Mighty Networks
$119at 500 members
$10 a month cheaper$119 at 250 members
Community and courses together with a mobile app from day one, for a brand that wants its own network.
- Does not list an affiliate programme
Home › Online courses and communities › Circle › Alternatives
Circle alternatives
The 9 closest of 13, each with its real monthly cost at 500 members and what it does that Circle does not. See all 19.
Mighty Networks does everything we verified about Circle for $10 a month less at 500 members, $119 against $129. It is a price cut rather than an upgrade: on the two features checked against the vendors’ own pricing pages the two are level.
Why people look for an alternative
We have no recorded weakness for it, so this page is a price and feature comparison rather than a list of complaints.
It runs $129 a month at 500 members with the add-ons it forces on you included. 10 of the 13 alternatives on this site cost less than that.
What I flagged when I reviewed it, March 2025:
- There is a bit of a learning curve with Circle, and there's a lot you can do with it. 15:23
- I've been part of other Circle communities and sometimes got a little bit lost in and around where to go and what to do. 15:29
- The pricing is a little bit more on the expensive side depending on those features you need. 17:30
The closest thing to Circle
Ranked by how much of what we record for Circle each platform also does. Mighty Networks is the nearest, and it is $10 a month cheaper at 500 members. Nothing we verified is missing; the only gaps are features Circle lists and Mighty Networks does not, which is weaker evidence.
Cheaper, with nothing we record missing
Everything this site records for Circle is also recorded for these, and they cost less at 500 members, each priced on what it charges by. That is not the same as saying they are better: the last column is what Circle is built for that they are not, and for someone who needs that, the saving is not a saving.
| Platform | At 500 members | You save | What Circle does that it does not |
|---|---|---|---|
| LearnWorlds | $29 | $100 | a community with courses inside it |
| Thinkific | $54 | $75 | a community with courses inside it |
The rest, in order of how close they are
Prices are the real monthly cost at 500 members, or the equivalent size on whatever each one charges by, with the add-ons each platform forces on you included, from the same engine the shortlist quiz uses.
LearnWorlds
$29at 500 students
$100 a month cheaper$29 at 250 students
Course design that goes deep: interactive video, assessments, learning paths, a branded app, for someone whose course IS the product.
- Also lists certificates and quizzes and assessments
Thinkific
$54at 500 students
$75 a month cheaper$54 at 250 students
A straight course platform with communities bolted on, where the price does not move with students.
- Also lists certificates, digital downloads and quizzes and assessments
Kajabi
$249at 5,000 contacts
$120 a month dearer$179 at 2,500 contacts
Running the whole business from one place: courses, the email list, the website, the checkout and the community, and paying for that convenience.
- Also lists certificates, digital downloads and quizzes and assessments
Systeme.io
$17at 5,000 contacts
$112 a month cheaper$17 at 2,500 contacts
Getting a course, a list and a funnel live for nothing, then paying very little as it grows.
- Does not list building the course with AI, memberships and subscriptions and a mobile app
Heights Platform
$49at 500 students
$80 a month cheaper$49 at 250 students
Growing from a first challenge to a large student base on one platform, with AI drafting the course and no cut of sales.
- Also lists certificates, digital downloads and quizzes and assessments
- Does not list live events and cohorts
GoHighLevel
$97at 5,000 contacts
$32 a month cheaper$97 at 2,500 contacts
Courses and communities inside the same platform that runs your funnels, CRM, email and calendar, at one flat price with unlimited contacts.
- Does not list building the course with AI, live events and cohorts and memberships and subscriptions
Xperiencify
$99at 500 students
$30 a month cheaper$99 at 250 students
Courses built around gamification: points, streaks and triggers to get students to actually finish.
- Also lists certificates and quizzes and assessments
- Does not list building the course with AI and live events and cohorts
Kartra
$229at 5,000 contacts
$100 a month dearer$119 at 2,500 contacts
Memberships and courses with the email, checkout and affiliate programme around them, priced by contacts.
- Also lists certificates and quizzes and assessments
- Does not list building the course with AI and a mobile app
What Circle is still the best answer for
A community that feels like a product, with courses, events and a branded app around it.
On this site it is the pick for a community with courses inside it. If that is you, read the savings above and then ignore them.
How to read the feature lines
Two features were checked against each vendor's own pricing page: a free plan and running on your own WordPress. Those are the ones written above as does and does not. The other twelve are read out of each vendor's own pricing page, so an absence there means we did not find it listed, not that the product lacks it, and those lines say lists and does not list instead. How all of this gets checked.
Or let it pick for you
This page compares everything to Circle. The shortlist asks 8 questions about what you sell and how many students you have, and gives you four picks priced at your own numbers, which is a better question than “what is like the one I already have”.
Build your shortlist