customer community platform · Circle Internet

Circle

Name: Circle
Price: 89 USD

Hosted community platform with a custom domain and unlimited members from $89 a month, billed yearly.

54/100

#6 of 8 customer community platforms
Facts checked 9 Oct 2026

In short

Professional costs $89 a month billed yearly; plans have a 14-day free trial, not a free plan¹.
Every listed plan has a custom domain and unlimited members¹.
Custom SSO and webhooks start on the $419 Scale plan; the API starts on Business at $199¹.
Circle's own pricing page lists no uptime SLA, and the DPA names no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report for Circle^1,3.
Slack, Salesforce and HubSpot appear on the integrations page tagged as Zapier connections².

Circle suits teams that want a hosted community with a custom domain and unlimited members at a published $89 a month¹. The API starts at $199 and SSO and webhooks at $419¹. The catch: no free plan, no named SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report and no uptime SLA are published^1,3.

Best for: Brands and customer teams that want a hosted community with spaces, events and courses.

Where the points come from

Price7 of 18

Members and access23 of 23

Moderation and answers4 of 13

Connections11 of 19

Your data6 of 13

Security3 of 14

Price 7 of 18 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Free plan	NoProfessional, Business and Scale list a 14-day free trial; no free plan is shown¹.	0 / 6
Cheapest paid plan with a custom domain	$89/moProfessional, $89 a month billed annually, includes a custom domain¹.	7 / 12

Members and access 23 of 23 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Unlimited members	YesPricing table lists unlimited members on Professional at $89 a month¹.	6 / 6
Custom domain	YesPricing table lists a custom domain on every plan¹.	3 / 3
Single sign-on	YesScale lists custom single sign-on, $419 a month billed yearly; Circle Plus page also lists it^1,6.	10 / 10
Groups with their own permissions	YesCircle describes access groups that manage permissions, tiers and cohorts⁷.	4 / 4

Moderation and answers 4 of 13 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Moderation tools	Report queue, Spam or word filtersFlagged posts are reviewed by staff; profanity filters hide posts with set terms⁵. Approval and bans not described.	4 / 8
Accepted answers	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's discussions page⁵.	0 / 5

Connections 11 of 19 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Named integrations	NoneSlack, Salesforce and HubSpot are tagged Zapier on the integrations page; Zendesk not shown².	0 / 8
Public API	YesAdmin API and Headless Member API are documented, from the Business plan⁴.	8 / 8
Webhooks	YesScale lists webhooks¹.	3 / 3

Your data 6 of 13 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Export your community data	YesAdmins export audience lists as CSV from Manage Audience, and the pricing table lists bulk import/export on every plan^9,1.	6 / 6
Open source	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's pricing page¹.	0 / 4
Self-hosting	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's pricing page¹.	0 / 3

Security 3 of 14 points

Rule	What is published	Points
SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's DPA page, which names no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report for Circle³.	0 / 8
Written uptime guarantee	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's pricing page¹.	0 / 3
Two-factor sign-in	YesMembers can enroll in two-factor authentication with an emailed one-time code; admins of all communities have it by email⁸.	3 / 3

The rule behind each line: how we score customer community platforms.

Plans and prices

As the vendor lists them, before tax. Prices are in US dollars unless the plan shows euros; the points use US dollars, with euros converted at the ECB rate.

Plan	Price as listed	Per month	Notes
ProfessionalUnlimited members	$89/month, billed yearly¹	$89	3 admins, 10 moderators, custom domain
BusinessUnlimited members	$199/month, billed yearly¹	$199	Adds Admin and Headless Member API
ScaleUnlimited members	$419/month, billed yearly¹	$419	Adds webhooks, custom SSO, AI moderation
Circle PlusUnlimited members	Custom¹	Quote	Unlimited admins and moderators; sales only

Prices are based on annual billing; the pricing page shows no separate monthly-billing prices¹.

Strengths

Custom domain and unlimited members on every listed plan¹.
A documented Admin API and Headless Member API on Business and above⁴.
Staff can review flagged posts, and word filters can hide posts⁵.
Access groups manage permissions, tiers and cohorts⁷.
Members can turn on two-factor sign-in with an emailed one-time code⁸.

Limits

Plans have a 14-day trial but no free plan¹.
Custom SSO and webhooks need the $419 Scale plan¹.
Salesforce, Slack and HubSpot connections are tagged Zapier on the integrations page².
No SLA is listed on any plan, and no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report is named^1,3.

Other customer community platforms

1
DiscourseCompanies that want a moderated, open-source support forum on their own domain
93/100
$100/mocheapest paid plan with a custom domain
2
NodeBBTeams that want a forum on their own domain with an API and the option to self-host
64/100
$20/mocheapest paid plan with a custom domain
3
BettermodeCompanies that want a branded customer community with CRM and support-desk integrations
63/100
$149/mocheapest paid plan with a custom domain
4
Mighty NetworksBrands that want a hosted community with courses and events, with an API on Scale and above
62/100
$79.17/mocheapest paid plan with a custom domain

All 8 customer community platforms

Sources

Circle pricing, Circle. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Circle integrations, Circle. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Circle data processing agreement, Circle. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Circle API documentation, Circle. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Circle discussions, Circle. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Circle Plus, Circle. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Circle compared with Bettermode, Circle. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Circle March 2026 release, Circle. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
Circle January 2025 update, Circle. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.

Website: circle.so · Markdown version · We are not affiliated with Circle Internet.