A robust online community is essential to your course and coaching business. When you have an online community, you're in front of people who want to engage and support your content. Without one, you're just launching courses into the abyss, and all the hard work you've put into developing your business goes to waste.

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Deciding on the home of your online community is a BIG DECISION. There are so many options available to you that digging through which platform is the best fit can feel overwhelming and lead to decision paralysis.

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We know how awful it is to feel stuck and want to help you avoid choosing what seems like the most straightforward option, aka Facebook Groups because going in that direction will ultimately create more work for you with fewer results.

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Facebook used to be the go-to digital platform for building an online community. When Facebook Groups launched in 2010, it was revolutionary. It was a dedicated and easy-to-use space that was more than just a free-for-all forum. Facebook Groups grew businesses and allowed entrepreneurs to create niche spaces to interact and gain new customers by developing passionate followings through open-dialogue discussion and support.

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However, over the years, Facebook has become less and less friendly to those trying to run a business through its platform. This is because the new rules that get in the way of your Group members seeing your content are meant to make Facebook money, not you. Therefore, when you choose a private space, the only one who benefits from your community is you and your members.

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And even though Facebook Groups are free and have an unlimited source for new members since it's tied to the social media juggernaut, many better alternatives offer complete control and ownership of the space.

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In this guide, we will showcase the top 9 Facebook Group Alternatives, breaking down each of their offerings so you can decide where your community's home should be.  

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There are 3 different kinds of Facebook Group Alternatives:

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• Community Focused Platforms with Course-building features, such as SocialGlow, Mighty Networks, and Circle
• Course-Building Platforms with added community spaces, such as Kajabi, Thinkific, and Podia
• Community Spaces separate from your Course business, such as Discord, MeWe, and Reddit

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Each of these alternatives has its pros and cons. However, community-focused platforms are the best option out of these categories for Facebook Group alternatives because people are the central part of your business success. The community-focused platforms prioritize your customer's experience. When the people in your community feel heard and safe, they are more likely to return and invest in that space consistently, which is the ultimate goal. Course-building platforms with tacked-on community spaces often feel sterile and more like a generic forum board than a place where actual people connect. On the other hand, community spaces separate from your Course business prioritize community and allow for an in-depth conversation but need more control than having your community and courses in one place would provide.

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Let's dive deeper into the 3 different types of Facebook Group Alternatives!

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Community-Focused Platforms with Course-building Features

SocialGlow - Best Overall Facebook Group Alternative

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SocialGlow is the best overall Facebook Group Alternative on this list because it is the best of all three worlds!

SocialGlow is the best Facebook Alternative overall because it has the most flexibility regarding its use. SocialGlow is a community-first course-building platform, meaning that from the moment you sign up, you’re first guided to create a group. Groups in SocialGlow are the center of the platform, not an afterthought. Courses that you make can then be added to Groups to be seen. You can either designate certain courses to specific groups - they could be solely for customers that have purchased access to your courses, or you can pick who in that group can access it. So you can choose if your Groups are for customers and space for course support or for developing a following.

You can use groups to develop yourself as a thought leader in your industry by creating a space that is used for discussion and support where new members can join and interact without investing in your digital products or a membership subscription and giving you a much wider net of who you can reach or even in a pr even in a private network. And because it is a private network, everything posted, shared, and messaged between members is secure and safe. There are no ads to worry about this to distract or frustrate your members.

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Social Glow has 3 payment tiers - the Basic, The Plus, and the Premium.

The Basic tier includes everything you need to build online communities, including unlimited Groups and members. The Plus tier has everything from the Basic level but consists of the ability to host and develop courses.

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SocialGlow’s Basic tier is an excellent option if you’re looking for a Facebook Group alternative as an add-on to your already established course business from another platform or as a blogger looking for a community space for your fans.

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SocialGlow Groups can be used as a community-building space separate from your digital products, or you can upgrade to Plus to have your communities and courses all in one place. Plus, the community compliments your course material. Your students can learn together and interact with like-minded people who are both taking the courses and those who are passionate and informed about the topic. When the community you’re facilitating promotes engagement without you constantly having to initiate it, it lessens your workload.

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SocialGlow is the closest platform to Facebook like-for-like, meaning when your members sign in to SocialGlow through the app or on the web, they’ll find the experience familiar and welcoming.

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SocialGlow also goes one step further with its user experience than Facebook by gamification. For example, you can set up your Groups so that every action has a point value attached to it which will collect automatically on a leaderboard to create an incentive for interaction and fun.

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Check out this article that goes into detail about how Socialglow is created for optimal online community engagement.

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With SocialGlow, automation is easy. You can integrate third-party apps into the platform for optimal workflow. You can also create Templates to be scheduled into your Groups to limit the time wasted distributing content to your audience.

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‍Templates are a collection of content where each post is scheduled to be published for a set time. You can prepare templates to post in multiple groups at once. It saves you time and lets you focus more on interpersonal relationships than the content you post to keep everyone engaged.

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SocialGlow’s integration with Zapier is effortless to use to connect SocialGlow to other apps you use for your business. Making it a truly all-encompassing platform perfect for building your business and facilitating an alternative community space to Facebook Groups.

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Pros:

• Customization
• Mobile App
• No learning curve
• 24/7 support for both guests members and paid members
• Flexibility
• Unlimited Groups and members
• Integration with third-party tools allows you to create a powerful workflow system

Cons:

• No native payment options  

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Mighty Networks

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Mighty Networks is a community platform that specializes in paid membership communities. You can create your own branded community spaces and choose to make them accessible for free or through a paywall. It is a comprehensive solution for building and managing communities, primarily through their white-labeled mobile app, where you can create an app to be used by your customers that are designed specifically for your brand.

Unlike Facebook Groups, Mighty Networks gives you complete control over the look and feel of your community space.

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Pros:

• Advanced community management tools
• Native live-streaming allows you to go live and easily engage with your community members
• Integration with third-party tools will enable you to create a powerful workflow system
• High level of customization, including a white-labeled mobile app
• Unlimited hosts, members, and moderators

Cons:

• For new users who are used to Facebook Groups, Mighty Networks can be quite a learning curve

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Circle.so

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Circle is similar to SocialGlow and Might Networks because it integrates the community experience into the courses. It’s a great Facebook Group Alternative because it helps members connect as they would on social media with the added benefit of experiencing community in a private and protected space. Circle eliminates all the distractions that could sidetrack your community.

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Pros:

• Community-focused
• Customization
• It offers lots of options for building your business through courses and memberships.
• Messaging and group discussions.
• Live-streaming.
• Monetize your group through sales and subscription features.

Cons:

• There is a learning curve with how to use it for you and your customers.
• No gamification options in groups or courses
• Mobile App is not a central part of the experience.

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Course-Building Platforms with added community spaces

Kajabi

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Kajabi is an all-in-one platform for hosting, creating, and selling online courses and coaching programs. It's meant for every portion of your business, from marketing funnels to community spaces, websites, and courses. It's an ideal Facebook Group alternative if you're looking for a one-and-done solution that provides a community space for those already part of your business network.

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Pros:

• It has a website builder where you can create membership options.
• Robust additional features to run your coaching and course business using only one platform.
• Built-in marketing tools
• Sales funnel software that allows you to nurture your leads in every conversion stage

Cons:

• Limited student and community engagement tools.
• It's expensive, especially if you want something purely for community building.
• There are no options for creating community spaces that do not involve a course structure.

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Thinkific

Thinkific is another Course-Builder Platform with a community feature. It’s similar to Kajabi in that it includes additional features to be a one-stop shop for course creators and coaches setting up their businesses. Thinkific’s community feature is easy to use and will be a complimentary space for the courses your customers are undertaking. The community spaces are without distraction and private, and you can control how they are regulated.

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Pros:

• Courses and community in one place
• Pay Wall features
• Customization options through their white-label tier
• Easy-to-use platform

Cons:

• It doesn’t allow non-course related members to interact and join the community.

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Podia

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Podia is similar to Kajabi and Thinkific, which includes everything in one place, with the benefit of free or paid membership groups. Having the choice to create communities that are for both customers and those who are curious about your industry will give you more opportunities to get your content in front of new people.

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Pros:

• Complete ownership over the community space and how your users interact within it
• Sell digital products, develop subscription-paid memberships, and run your community in the same place.
• Free & paid online communities

Cons:

• Still more focused on courses and coaching students than the general community.
• No gamification options.

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Community Spaces separate from your Course business

Discord

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Discord is mainly known as a chat space used while streaming video games amongst friends or Twitch users. It was created as a way for gamers to communicate outside the limitations of the game they were playing. However, it's becoming a popular alternative for online communities, especially for those who prefer more intimate and direct contact with their community members.

Discord lets you create public and private channels for different discussion topics. Users can access all the servers, aka communities or groups, they belong to from the same login. It's a user-friendly platform that's easy to navigate and communicate through text, audio, and video calls.

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Pros:

• It's easy to use talk, text, and video chat
• It's free to use and download.
• Direct communication with server members
• Great for fandom discourse

Cons:

• Since it works more like a chat room than a community space, Discord doesn't allow posts or singular content to be shared with the community that differentiates from the chat.
• Lacks features needed to monetize your audience
• It doesn't have other options outside the chat forum.  

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MeWe

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MeWe was built as a social media alternative, making it a great Facebook Group alternative. MeWe prides itself on its dedication to privacy. It doesn’t sell user data or use algorithms to target ads or content to users. Users can have the experience they want rather than being dictated to how they are allowed to interact on the platform. MeWe provides more freedom than Facebook while still providing that social media structure people are used to.

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Pros:

• Has private chats and groups.
• No ads, targeted content, and newsfeed-manipulating algorithms.
• It offers a newsfeed where you can tag members.
• It has featured categories for groups to join.
• Privacy protection is built into the design.

Cons:

• No monetization options.
• Unable to customize your group’s brand
• No third-party integration
• No automation options for scheduling

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Reddit

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Reddit is a forum-style social media site that is made up of subgroups called subreddits. Subreddits are dedicated to different passions, hobbies, ideologies, and interests. On Reddit, you can create your own online community. Online communities on Reddit are often highly engaged, and users are willing to give more thoughtful responses to threads than on Facebook due to the anonymous nature of the site. However, even though it's a great place to start developing a community, you must meet the requirements to create one yourself.

Pros:

• Will often find thoughtful and passionate, like-minded people willing to have in-depth conversations
• There is a large pool of people to interact with that could become potential leads
• You can create public, private, and restricted subreddits
• It's super easy to use
• Reddit forums appear in Search Engine results, so it's another way you can market your business through SEO

Cons:

• Monetizing subreddits is against Reddit's Policy.
• Content is shown on the subreddit feed based on its Up-Votes, meaning members might miss an announcement type of content.
• Need to fulfill requirements such as being a user for 30 days and having Karma Points.
• Super distracting to users due to being able to belong to unlimited subreddits.

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There you go - a list of the top 9 Facebook Group Alternatives organized. There are so many options to choose from. I hope this guide helped you determine which option will work best for you.

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