Are you running a community on Facebook and looking for alternatives to grow? In this post, we’ll discuss the features of Circle vs Facebook groups, and explore the benefits of this all-in-one platform designed to simplify your job as a community builder.
The Internet has plenty of platforms available for users to build their communities online. And each one has its own unique features. Tribe, Circle, Discord, Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter, among many others. But, do you imagine having all these platforms’ features in one? Circle might be the answer to your needs.
So let’s check out all of Circle’s features, why it’s better than Facebook even though it’s paid, and the best communities present on Circle! 👇
Circle vs Facebook: 6 Features Why Circle is our Favorite
Circle is an all-in-one community platform for both creators and brands. They have multiple features to allow the community members to engage in discussions, participate in live streams and events, and chat. All under your own brand! Here are the features most used by community managers 👇
- Great-Looking Member Directory
- Monetize Your Community
- Easy to Customize
- Easy Integrations
- Events Platforms
- Community App
Great-Looking Member Directory ☎️
Circle allows members of each community to have their own profiles, links, and an unlimited amount of content (such as events, blog updates, coupons, and more). “It generates harmony between content community and directory,” the mindfully.TV founder explains in one of his YouTube videos.
Monetize Your Community 💸
Circle allows community creators to monetize their online groups with flexible payments, making it great for memberships, coaching, or courses. As it offers creators the possibility to offer their community’s members monthly, quarterly, annual, weekly subscriptions, and one-time fees. You also can provide potential members free trials, special offers, and promotions with coupons.
Related 👉 What Is a Tiered Membership Model and How to Implement It?
Easy to Customize 🙌
At Circle, you can create and design spaces to help members share ideas, receive feedback, and host conversations and discussions. Also, you and your community members can share content and post announcements.
It’s also easy to create private and secret spaces for groups inside your community. This is perfect for memberships, coaching groups, and course creators, among others.
Last but not least, Circle is really flexible and customizable. You can style your community with your brand aesthetic, and use a custom domain.
Easy Integrations ⚙️
One of Circle’s greatest features is that it’s easy to integrate the platform with your existing tools. It also gives you access to multiple analytics and community insights, such as who are your most active members, trends, and popular discussions. It also uses the single sign-on (SSO) authentication scheme to make registration and login easier. Zapier is another great integration for your Circle community. It’s probably one of the favorite tools in the market, used by community managers looking to leverage automation.
Events Platforms 📲
Circle permits community members to engage in immersive live streams, send and receive direct messages, and participate in group chats. It also has an easy-to-search member directory and lets members create rich and complete profiles. In addition, Circle also has event spaces with calendars and RSVPs.
Community App 🤝
As you become a Circle customer, you’ll get access to the private Circle community. This provides weekly training and educational workshops on topics such as growing your online community, how to keep members engaged, and community business models. Also, you’ll be able to engage in daily discussions with more than 4,000 community builders.
Circle Communities Pricing vs Free Facebook Groups
Facebook’s free and a social media platform where people are already at. That’s what makes it easier for people to join your community. However, as the Circle team is aware of this, they send automated digests to the communities members with updates about what’s going on in their platform’s communities.
💡 Another great idea, if you’re thinking about building your community on Circle, is to send your actual and potential members a weekly newsletter with that week’s events. That will keep them updated on what’s going on in the group, and remember them to check-in!
As we mentioned earlier, Circle isn’t a free platform. But unlike Facebook, that’s why they can provide its users an ad-free and distraction-free space that you can customize as you like!
How Much Does Circle.so Cost?
The base price is $39 per month for communities up to 100 members and 10 spaces. The middle subscription price is $79 per month, and it allows up to 10,000 members and 100 spaces. However, if you just want to try Circle before leaving Facebook, you can get the free 14-day trial.
What Are the Top Features of Circle.so?
All the Techy Stuff Is on Their Side 👩💻
Another great thing about Circle, which doesn’t happen with many other community platforms, is that all the tech-related stuff (such as software updates, plugins, and improvements) is on their side. So neither members, creators, nor brands have to do anything other than create content, attract their audience, and promote their platform.
Impact on Your Mental Health 🧠
Apart from all of Circle’s features that help creators and community builders on the community management, unlike Facebook, this platform also helps to concentrate on certain activities without being interrupted or worried about notifications. In a scenario where we are surrounded by technology, this has a huge impact on our mental health and helps us concentrate and be more productive.
Check out what Corey Haines, the founder of Swipe Files, thinks about building community on Circle 👇
Circle Community Examples
Apart from having amazing all-in-one features, Circle already has a great number of entrepreneurs, creators, and brands that are using the platform and creating communities successfully. Here are some examples of good Circle communities!
Digital Nomad Girls
Are you a digital nomad? Join the Digital Nomad Girls community to feel less lonely while working alone in any part of the world!
Nomad life can be lonely sometimes. That’s why this digital co-working community for women was created, to reimagine life together as women who work as freelancers, remote workers, and digital nomads around the world.
Related 👉 How to Build Community in a Remote Workplace
It has more than 4,000 members and it describes itself as a collaborative, feminist, ethical, and sustainable women’s community. To access the group, potential members need to sign up to the waiting list and, once accepted, pay a $27 monthly fee.
The Coding Career
This community’s named after the homonymous book written by author Shawn Swyx Wang, and it’s destined for developers who are seeking to grow from junior to senior professionals. Both the book and the community are filled with guides, strategies, advice, and techniques derived from Swyx’s personal experience. While the book costs $59, for $99 you’ll get lifetime access to the Discord and Circle-based community.
The community offers developers the opportunity to connect with like-minded colleagues with whom they can discuss development-related issues, exchange new ideas, and find job opportunities on the community’s job board. At Circle, the community also has workshops, meet-ups (mainly carried out in the US), and plenty of resources.
If you’re interested in buying the book and/or joining the community, you can read 4 of the book’s chapters for free!
Comunidad E-commerce
This community is a Spanish-speaking group that seeks to help entrepreneurs and creators succeed in e-commerce! It’s a place to learn and connect with hundreds of online sales professionals in Spanish. And to move forward in your company! It has more than 450 members and you can join for free.
In this post, we explored the benefits of building your community in Circle rather than staying on Facebook groups. Now, it’s time to learn how to set up your community on Circle.
