6 Alternatives to Facebook Groups in 2024 (Free & Paid)

Facebook Groups have been all the rage since their launch in 2010. With millions of Facebook Groups centered around thousands of niches, there is a space for everyone, whether their interests are in DIY, food, gardening, books, car detailing, or anything else. Facebook groups bring together like-minded individuals with the goal of forming connections, making friends, and even turning hobbies into full-grown businesses.

With that said many entrepreneurs and companies are looking for alternative platforms to host and grow their communities. Read on to find out why and whether you should follow in their path.

Why look for a Facebook Group Alternative?

At first glance, Facebook may seem like the perfect platform to host your community, and its staggering 70 million groups agree. With Facebook’s pool of 3.065 billion monthly users, there are plenty of opportunities to grow. Some of the most popular groups on Facebook include Deepika Sharma, with 7.9 million members, and Cheap Meals Ideas, with 5 million.

However, just because millions of communities have found a home on Facebook, this doesn’t mean it’s the right platform for you. More and more entrepreneurs are seeking alternative avenues to grow their community. Some common motivations include:

• Customization limitations – Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t let brands customize their pages. Limited to changing the header and updating the profile image, this makes it challenging to translate the look and feel of your brand to potential and existing community members.

• Monetization limitations – Facebook watches you grow without giving you anything in return. Whether you have three followers or three thousand, it’s impossible to reach your potential revenue.
  
• No features for growth – What you see is what you get. Facebook doesn’t offer any additional features when you start to grow, unlike paid platforms such as Teach.io.
  
• Limited integrations – Many community platforms offer the ability to integrate additional features that suit your community, such as specific analytics, Google Drive links, live videos, and more. The same can’t be said for Facebook.

Choosing the right platform to help your business grow is so important. Platform capabilities and features should align with your community goals, helping you achieve everything you set out to do.

Free Facebook Group Alternatives

If you’re looking for a free alternative to Facebook Groups that will help you grow a thriving and engaged community effectively, there are a range of options available, each offering unique features you won’t be able to get on Facebook.

Benefits of Using Free Platforms

• No upfront costs – To access many community platforms, you have to pay a yearly or monthly cost. But, with free platforms, you may not have to pay at all or be given the option to pay for additional features. This is great for people who want to start a community but aren’t ready to commit fully.
  
• Good for starting out – If you’re just starting out and you’re not sure whether your community will take off or if it’s the right direction for your brand, free community platforms give you a space to test the waters. Just getting started? Find the perfect community name.
   
• Great for making connections – If you don’t plan to monetize your community and simply want it as a shared resource pool or a way of making connections, free platforms can be a fantastic alternative to paid.

Drawbacks of Using Free Platforms

• Limited features – For many free platforms, getting all the features you need in one place can be hard. This can be limiting when scaling your community or using it to grow your brand.
  
• Less professional approach – With limited branding options, payment pages, and subscription models, free community platforms may look unprofessional to users, especially if you’re trying to monetize your community.
  
• Less analytics – Most free communities don’t offer a wide range of analytics to track community data. If you want to scale your community, a free platform may not be your best bet, as you won’t be able to effectively monitor the health of your community and help it grow.

If you’re apprehensive about growing your community on Facebook, but you’d love to know how to grow on Instagram, check out our free guide.

1. Discord

Best For: Interest-based communities

Discord is a popular, free community platform originally designed and launched for gamers in 2015. However, since then, it has grown to include other types of communities (otherwise known as “servers”), all set up around varying interests, from writing and gaming to movies and TV. As of 2024, the platform is estimated to be home to 150 million monthly active users and 19 million weekly servers.

Unlike Facebook Groups, Discord has a plethora of features designed to help you create, monitor, and grow your community. With separate sub-channels, screen sharing, and multi-channel communication, you can curate a space where community members feel motivated to engage.

Features:

• Multi-Channel Communication – Organize community topics and sub-spaces based on topics and themes. Moderators can create both private and public channels.
• Audio messaging – Skip the text and connect voice-to-voice. This more personalized way of messaging can quickly get ideas across.
• Screen Sharing – This is a fantastic feature that allows you to watch movies, share resources in real-time, or host live events for the members of your server.
• Real-time notifications – Discord lets you stay in the loop with alerts. You can mute specific notifications for certain channels, which is a great feature for users who might not want to be part of every sub-channel.
• File sharing – Share resources, images, PDFs, and so much more.
• Threads – Keep conversations organized with the conversation thread feature.
• Community onboarding – Use this to welcome new members of the community and make them feel included.
• Community rules – Set up rules that members must agree to before they can enter the community properly and get access to all the features. Need an example of community rules? Check out this article.
• AutoMod – This feature keeps your server safe by automatically filtering out harmful messages or posts.

Limitations:

• No free trial, unlike other platforms
• Only up to 50 channels are allowed per category
• No way to customize notifications
• Limited free themes and branding
• Limited support

2. Slack

Best For: Learning communities / Work-based communities

Although Slack is predominantly used for work and businesses, you can use this platform to grow your community, too. With over 200,000 global organizations and businesses using this platform and an estimated 47 million daily users by 2025, it’s not hard to see why this app is so popular. Slack is constantly introducing new features and refining its platform to make communication effortless.

Features:

• Multi-channel communication – Create channels for every project, topic, or team. Both private and public channels are available.
• Huddles – Instantly connect over audio or video and share screens. This feature is integrated into the app, meani no app switching. The app automatically saves any links, documents, and messages members share during a huddle.
• Audio messaging – Skip the text and connect voice-to-voice.
• Video clips – Share updates, announcements, and explanations with your community. Members can adjust speed options, follow along with captions, or quickly skim the transcript.
• One-to-one messaging – Community members can connect with you and with each other individually.
• Threads – Respond directly to specific messages and threads so conversations never get lost.
• Real-time notifications – Never miss a message.
• File sharing – Share documents, images, loom videos, and so much more.

Limitations:

• Free version has limitations – Only 90 days of message and file history
• Huddles work better for smaller communities
• Can’t see insights on the free version – need to upgrade to pro or business to get a well-rounded view of your community health
• Features limited to business more than community-based
• No direct monetization features

3. WhatsApp

Best For: Interest-based communities

With around 3031.23 million active monthly users, WhatsApp is a common alternative to Facebook Groups. Many businesses and communities have turned to WhatsApp for its instant communication, connecting users from all over the world. Although this app is predominantly a messaging platform, some entrepreneurs might find it better for a smaller, more intimate approach to communities.

Features:

• Group chat feature – Supporting up to 1024 members, chat with users worldwide.
• One-to-one messaging – Instantly, real-time messaging from every corner of the Earth.
• Audio messaging – WhatsApp supports crisp, clear audio messaging to get your point across.
• Video calls – Face-to-face calling is made easy with his feature. You can also voice call.
• File sharing – Drop files, images, videos, and more into the chat.

Limitations:

• No live chat
• No branding options
• No monetization features

Best Alternatives to Facebook Groups

If you’re looking to create a scalable community, paid platforms will be offer all the features and integrations you need to grow. You’ll be able to monitor the health of your community by tracking metrics, scheduling meetings, organizing live events, and so much more. The tricky part is finding the right platform for you. 

Here are some of the best community platforms you can use to start and grow your community, turning it into a paid, professional and profitable space.

4. Teach.io

Best For: Beginner to experienced users

If you’re a course creator or a digital entrepreneur with a learning-based community, Teach is your go-to platform. Built with both students and teachers in mind, this platform has everything you need in one place. Say goodbye to app-switching and confusing event management. Plus, with a flat fee, you get full access to unlimited courses, unlimited students, and no hidden costs.

Unlike Facebook Groups, you have full control over customization, including notifications, sales pages, and course creation. Teach gives you the power to monetize your community, with community owners making huge turnovers of more than $100,000+ per year, something that Facebook simply does not offer.

Features:

• Course creation – From personalized coaching to live sessions, create courses easily.
• Built-in calendar – Manage events and live sessions, all within one place.
• Messaging – Chat with community members in real-time without the hassle of switching apps.
• Customizable notifications – Stay in the loop and never miss a message.
• Customizable sales pages – Improve conversion rates and turn potential students into thriving members of your community.
• Auto-affiliate program – Get a huge 40% commission when one of your students creates their own group.

Teach offers all the tools you need to help your community grow. Try their 14-day free trial.

5. Circle.so

Best For: Beginner to experienced users

Circle is a fantastic alternative to Facebook Groups if you want to grow and monetize your community. Like Teach, this platform is built with both the user and moderator in mind, making it home a range of features such as live events and course builders to truly harness the power of community building. 

This is unlike Facebook, which doesn’t offer any feature for building courses at all. Furthermore, Circle allows you to integrate additional apps, which is something Facebook simply does not support on its website.

Features:

• Discussions and group chat – Create spaces for thoughtful discussions and real-time conversations.
• Events – From small group coaching calls to huge workshops, run live events directly within the platform.
• Courses and course builder – Combine community with content and create your own courses.
• Payment for memberships – Increase revenue with user-friendly payments.
• Customization – Customize your space to reflect your community’s brand and create a tailored experience for your users.
• Integrations – Integrate other tools such as Google Sheets, Google Analytics, WordPress, Typeform, and more.

6. Kajabi

Best For: Advanced users / large businesses

If you’re a course creator looking to set up a coaching business or a community, Kajabi is an excellent choice. Unlike Facebook Groups, this platform gives you the opportunity and freedom to connect closely with community members through the ability to host live calls, schedule meetings, and more.

Furthermore, built-in analytics make it easy for moderators to track the health of their community, as opposed to Facebook groups.

Although this platform is packed with professional features, it’s also the most expensive platform on our list. This is why it’s better suited for advanced users and large businesses.

Features:

• Online courses – Create, market, and sell your expert knowledge on a topic.
• Coaching tools – Schedule meetings, host live calls, share resources, and more.
• Podcasts – Turn fans and listeners into customers.
• Analytics – Use metrics to get an accurate picture of your community’s health.
• Paid memberships – Earn recurring revenue through memberships and subscriptions.
• Pages – Build landing pages with ease.

Conclusion

Although Facebook groups are a fantastic way to build connections, make new friends, and market your products, they are lacking when it comes to community building. This free platform simply doesn’t have the tools you need to take your community to the next level. The options we’ve explored above, from Discord to Teach.io, offer far more effective features for connection, monetization, and scalability.