18 Best Customer Community Software Reviewed In 2024
Best Customer Community Software Shortlist
Here’s my shortlist of the best customer community software:
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
Customer community software is a valuable asset for any company. With the right software, teams can boost customer engagement and facilitate peer-to-peer support. But finding the right customer community software can be a challenge, especially with so many options available.
Using my experience with marketing software, I tested and compared several of the top customer community software available. From there, I compiled my results into in-depth reviews to help you find the best software for your unique needs. I’m confident that you’ll discover your next customer community software in the list below.
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Best Customer Community Software Summary
This comparison chart summarizes pricing details for my top customer community software selections to help you find the best one for your budget and business needs.
| Tools | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Gainsight | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Social+ | From $1,250/month + additional $0.09/MAU after 15K MAU | Website |
| Influitive | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Swarm | From $39/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Salesforce Experience Cloud | From $5/member/month (billed annually) | Website |
| inSided | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Turf | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Bettermode | From $19/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Hall | From $85/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Zapnito | Pricing upon request | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareHow to Choose Customer Community Software
It’s easy to get bogged down in long feature lists and complex pricing structures. To help you stay focused as you work through your unique software selection process, here’s a checklist of factors to keep in mind:
| Factor | What to Consider |
| Scalability | Will the software grow with your community's needs? |
| Integrations | Does it integrate with your existing tools? |
| Customizability | Can you tailor it to fit your specific requirements? |
| Ease of Use | Is the software user-friendly for both your team and community members? |
| Budget | Does it fit within your financial constraints? |
| Security Safeguards | Are there strong security measures in place to protect your data? |
| Support | Is reliable customer support available when you need it? |
| Analytics | Does it offer the reporting and insights you need? |
Best Customer Community Software Reviews
Below are my detailed summaries of the best customer community software that made it onto my shortlist. My reviews offer a detailed look at the key features, pros & cons, integrations, and ideal use cases of each tool to help you find the best one for you.
Gainsight is a customer community software designed to help businesses create a centralized platform for customer engagement. Its primary users are customer success teams and community managers looking to enhance customer self-service and peer-to-peer support.
Why I picked Gainsight: Gainsight combines forums, groups, federated content, and gamification to foster a vibrant community. You can create a single destination for customers to access resources, connect with peers, and share best practices. The software also supports events and groups, enabling more personalized and targeted customer interactions. Additionally, its gamification features help boost user engagement and participation, tying back to its core function of building customer communities.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include forums for peer-to-peer support, groups for targeted interactions, federated content for resource sharing, and gamification to encourage engagement. You can also host events and leverage analytics to monitor community health.
Integrations include Salesforce, Jira, Zendesk, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Gainsight CS, Gainsight PX, HubSpot, Marketo, and Eloqua.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Easy to gather product feedback
- Good reporting on engagement
- Strong focus on customer success
Cons:
- Can be complex for smaller teams
- Requires ongoing management for effectiveness
Social+ (formerly Amity) is a platform designed to add community and social features directly within apps, allowing businesses to engage their users in a dynamic, social environment. It helps teams create spaces where users can interact, share content, and engage with each other within the app.
Why I picked Social+: Social+ is ideal for adding in-app community features that keep users engaged without leaving your platform. You can set up live chat, social feeds, and content-sharing tools all within your app. The software also offers powerful moderation tools, helping your team maintain a safe and productive community space. With these features, Social+ is a scalable solution that grows with your community, ensuring continuous engagement as your user base expands.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include in-app live chat, social feeds, and content management and sharing tools that help keep your users engaged within your app. You can create personalized community spaces, allowing users to interact and share real-time content. It also offers powerful moderation and analytics tools to monitor and maintain the health of your community.
Integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Analytics, Zendesk, Slack, Intercom, Marketo, Twilio, Pendo, and Microsoft Teams.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Flexible for different app designs
- Scales easily with user growth
- Great for in-app communities
Cons:
- Occasional delays with large communities
- Can be difficult to troubleshoot
Influitive is a platform that helps businesses engage and mobilize their customers for advocacy, referrals, and feedback. It’s designed for companies looking to build strong, loyal communities by rewarding customer participation in meaningful ways.
Why I picked Influitive: Influitive focuses on creating advocacy programs where your customers can earn rewards by participating in activities like providing testimonials, sharing feedback, and referring new clients. The platform’s customizable challenges and rewards system makes engaging your users in different ways easy, keeping them active in your community. It also offers analytics to track the success of your advocacy efforts and identify top advocates.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include customizable advocacy challenges, reward systems to incentivize participation, and real-time analytics for tracking engagement. The platform also provides a smooth way to manage multiple advocacy campaigns from one dashboard.
Integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Oracle Eloqua, Slack, Zapier, Gainsight, Zendesk, Microsoft Dynamics, and Intercom.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Advanced analytics for engagement tracking
- Great for scaling customer advocacy
- Customizable advocacy programs
Cons:
- Complex setup for new users
- Steep learning curve
Swarm is a platform designed for building decentralized communities, allowing users to interact and share content without relying on a central server. It offers tools that enable peer-to-peer communication and secure data storage.
Why I picked Swarm: Swarm is built for teams that need a decentralized approach to community management. You can create spaces where users share content and collaborate without intermediaries. It has secure file-sharing and messaging features, ensuring privacy within your community. Your team can also take advantage of Swarm’s scalability, growing the community without the limitations of traditional centralized systems.
Features include decentralized data storage, peer-to-peer file sharing, and secure communication tools. Your team can manage content and collaboration without relying on a central server. It also provides privacy-focused solutions for messaging and data sharing.
Integrations include Ethereum, ENS, IPFS, Arweave, Filecoin, Gnosis, MetaMask, WalletConnect, Uniswap, and The Graph.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Strong security for data sharing
- Scalable without central servers
- Decentralized structure for privacy
Cons:
- Lacks advanced customization options
- Can be slow with large data
Salesforce Experience Cloud is a digital platform that enables businesses to create and manage digital experiences like portals, websites, and online communities. It’s designed for teams that want to build branded spaces for customer engagement and support while leveraging existing Salesforce data and tools.
Why I picked Salesforce Experience Cloud: Salesforce Experience Cloud was built to integrate closely with Salesforce CRM, allowing your team to manage customer interactions and data in one place. Features include customizable templates for building portals and websites, tools for creating personalized user journeys, and real-time analytics to track engagement. Additionally, your team can use its native Salesforce integration to ensure data flows smoothly across all your customer touchpoints.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include customizable templates for creating branded digital experiences, personalized user journeys, and real-time analytics for tracking community engagement. Your team can build and manage websites, portals, and forums while leveraging Salesforce's data ecosystem. The platform also offers drag-and-drop tools for quick and efficient site-building.
Integrations include Salesforce Sales Cloud, Salesforce Service Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Salesforce Analytics, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Salesforce AppExchange, Salesforce MuleSoft, Salesforce Heroku, Salesforce Pardot, and Salesforce Einstein.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Flexible customization options
- Deep integration with Salesforce ecosystem
- Highly scalable for large communities
Cons:
- Customization can be time-consuming
- Steep learning curve for beginners
inSided is a customer success community platform designed to help companies engage their users and offer self-service options. It provides tools for building online communities where customers can ask questions, share ideas, and find solutions.
Why I picked inSided: inSided provides a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to set up and manage a community. It also offers features like user-generated content and peer-to-peer support, which help your team reduce the load on support channels. You can create product update spaces and integrate feedback loops directly linked to your offerings. Additionally, the software focuses on fostering an engaged user base while allowing your team to respond quickly to customer needs.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include community self-service options, product ideation tools, and detailed analytics to track user engagement. You can enable peer-to-peer support, allowing your users to share knowledge and help one another. Your team can also create knowledge bases and FAQ sections that are easy for customers to navigate.
Integrations include Salesforce, Zendesk, Gainsight, Mixpanel, Totango, Google Analytics, Marketo, HubSpot, Jira, and Pendo.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Strong onboarding support
- Flexible customization options
- Good scalability for large communities
Cons:
- Slow implementation process
- Limited advanced reporting features
Turf is a community forum software designed to foster engagement within local communities, enabling members to connect, collaborate, and share information. It provides tools for creating and managing interactive spaces where users can communicate and organize events.
Why I picked Turf: Turf is designed for local communities that need a flexible way to organize discussions and events. You can set up dedicated spaces for groups, making it easy to coordinate activities and initiatives. It also has built-in tools for event management, keeping everything organized in one place. Most of all, your team can use Turf to facilitate real-time conversations, ensuring quick responses and active engagement.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include event management tools, real-time chat for community discussions, and customizable group spaces. You can easily organize local events and communicate with members in dedicated channels. Your team can also create tailored content and keep users engaged with streamlined communication.
Integrations include Slack, Zapier, HubSpot, Intercom, Zendesk, Salesforce, Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Stripe, and Shopify.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great for real-time discussions
- Flexible group customization options
- Easy event management setup
Cons:
- Needs better scalability for growth
- Limited advanced customization features
Bettermode is a platform designed to help organizations build and manage online communities with flexible and customizable features. It provides tools to create engaging spaces where users can interact, share knowledge, and solve problems collaboratively.
Why I picked Bettermode: Bettermode allows you to tailor your community’s design and functionality to match your brand and needs. Your team can set up discussion boards, knowledge bases, and event spaces that fit your organization's unique structure. The platform’s modular features make it easy to add or remove elements based on how your community evolves. You can also track engagement with built-in analytics to see how users interact within the community.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include customizable community layouts, modular design elements, and built-in engagement analytics. Your team can create tailored spaces for discussions, knowledge sharing, and event hosting. The platform also provides tools for moderating content and ensuring a healthy community environment.
Integrations include Zapier, Google Analytics, Intercom, Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk, Mailchimp, and Discourse.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great for brand alignment
- Modular features for flexibility
- Highly customizable community design
Cons:
- Occasional lag with large communities
- Time-consuming to configure fully
Hall is a customer community platform designed to streamline communication and collaboration for teams, especially those working remotely. It provides tools that facilitate real-time messaging, file sharing, and project updates to help teams stay connected and organized.
Why I picked Hall: Hall is tailored for remote teams, offering instant messaging and video chat features to make communication feel natural, no matter where your team is located. The software includes project management tools like task assignments and file sharing, helping your team stay on top of tasks without leaving the platform. With the ability to create custom workflows, you can keep your projects aligned with specific team needs. Similarly, remote teams can collaborate efficiently, making it easier to stay productive across time zones.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include real-time messaging for instant communication, video conferencing tools to keep your remote team connected, and file-sharing capabilities for easy project collaboration. Your team can also set up task management workflows to keep track of assignments and deadlines.
Integrations include Slack, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Dropbox, Zoom, Asana, Trello, Jira, GitHub, and Notion.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Smooth onboarding with minimal setup
- Customizable spaces for different teams
- Flexible workflows for task management
Cons:
- Lacks depth in reporting tools
- Some features require technical knowledge
Zapnito is a customer knowledge-sharing platform built to create expert-led communities, allowing professionals to share their knowledge and engage in meaningful discussions. It supports teams in building spaces where experts can connect, publish content, and collaborate on topics of interest.
Why I picked Zapnito: Zapnito is designed to create communities driven by expert insights and knowledge sharing. Your team can set up spaces where professionals share articles and videos and participate in discussions. Plus, the platform’s features make organizing expert-led webinars and knowledge hubs easy. You can also customize the community structure to align with your organization’s goals and focus areas.
Standout features & integrations:
Features include a custom hub for content and discussions, integrated webinars, and user profiles. You can create and manage courses for customer education. The platform also supports event hosting to build community interaction.
Integrations include Zapier, Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Google Analytics, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Mailchimp, and Stripe.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Highly customizable content spaces
- Easy to host webinars
- Built for expert-led communities
Cons:
- Limited design flexibility
- Can be complex to navigate
Other Customer Community Software
Here are some additional customer community software options that didn’t make it onto my shortlist, but are still worth checking out:
- Khoros
For large enterprises
- Axero
For intranet solutions
- Heartbeat
For niche communities
- MangoApps ServiceHub
For powerful CX solutions
- Rival Tech
For market research communities
- Circle
For small business communities
- Hivebrite
For alumni networks
- Higher Logic
For member engagement
Customer Community Software Selection Criteria
When selecting the best customer community software to include in this list, I considered common buyer needs and pain points like user engagement and ease of integration. I also used the following framework to keep my evaluation structured and fair:
Core Functionality (25% of total weighting score)
To be considered for inclusion in this list, each solution had to fulfill these common use cases:
- Manages user discussions and forums with notifications
- Facilitates user engagement through gamification
- Offers customizable community portals
- Provides detailed community analytics
- Enables member management and permissions
Additional Standout Features (25% of total weighting score)
To help further narrow down the competition, I also looked for unique features, such as:
- Offers AI-driven insights and data automation
- Provides integration with CRM systems
- Enables event management within the community
- Supports multilingual communities
- Provides mobile app functionality
Usability (10% of total weighting score)
To get a sense of the usability of each system, I considered the following:
- Offers an intuitive user interface
- Requires minimal technical expertise to navigate
- Provides a clean and modern design
- Facilitates quick access to key features
- Offers consistent performance without lags
Onboarding (10% of total weighting score)
To evaluate the onboarding experience for each platform, I considered the following:
- Provides comprehensive training materials
- Offers customizable templates for faster setup
- Includes interactive product tours
- Provides a dedicated onboarding support team
- Offers webinars and live demos for first-time users
Customer Support (10% of total weighting score)
To assess each software provider’s customer support services, I considered the following:
- Provides 24/7 support availability
- Includes a comprehensive knowledge base
- Offers proactive customer success services
- Provides response times under 24 hours
- Offers multiple channels of communication such as chat, email, and phone
Value For Money (10% of total weighting score)
To evaluate the value for money of each platform, I considered the following:
- Offers flexible pricing plans
- Provides a free trial or freemium option
- Aligns pricing with the size and needs of the community
- Offers discounts for long-term commitments
- Provides value-add features in lower-tier pricing
Customer Reviews (10% of total weighting score)
To get a sense of overall customer satisfaction, I considered the following when reading customer reviews:
- Highlights ease of use in reviews
- Mentions satisfaction with customer service
- References stability and performance
- Includes feedback on pricing fairness
- Mentions community growth and engagement results
Trends In Customer Community Software
In my research, I sourced countless product updates, press releases, and release logs from different customer community software vendors. Here are some of the emerging trends I’m keeping an eye on:
- Gamification: Enhancing user engagement and retention through game-like elements is gaining traction. Platforms like Higher Logic have integrated leaderboards, badges, and rewards to keep users motivated and active.
- AI-Powered Insights: Artificial intelligence generates actionable insights from community interactions. For instance, Salesforce Community Cloud leverages AI to provide personalized content recommendations and identify trending topics.
- Advanced Personalization: Creating highly tailored user experiences is becoming crucial. Tools like Khoros allow businesses to customize the community interface and content based on user behavior and preferences.
- Video Integration: Video content within communities is on the rise. Platforms such as Vanilla Forums are incorporating video tutorials and live streaming to facilitate richer interactions and knowledge sharing.
- Data Privacy Features: With increasing concerns over data security, vendors are enhancing privacy controls. Solutions like the Tribe Community Platform offer strong data protection features to ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR.
What Is Customer Community Software?
Customer community software is a tool that helps businesses build and manage online spaces where customers can engage, share information, and connect with each other and the brand. Typically used by community managers, marketing professionals, and customer support teams, these tools provide value by fostering customer engagement, enhancing customer support, and building brand loyalty.
Features like discussion forums, event management, and integration with other platforms help maintain active and supportive customer communities. These tools help businesses create more engaged and loyal customer bases.
Features of Customer Community Software
When selecting customer community software, keep an eye out for the following key features:
- Tracking User Behavior: Allows the monitoring and analysis of user interactions within the community to understand customer experience and engagement patterns.
- Robust Reputation System: Implements a system for recognizing and rewarding active and helpful members to encourage participation.
- Integration: Provides connections with other tools and platforms to enhance functionality and data flow.
- Personalization: Offers features that allow content and experiences to be tailored to individual users, increasing relevance and engagement.
- Engaging Content: Enables creating and sharing interactive and appealing content to keep community members engaged.
- Searchable Repository: Maintains an easily navigable archive of all community content, making information retrieval efficient.
- Gamification: Includes elements such as badges, points, and leaderboards to motivate members through game-like incentives.
- Performance Measurement: Supplies analytics and reporting tools to track the effectiveness of community activities and member engagement.
- Mobile Accessibility: Ensures the community platform is accessible via mobile devices, allowing members to stay connected on the go.
- User Management and Moderation: Provides tools for managing user roles and permissions and monitoring and moderating community interactions.
Benefits of Customer Community Software
Implementing customer community software provides several benefits for your team and your business. Here are a few you can look forward to:
- Enhanced Customer Engagement: Customers can interact with your brand and each other, fostering a sense of belonging and loyalty.
- Improved Customer Support: Community forums allow users to share solutions, reducing the load on your support team.
- Valuable Customer Insights: Gathering feedback and discussions from the community helps you understand customer needs and preferences.
- Lower Support Costs: By enabling peer-to-peer support, the need for direct customer service intervention is reduced.
- Increased Brand Awareness: Active communities can attract new customers through word-of-mouth and shared experiences.
- Content Creation: Users often generate content, such as reviews and tutorials, that can be leveraged for marketing.
- Innovation Opportunities: Direct customer interaction can lead to new ideas for product features and improvements.
Costs and Pricing of Customer Community Software
Selecting customer community software requires an understanding of the various pricing models and plans available. Costs vary based on features, team size, add-ons, and more. The table below summarizes common plans, their average prices, and typical features included in customer community software solutions:
Plan Comparison Table for Customer Community Software
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features |
| Free Plan | $0 | Basic community access, limited support, and minimal customization. |
| Personal Plan | $5-$25/user/month | Enhanced community access, basic analytics, and moderate customization. |
| Business Plan | $30-$75/user/month | Advanced analytics, integrations with other tools, and priority support. |
| Enterprise Plan | $$100-$300/user/month | Full customization, dedicated account manager, and comprehensive analytics. |
Customer Community Software FAQs
Here are some answers to common questions about customer community software:
How do I add FAQs in Zendesk?
Your team will need the standard plan to add FAQs to Zendesk. This plan allows you to create a public knowledge base. Once you have the plan, you can set up multiple branded portals to access the knowledge base. These portals also support reporting, customer ratings, ticket management, and community channels.
What are Salesforce customer communities?
Salesforce customer communities are digital cloud-based spaces where customers can interact and share information. They are built using Salesforce’s Community Cloud, which helps brands create multiple communities to serve different groups. This enhances customer engagement and allows for better support and self-service options.
What is an example of a customer portal in Salesforce?
Examples of customer portals in Salesforce include Hulu Help, Trailblazer Community, CEAT Support, AirAsia Customer Support, and BigCommerce Support. These portals typically allow customers to view their account information, submit and track support tickets, and access various resources.
Can you customize the user roles in Salesforce customer communities?
Yes, Salesforce allows you to customize user roles in customer communities. When you enable a customer for community access, Salesforce automatically creates up to three roles for the given contact’s account: Executive, Manager, and User. This helps manage different levels of access and responsibilities.
How does a customer community platform help in reducing support cases?
A customer community platform helps reduce support cases by empowering customers to find answers on their own. It provides a self-service portal where they can access FAQs, submit tickets, and interact with other users. This reduces the load on your support team and improves customer satisfaction by providing quicker resolutions.
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