So it’s time to build an online community, and you’re looking for a place to host it. In your search, you might have come across the name, Honeycommb. Or, maybe you’re already hosting on Honeycommb and looking for an alternative.

If you’re creating an online community, Honeycommb offers some of the features of a community platform. It lets you cultivate discussions, manage members and subgroups, and charge for live events.

But it’s missing a lot of the power of a modern community platform, like discovery features and advanced posting and content options. And its backend community interface is… well… dated.

So in this article, we’re going to talk through some Honeycommb alternatives for your community. We’ll show you some way better options for building and monetizing a community and events, and share some pros and cons of each one.

Try G2's top-rated community platform - free for 14 days!

Mighty Networks is ranked the #1 community management software by the review site G2. And its trusted by brands and creators like Tony Robbins, Marie Forleo, Jim Kwik, Mel Robbins, TED, and Keap.

Mighty is:

• A customizable, AI-powered community platform for any content: videos, polls, images, and/or long form articles.

• Live or pre-recorded courses, events, chat, livestreams, and a member explorer to customize experiences.

• AI built for engagement, profile assist, introducing members to each other, and starting conversations with a click. Also text improvement, instant course outlines, and re-engage lapsed members.

• Gamification with recognitions, streaks, and leaderboards, plus custom design magical new member journeys.

Mighty also has way more advanced member profiles, with features like built-in chat and messaging, “Members near You,” and a built-in Ambassador program.

Live events are easy with Mighty:

• Schedule, collect RSVPs and even payments if you want.

• The built-in HD livestreaming includes high-velocity chat, multi speaker options, and backstage. Or you can use Zoom if your prefer.

• And Mighty’s flexible Spaces mean that you can mix in courses and discussion forum features.

Mighty also works great for monetizing your community; you can charge in 135 currencies or monetize with token-gating. And every community comes accessible on a fantastic app for every device.

As an alternative to Honeycommb, Mighty gives you all the same features and more on a much better platform.

One of the other things Honeycommb offers is a white-label app. If this is your use case, then you should definitely consider Mighty Pro.

Mighty Pro is G2's #1 community software on your own branded app. It gives you all the great features we discussed above but also adds custom, white-label apps built under your brand that live in the App Store and Google Play Store.

We’ve built 500+ custom community apps for creators like Cristy Nickel, not to mention businesses like TED and Cambridge University. We take care of builds, splash screens, and proactive updates and submissions.

(You can apply for a free migration here.)

Schedule a call with us and we’ll show you what you could build!

Circle is another community platform that offers creators a robust community option. It has some of the same features as a Mighty Network, including a built-in rich community, spaces, and some great discussion options. Like Honeycommb, you can create paywalls for communities, adding plans for the whole community or for access to individual spaces. Circle has a clean design and some options to add your own branding to your community – giving you more flexibility than Honeycommb does.

Circle started as a way to add a community to a Teachable course, but is growing into a stand-alone community platform for creators and entrepreneurs. You can opt for community, courses, chat, or event Spaces.

A couple things are missing with Circle. Circle's AI is based around agentic tasks and knowledge base, not boosting engagement. And Circle's spaces only allow for one feature per space. Mighty lets you charge in 135 different currencies, while Circle only has 25. Mighty also lets you token-gate a community and has a richer feature set (For a full breakdown of Circle vs. Mighty, go here).

For features and flexibility, Mighty is a better alternative to Honeycommb.

But with member profiles, a user-friendly discussion board, and a decent reputation, Circle could be a good alternative to Honeycommb.

Higher Logic is an alternative to Honeycommb that also offers a lot of the same features around community and events. Higher Logic actually makes two products: Vanilla, for adding a forum to a corporate website; and Thrive, a community and member-management tool for associations and non-profits.

Like Honeycommb, Higher Logic gives you a community engine that lets you cultivate discussion boards and collect user-generated content.

As we said above, it also does both other things Honeycommb does: creating subgroups and events. Since its primary use case is national associations and non-profits, the subgroup options create a way to organize your members and turn over some control to the respective chapter heads.

And when it comes to events, Higher Logic is much stronger than Honeycommb, giving you options to schedule and host either virtual or live conferences. The event option comes with integration to their CRM or Association Management Software if you need it, and you can even add advertising or sponsorship to an event.

That said, the interface for scheduling events in Higher Logic is pretty dated:

Higher Logic is missing the features that Mighty and Circle have, things like live streaming and courses. So it’s best for an association or non-profit that wants member management and live events.

Discourse is a community platform that’s similar to Honeycommb in that it gives you an online forum. The look and feel are even similar; the posts are organized in a list much like reddit or Quora (as opposed to a more visual feed). Discourse is discussion-board-focused, and lets users post, comment, and get notified about content.

One interesting thing about Discourse is that the code for creating an open-source community is actually free on GitHub. Which is cool! But, unfortunately, by the time most people hire a developer to get the community up and running, not to mention paying for hosting, Discourse will probably cost more.

The past few years, Discourse has leaned heavily into enterprise communities. It's also added AI translations, moderation, and expanding links.

Since it’s missing the many options of a modern community platform, things like live streaming, courses, and events, it’s probably better to stick with one of the options above – unless you specifically want a clean, basic, text-based discussion forum. Discourse's out-of-the-box UX is also quite outdated--it will require some custom development to make it your own.

Bettermode is the final contender on this list. It’s best for companies that want to add a forum to a corporate website. This could be something like a customer community or a support forum.

Its forum features are solid, and members can post content, start discussions, and participate in polls. Bettermode can also be integrated into a company’s native mobile apps. With good customization features, it does a lot of the same things for a community that Honeycommb does.

However, Bettermode doesn’t have any native payment features - like paid memberships or things like courses or gated content. It primarily works for a company that needs a community platform without needing to charge for it.

If you’re ready to start your community, come give Mighty a try! It comes with advanced community features and events built-in, and way more flexibility than Honeycommb offers. Don’t take our word for it, you can try it free for 14 days – no credit card required.

Ready to start building your community?