Guide
Best platforms to create your own social network
If you want your own social network — not just a group on someone else’s — these are the platforms most people consider. Each is good at something different. VTC is our product; we include it alongside the alternatives and link every vendor’s pricing page so you can check the facts yourself.
Prices below are as published by each vendor on 1 November 2026 and may change.
Updated
Quick comparison
| Platform | Best for | Starting price (published) | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| VTC | A social network plus business apps and AI agents | Free to create; $1/Space or $5/Network every 30 days + usage | Networks of Spaces, 300+ apps, AI agents and AI App Builder, no per-member fees |
| Mighty Networks | Community businesses with courses and memberships | $79/month (Launch) | iOS/Android/web, AI Cohost, branded apps with Mighty Pro |
| Circle | Communities, courses and live events | $89/month billed annually (Professional) | Website, payments, AI agents on Scale, branded apps on Circle Plus |
| Discourse | Forum-style communities and support | Free plan; Pro $100/month | Open source, can be self-hosted |
| Bettermode | Branded community hubs for companies | $149/month billed yearly (Starter) | Customizable community, enterprise plans |
| Skool | Simple communities with courses | $9/month (Hobby) or $99/month (Pro) | Unlimited members and courses; transaction fee 10% on Hobby, 2.9% on Pro |
1. VTC
VTC is a platform for creating public and private social networks, powered by apps and AI. Organize with Spaces, add any of 300+ apps, or create your own with AI. No per-member fees.
Choose VTC if your network needs to do real work: teams, customers, classes or members in Spaces, with apps such as customers, leads, events, bookings, marketplace and projects, plus AI agents that run procedures across those apps.
- Networks and Spaces: a Network is your own platform (public or private); Spaces organize teams, classes, clubs, customers and topics inside it.
- Social features in every Network and Space: member profiles, people directory, newsfeed, group chat, direct messages and notifications.
- Built-in business apps from a catalog of 300+ apps (see vtc.com/apps) — install or remove them any time.
- AI: describe a cross-app procedure to the VTC assistant and save it as an agent that runs on demand, on a schedule or when an app event fires.
- AI App Builder: describe the app you need and AI builds it, or build your own and publish it to the catalog.
- Public website for every Space and Network, a free vtc.com subdomain and custom domains included.
- White-label: your domain, logo, colours and login page.
- Paid memberships via Stripe Connect with no VTC platform fee (Stripe’s own fees apply).
2. Mighty Networks
A community platform built for community businesses: courses, events and paid memberships, with apps on iOS, Android and the web and an AI Cohost. Plans: Launch $79/month, Scale $179/month, Growth $354/month, and Mighty Pro (custom branded apps) on request.
3. Circle
An all-in-one platform for communities, courses, live events, payments and a website, with iOS, Android and desktop apps. Plans billed annually: Professional $89/month, Business $199/month (workflows, APIs and MCP), Scale $419/month (AI agents), and Circle Plus with custom branded apps.
4. Discourse
Open-source discussion software, popular for forums and product communities. Hosted plans include a free plan, Pro at $100/month and Business at $500/month, or you can self-host the open-source version.
5. Bettermode
A customizable community platform for companies building branded community hubs. The Starter plan is $149/month billed yearly; Growth and Enterprise plans are available for larger communities.
6. Skool
A simple community-and-courses product with unlimited members, courses and live calls. Hobby is $9/month with a 10% transaction fee; Pro is $99/month with a 2.9% transaction fee.
How to choose
- Selling courses and memberships is the main goal: Mighty Networks, Circle or Skool.
- A forum or support community you may want to self-host: Discourse.
- A social network that also runs business apps and AI agents, with many Spaces under one brand: VTC.
Sources
Checked 1 November 2026. Vendor prices and features can change; see each vendor’s page for current details.