Circle.so vs Mighty Networks: Community Platform Comparison

We all know that building a community is important.

A strong community can provide support, connections, and a sense of belonging. Moreover, It can also be a great way to build your business or brand.

This is where a community builder platform comes in.

A community builder is a software that helps you create and manage your online community with ease.

There are many different community builder software and platforms out there. In this article, we will be comparing Circle.so and Mighty Networks, two of the most powerful and reliable tools out there.

In A Hurry? Read Through This Quick TL; DR Summary

Circle.so and Mighty Networks are both great community builder platforms that can help you easily create and manage your online community.

Circle.so is a great choice if you are looking for a platform that is easy to use and has a lot of features. On the other hand, Mighty Networks is a great choice if you are looking for a platform that is more customizable and has plenty of integrations.

After using both Circle.so and Mighty Networks, we figured out that Circle is the better choice for most people. Read our compelete review of Circle.so.

Let’s see exactly why.

Get started with Circle →

Ratings & Review Comparison

*Note that the above-given reviews, although published in well-known public opinion marketplaces, are the sum total of the sentiments of the real users who partially/thoroughly used the tool and then gave a review based on their testing and experience.

What is Circle?

Circle.so is a community builder that enables its users to create online communities around their interests and connect with like-minded people.

The platform provides tools for community management, discussion forums, event management, and content creation, making it easy for users to build and grow their communities.

Circle.so also offers a variety of features to help users engage with their communities, such as notifications, messaging, and poll creation.

In addition, the platform offers several integrations with popular social media and productivity platforms, making it easy for users to connect with their communities across multiple channels.

Circle.so is great because it’s easy to use and has a lot of features.

For instance, you can use Circle.so to:

• Create a community around your interests
• Connect with like-minded people
• Build and grow your community
• Engage with your community
• Get insights into your community’s activity
• And much more!

What is Mighty Networks?

Mighty Networks is a community builder that helps businesses and organizations create their own online networks.

By providing tools for content creation, membership management, and payment processing, Mighty Networks makes it easy to build and scale a community.

Mighty Networks also offers a range of features designed to help communities thrive, including groups, events, and direct messaging.

In addition, Mighty Networks provides users with insights into community growth and engagement. As a result, Mighty Networks is a powerful tool for businesses and organizations looking to build an online community.

While Circle.so extensively focuses on building and growing online communities and doing events, Mighty Networks has also given a second thought to additional things such as enabling member categories, adding and managing your online course, and also managing payments for your members.

The biggest benefit of Mighty Networks is automating your workflows with the help of their integrations.

Who Can Benefit From Circle and Mighty Networks?

Circle and Mighty Networks are both great platforms for building online communities. But who exactly can benefit from using each one?

Circle is best suited for businesses, organizations, and causes that are looking to build an engaged and active community around their brand or product.

Mighty Networks, on the other hand, is ideal for content creators, course instructors, and membership site owners who want to create a private, exclusive community for their paying members.

Circle vs Might Networks – Ultimate Features Comparison

1. Platforms

Circle.so is accessible via web & iOS, as of now. According to their roadmap, they are working on launching their app for android users.

You can download the iOS app by heading over to this page and then downloading it from the App Store.

However, if you are an android user and yearning to use Circle as an app, then I found one solution for you.

According to this official community post, one of the Circle users has described easy steps that you can follow to get Circle running on your Android device.

When it comes to Mighty Networks, it is accessible on the web and has apps for both iOS & Android. You can download the Mighty Networks app from the App Store or Google Play Store.

2. Usability

There are a few key differences between Circle.so and Mighty Networks in terms of usability.

For one, Circle.so is designed to be used primarily on web-based desktops, while Mighty Networks can be accessed on both desktop and mobile.

Additionally, Circle.so offers a more simplified interface that makes it easy to navigate, while Mighty Networks provides a more robust set of features but can be a little confusing for starters.

Additionally, Circle.so provides users with the ability to create “circles” or groups within their community, while Mighty Networks offers the ability to create “networks” which are essentially groups of members with similar interests.

This is the dashboard of Circle:

And here is the home page of Mighty Networks:

So as you can see, Circle has a very minimalistic approach, while Mighty Networks tries to show a lot of information on the home screen itself.

3. Flexibility

When it comes to Circle.so, users have a lot of control over their privacy settings and who can see their profile. There is also the ability to create custom groups and set different permissions for each group.

Additionally, users can create events and invite others to join, which makes it easy to coordinate meetups and get-togethers.

Also, creating a new space or a new post in Circle is a breeze. From the homepage, click on a big blue ‘New Post’ button.

A popup will appear where you can add everything from a cover image to a title, description, and other embeddable media files before posting it to your specific community in Circle.

The simplicity with which you can create a new post in Circle makes it a great platform for content creators who want to quickly and easily share their work with their audience.

Circle is also very flexible in terms of customization. Users can change the color scheme of their community, add a custom logo, and even embed a widget on their website to display recent activity from their community.

Lastly, you also get the option to effortlessly connect your custom domain with the community Circle that you just created.

As for Mighty Networks, users also have a lot of control over their privacy settings and who can see their profile.

They also can create custom groups, but one of the main differences is that Mighty Networks allows users to create paid membership groups. This could be beneficial for those wanting to monetize their online presence.

Additionally, Mighty Networks also has a built-in e-commerce platform, making it easy to sell products and services directly from the site.

One thing that I like about Mighty Networks is their super personalized approach. You can see it in the way they have crafted certain features like an ice-breaking question.

And customizing the request to join form (simple & better than Facebook’s)

Posting in Mighty Networks is also easy. On their homepage, you will see a ‘+’ icon.

Click on that icon and you will be able to see different content types that you can create for your community.

For the sake of this article, I’ll show you how to create a Question/Poll. Firstly, select what type of question you want to ask. You can change it from poll type:

Once you select the type, it’s all about adding the question and posting or scheduling it.

4. Live Streaming & Events

Both Circle.so and Mighty Networks allow their users to create live streaming events and invite others to join.

The best part?

Both allow you to automatically record any live stream for it to be shared with your audience who missed your live show and so on.

While Mighty Networks allows up to 200 participants in their live stream, Circle takes it one step further by allowing 500 participants and 10 co-hosts.

Events in Mighty Networks are also very well thought out. You can see all the relevant information like the date, time, and location of the event on the event page itself.

5. Managing Members

Both Circle.so and Mighty Networks make it easy to manage members with their built-in tools.

In Circle, you can add members in a lot of different ways. You can, for example, send a personalized email invite with a customizable email template option.

Similarly, if you have data of existing members, you can import them in bulk.

Lastly, you can also create custom invitation links for specific communities.

In Mighty Networks, you can either invite a member through a common link (provided by them), through an email invite (with customizable email), or even import contacts externally.

You can also add members in bulk by uploading a CSV file.

6. Payment Assist (For Creators)

While Circle.so is more focused on creators, it doesn’t have a built-in payments system. This means that if you want to charge your members, you will need to use an external service (such as Stripe) and add it to your Circle.

However, their Paywalls feature allows you to connect with Stripe and set up recurring payments, one-time payments, or even free trials.

Also, you can track all the subscriptions in Circle itself.

Mighty Networks also allows you to connect with Stripe and set up recurring payments. You can also sell products and memberships on Mighty Networks and track everything from their platform itself.

Mighty Networks stands out in terms of their distinct payment feature called – Plans. With Plans, you can offer a variety of membership options to your members in one go.

For example, you can offer a monthly membership, an annual membership, and even a lifetime membership – all in one go by creating different plans for each.

7. Integrations & Automation

Integrations and automation are important for any business, but they are particularly important for online communities.

Circle.so integrates with Slack, Zapier, Google Analytics, Mailchimp, etc. Also, the API allows for custom integrations.

Mighty Networks also offers a wide range of integrations, including with Google Apps, Zapier, Mailchimp, and Dropbox.

Circle’s Pros and Cons

Pros

• Circle.so is very user-friendly and easy to use, even for those who are not tech-savvy.
• It has a wide range of features that allow you to do almost everything you need to build and manage your online community.
• Circle.so integrates with a lot of external services that allow you to automate different tasks.

Cons

• Circle.so’s live streaming feature is not as robust as Mighty Network’s live streaming feature.

Mighty Networks Pros and Cons

Pros

• Mighty Networks allows you to create a paid membership for your community, which gives you a way to generate revenue.
• It gives you complete control over the design and functionality of your community, so you can create a truly unique experience for your members.

Cons

• Mighty Networks is a complex platform with a lot of features, which means there is a bit of a learning curve for new users.

Pricing

Circle offers a 14-day free trial. Their Basic plan costs $39/month, the Professional plan costs $99/month and the Enterprise plan costs $399/month.

Mighty Networks also comes with a 14-day free trial. The Community Plan costs $39/month while The Business Plan costs $119/month.

Final Call

Circle and Mighty Networks are both great community builders, but Circle has a few features that make it the better choice for your business.

Circle is simpler to use, easier to set up, and more affordable than Mighty Networks. Circle also offers more features for businesses, including private groups and video conferencing.

If you’re looking for an easy-to-use platform that can help you build a thriving online community, Circle is the better choice.

However, there is no harm in trying out both Circle and Mighty Networks to see which one works better for you and your business. After all, the best way to find out which community builder is right for you is to try them out for yourself!