial it absolutely free for 14-days to decide whether this is the best solution for you.

Try for free for 14 Days

It has everything your online business will require. Everything in one place.        Yes! Let's go