The 11 cheapest community & membership · saas
The cheapest provider in the Top 11 The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026) is Discourse, followed by Discord.
Why this answer
Sorted by published starting price, lowest first. We use each provider's lowest documented price band; where pricing is undisclosed, the entry falls to the bottom of the list.
Showing the top 11 of 11+ screened. Methodology at /methodology.
#1Discourse(rank #2 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
—Best open-source, self-hostable forum platform.
Full Discourse review · Compare: Discourse vs Discord · Alternatives
#2Discord(rank #8 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
—Best free real-time chat community.
#3Guild(rank #11 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
—Best private, mobile-first professional community.
#4Bettermode(rank #3 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
$49/mo+Best embeddable, customizable community for SaaS.
#5Mighty Networks(rank #4 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
$49/mo+Best creator bundle of community, courses, and app.
#6Circle(rank #1 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
$89/mo+Best all-in-one branded community platform.
#7Skool(rank #5 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
$99/mo+Best simple, gamified community-plus-courses tool.
#8Khoros(rank #6 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
—Best enterprise community for support deflection.
#9Higher Logic(rank #7 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
—Best community platform for associations.
#10Hivebrite(rank #9 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
—Best branded platform for alumni networks.
#11Vanilla (Higher Logic Vanilla)(rank #10 in The 11 Best Community Management Software (2026))
—Best customizable community for support and Q&A.
Methodology: /methodology · No paid placement ever · Verified .