According to MarketDigits, the global community engagement market is expected to reach $2 billion by 2030. Building and monetizing an online community is a great way to get a slice of this action.
76% of internet users engage in online communities, making them great spaces to build your brand and showcase your products.
If youâve been on the hunt for a digital space to expand your offerings and create a loyal fan base, chances are youâve come across Slack. Known as the OGâs of business communication, is it really suited toward community building?
Below, we take a closer look at why Slack might not actually be the best choice for your business. Then, we consider some of the very best alternative community apps, including their stand-out features, monetization options, cost, and pros and cons.
Let's get to it.
What is Slack?
First founded back in 2009, Slack is a cloud-based messaging app designed for businesses and their communities. It quickly became a hit among business and non-business organizations, who used Slack as a team messaging app. Today, it has over 54 million monthly users.
Slack operates via channels, which can be both public and private. Only team members youâve invited to the workspace in public channels can post. In private channels, specific departments or teams can be segmented from the wider group.
DMâs can be sent among team members, and real-time video discussions in the form of huddles can be instigated.
Why should you ditch Slack for an alternative?
Though Slack is considered one of the most popular community apps, many businesses still look for other options to fulfill their needs. While Slack provides users with a solid foundation, it possesses certain limitations that make it unsuitable for all organizations.
Letâs take a deep dive into some of these issues.
Security features
One of the key issues with Slack is the platformâs security features or lack thereof.
Yes, the app does use industry-standard encryption protocols and has a security team on standby, but there are a few gaps that could prove problematic.
Firstly, Slack offers no end-to-end encryption, which means that messages could be compromised by hackers.
Secondly, if youâre using Slack for an online community, youâll need to manage your members closely, as terminating accounts will need to be done manually. Failing to do so results in individuals having access to your files and documents for longer than necessary, increasing the chances of data breaches.
Finally, unauthorised individuals can gain access to your Slack community via phishing techniques. If they gain access to the community, they could easily impersonate senior personnel simply by changing their profile picture and bio, making it possible to extort employees/community members to extort for financial gain.
Limited customization
One of the biggest reasons why Slack is unsuitable for communities is its lack of customization features. To successfully build your online hub, you need an app that allows you to work on multiple collaboration features and apps to meet your companyâs needs.
Slack is a closed-source software, which means that you canât customize the interface. This is a problem for companies as customizable solutions can help streamline menial tasks.
If youâre looking for a community platform with a wealth of customization features, Whop is your go-to choice, allowing you to tailor your experience completely from start to finish.
High prices
Though Slack does have a free option, this comes with limited features and capabilities. If you want to grow an online community, youâll need to subscribe to one of Slackâs tiered packages, which can become costly as you expand.
For the Business+ plan, for example, you have access to several features that are integral for larger enterprises, including 99.99% uptime SLA, Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tool integrations, permission controls, and a 4-hour response time from Slackâs support team.
The Business+ plan, however, will cost you $15 per user per month, making it much higher than many of its competitors. Imagine if you have a team of 500 - that's $7500 per month. For even larger enterprises that need unlimited workspaces and further security features, things become even more costly.
File sharing
If you rely heavily on either Microsoft Office or Google Workspace for your community, Slackâs file-sharing capabilities could prove frustrating. Many users have complained that the platform takes too long to complete basic file-sharing functions, even taking upwards of 5 minutes to upload, process, and re-process documents.
Notifications
Another key complaint, especially among larger teams, is that the constant notifications can be overwhelming. With multiple channels in operation, both public and private, both admins and members can quickly become overloaded.
No monetization options
The biggest drawback of Slack is that there are no monetization options native to the platform. There are third-party services you can use to charge for access to a Slack workspace, but these are complicated to set up.
Read our guide to learn more about monetizing an online community.
Slack alternatives at a glance
Platform | Best for | Monetization options | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|
Whop | Creators looking for a community-building platform with a wealth of monetization options. | Wide range of digital products and community access | Free/from 3% sales fee |
Mighty Networks | Beginner creators who are looking for a more basic set of features. | Courses and community access. | 14-day free trial/from $119/mo |
Thinkific | Creators who want to develop membership-based, or course-specific communities. | Courses and community access. | 14-day free trial/from $49/mo |
Kajabi | Course instructors looking to monetize their digital products. | Courses and digital products. | 14-day free trial/from $69/mo |
Podia | New creators, casual users, and those looking for a community app with basic features. | Courses and digital products | 30-day free trial/from $39/mo |
Circle | Creators looking for white-label groups. | Charging for learner access. | 14-day free trial/from $49/mo |
Uscreen | Established video creators who want to expand their community. | Subscriptions, pay-per-view, and ads. | 14-day free trial/from $149 a month. |
Discord | Free communities. | Paywalling servers or channels and selling digital products. | Free/from $2.99/mo |
Disciple | Small enterprises and individuals looking to establish a niche branded community. | Live stream access, courses, in-app purchases. | From $840/mo |
LearnDash | Course creators familiar with WordPress | Courses and tiered subscriptions. | $29/mo |
The 10 best Slack alternatives
Now that weâve taken a look at some of Slackâs limitations, we can move on to discuss some alternatives better suited to your community.
Many of these are feature-rich, intuitive, and most importantly, allow you to monetize your community.
1. đ Whop
Now, we might be biased, but our top spot has to go to Whop. Itâs hands down the best community platform for team collaboration. Whop offers users a ton of versatility, with countless ways for users to engage.
Whop allows you to monetize a new community or make money from existing communities, depending on your needs. Itâs an all-in-one social commerce platform that lets creators create and sell access to communities, group memberships, and digital products.
Itâs incredibly easy to get set up on the platform, taking mere minutes to create your own whop (your hub on the internet). Youâll be able to tailor your community memberâs experience as precisely as you need, with a wealth of handy Whop apps to choose from.
Some of the key features that you can add to your community include video calls, forums, chat, giveaways, and online courses. If you want to remove any apps that donât quite fit, just remove them! Itâs really as simple as that.
You can even sell digital products as add-ons to your community, including e-books, downloadable content, SaaS, and templates.
The best thing about Whop, however, is its affordability. Instead of charging creators a monthly price, as many of the platforms featured on our list do, Whop only charges the sales you make on the platform. So, for each sale, Whop takes a fee starting at just 3%. There are no hidden charges or costly fees to contend with.
Best for: Everyone! Whop is perfect for every type of creator looking for a comprehensive community-building platform with a wealth of monetization options.
Features: Completely customizable with a ton of apps to choose from. Onboarding automation for community members. A dashboard to manage your community all in one place. A Knowledgeable customer support team is available 24/7. A hoard of monetization options.
Pros: Whop offers several benefits, including strong support for community creators, an easy-to-use interface, plenty of customization options, multiple options for monetization, and no monthly fees.
Cons: You might not have heard of us yet, but itâs worth your time getting to know us.
Pricing: Completely free to set up, with a transaction fee for using Whop Payments to process payments.
2. Mighty Networks
Mighty Networks is a platform that allows users to create a fully customized community thatâs tailored to their brand. There are several handy features to help make it your own, including logo implementation, color schemes, and custom URLs.
Mighty Networks offers several strong, community-building features, including discussion boards for community interaction, an event management tool, course integration, and even member directories with a list of community members, along with their profile information.
There are several AI tools at play on the platform, including one which helps fill out profiles, fix spelling and grammar mistakes, and change the tone of your writing.
Best for: Beginner creators who are looking for a more basic set of features.
Features: Fully customizable community, which combines discussion boards, events, courses, and memberships. Engagement features such as direct messaging, polls, and discussions, and a mobile-optimized design to use on the go.
Pros: You can plan future events using the native calendar feature. It offers AI generation which can help with creative tasks. The strong community features make it easy to engage and connect with members.
Cons: It has a steep learning curve that may be difficult for new members. The platform only supports Stripe payments.
Pricing:
- 14-day free trial
- The Courses Plan - $119/mo
- The Business Plan - $219/mo
- The Path-to-Pro Plan - $360/mo
- The Mighty Pro Plan - Custom pricing
3. Thinkific
Though Thinkific is designed primarily for online courses, it has several features that can be useful for building and engaging a community hub. If youâre looking for a way to monetize your skills and content, Thinkific could be the perfect platform for you.
Thinkific has an easy-to-use interface, with a drag-and-drop feature on the website builder making things easy to navigate.
The course discussion forum is a great way for members to interact and find solutions to questions, facilitating peer-to-peer learning.
Thinkific also has a WordPress plugin that you can use to integrate into your business site.
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Best for: Creators who want to develop membership-based, or course-specific communities.
Features: Drag-and-Drop Course Builder. Drip content feature which allows you to schedule content delivery over time. Course templates.
Pros: User-friendly course creation. Integrates with PayPal and Stripe. Provides mobile access to community members. Strong member engagement through discussion forums, quizzes, certificates, and live sessions.
Cons: Lacks advanced community features, and may need third-party integrations like Slack for socialising. Lacks a built-in course marketplace for members to choose from.
Pricing:
- 14-day free trial
- Basic Plan - $49/mo
- Start Plan - $99/mo
- Grow Plan - $199/mo
- Plus Plan - Custom pricing
4. Kajabi
Kajabi is an excellent choice for creators who want to combine course creation, digital products, and community engagement, all in one handy space. Just like Thinkific, itâs an online learning platform that helps you make money from coaching and sharing tailored knowledge with community members.
The courses are quick and easy to set up, and you need very little tech-based knowledge to get started.
Kajabi lets you sell digital products, host webinars, and manage memberships all on one platform. Though third-party integrations can be a great tool for community platforms, going to and fro between the app and the third parties can be daunting. Thankfully, with Kajabi, youâve got everything you need under one roof.
Best for: Course instructors looking to share their knowledge and monetize their digital products.
Features: Private circles, live video events, polls, member digest, payment and email marketing integrations. Kajabi also has a good reputation with millions of customers.
Pros: All-in-one platform with courses, memberships, and digital products. Lots of customization features for courses. Features built-in email marketing and automation. Also includes robust reporting tools and analytics.
Cons: Can become costly depending on membership tier. Weaker overall features when it comes to managing a community.
Pricing:
- 14-day free trial
- Kickstarter Plan - $69/mo
- Basic Plan - $149/mo
- Growth Plan - $199/mo
- Pro Plan - $399/mo
5. Podia
As well as website building and email marketing, Podia boasts several features that are useful for effective community management. Like several others on our list, it allows you to build and sell online courses and other e-learning tools.
The platform is known for its simplicity and ease of use, with an intuitive dashboard thatâs straightforward to navigate.
It also offers a wealth of customizable templates meeting a range of requirements, from sales pages, to course pages, to checkout processes. Much like your standard online forum, Podia offers multimedia discussion threads that help foster meaningful relationships before group members.
As a creator, you can organise community areas according to certain topics. Areas can also be organized by specific courses or membership tiers, depending on your requirements.
Best for: Creators who are just getting started out, casual users, and those looking for a community app with basic features.
Features: Forum-like discussion threads. Easy content delivery via videos, PDFs, quizzes, etc⌠to members or students. Built-in email marketing tools.
Pros: Podia's website templates and courses are mobile-responsive, making them easy to access on the go. Communities are easy to use and set up. Seamless integration with payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal.
Cons: If you have more complex community-building needs, Podia can be limiting. For example, it has no live streaming or event management features. Podia also doesnât allow private messaging between members.
Pricing:
- 30-day free trial
- Free Email Plan - $0/mo
- Mover Plan - $39/mo
- Shaker Plan - $89/mo
6. Circle
One of the more well-known platforms on our list, Circle places a strong focus on visuals and engagement. It has a clean-cut interface thatâs easy to use, tailored specifically toward creators looking for a white-label option.
Circle allows you to fully customize the look and feel of your online space, with little personalized touches that match your brand.
You can also segment your community, so if groups have particular areas of interest, this can help provide a more tailored experience for members.
Circle also offers tools to measure your communityâs engagement levels, providing insights into member activity, revenue, historical performance, and leaderboards to find out who the most active topic starters, top commenters, and most appreciated members are.
There are a few ways to monetize your community with Circle, including setting up private paywalls within secret spaces to charge for learner access. You can offer free trials for your content, sell coupons, and give out discounts.
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Best for: Creators looking for white-label groups to bring their community together to share information and knowledge.
Features: White-label group creation. Customizable. Tools for engagement and monitoring analytics. Customizable community names, URLs, and visuals. Robust community moderation tools. Monetization possibilities.
Pros: The basic plan is much cheaper than many of the alternatives on our list. Features built-in video streaming features. It is easy to create and organize content on the platform. Includes tools to understand community engagement.
Cons: Unlike Slack and other community hubs, thereâs no free tier to give you a sense of the platform and how it operates. Thereâs no live chat for support.
Pricing:
- 4-day free trial
- Basic Plan - $49/mo
- Professional Plan - $99/mo
- Business Plan - $219/mo
- Enterprise Plan - $399/mo
- CirclePlus Plan - Custom pricing
7. Uscreen
Uscreen is a platform dedicated to video-based content. Inspired by YouTube and Netflix, itâs designed for creators who want to launch their own live streams. The community-building aspect of the platform revolves around these live streams, and engaging members with video content. This is mainly achieved through comments.
Subscription tiers can be created, giving users different levels of access, with incentives such as exclusive access and private channels to build stronger bonds with audience members.
One of the best features of Uscreen is that it allows creators to develop their own branded mobile applications. This is particularly advantageous for users looking to distribute their video content across multiple platforms.
Best for: Established video creators who want to expand their community.
Features: Various monetization options. Branded apps for video content. Unique video-based platform.
Pros: Robust video-hosting features. Live streaming. Variety of monetization options. Facilitates branded app creation.
Cons: A bad choice for communities who arenât focused on video content. Itâs also one of the most expensive options on our list.
Pricing:
- 14-day free trial
- Growth plan: $149 a month.
- Pro plan: $499 a month
- Plus: Custom pricing is to be discussed with the Uscreen sales team.
8. Discord
Discord is a social platform most popular among the gaming community, allowing users to communicate with each other through text, voice, and video. It lets you create and join servers, (group-like spaces that host many people).
Discord also has a bot integration option, which allows you to manage your server more easily. Bots can perform a number of community-based tasks, including sending welcome messages, moderating interactions, and hosting giveaways.
Similar to Slack, however, Discord doesnât have many monetization options. But, if this is something you want to get involved in, users can do this themselves by making their own premium Discord channels and servers (or by monetizing your Discord server with Whop).
If you want to learn more about earning money from your Discord server, make sure to check out Whop, where you can manage access for members and sell subscriptions.
Best for: Free communities, but if you choose to manage your Discord via Whop, it becomes a great platform for paid communities too.
Features: Video streaming. Public and private servers with multiple ways to interact with community members. Multiple integration options. Custom bots. User engagement is encouraged via communication systems.
Pros: One of the cheaper options on the list with several beneficial features offered on the lower tiers, including unlimited messages, voice and video calls, and file sharing. Bot integration to help streamline server management.
Cons: Users need to create their own premium servers and channels to monetize.
Pricing:
- Free Plan - $0/mo
- Discord Nitro Basic Plan - $2.99/mo
- Discord Nitro Plan - $9.99/mo with a 14-day free trial
9. Disciple
Disciple is a popular white-label community platform originally designed to unite music fans.
Disciple communities are managed via a created app, which, despite sounding complicated, requires no coding knowledge to set up. There are a wealth of customization options available to tailor your app, including logos, color options, as well as integrated features like events and courses. You can share a variety of content with members, including podcasts and videos.
Furthermore, to encourage participation, the platform lets you create challenges, rewards, and badges to provide a sense of achievement within the community.
You can monetize your community on Disciple by selling online courses, subscriptions, access to live streams, memberships, and offering in-app purchases.
Best for: Small enterprises and individuals looking to establish a niche branded community.
Features: Fully branded private communities. Audience segmentation based on interests and location. Push notifications to update members. Direct messaging. Polls. API integrations.
Pros: The app has lots of helpful tools to engage audiences. You can promote your community on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. There are plenty of ways to monetize your community.
Cons: Some report the setup features can be complicated for beginners. There are some mobile-app limitations that can create a less than ideal user experience. Disciple is a very pricey choice, especially if you require a higher tier.
Pricing:
- Grow Plan - $840/mo paid semiannually
- Pro Plan - $1,363/mo paid semiannually
- Enterprise Plan - Custom pricing
10. LearnDash
LearnDash is a WordPress plugin that allows subscribers to create and sell online courses. Users manage all aspects of course creation, including delegating assignments, approving submissions, and awarding points.
One of the standout features of LearnDash is the appâs Focus Mode. Once this is applied, distractions and notifications will be eliminated, removing non-essential elements such as the sidebar, navigation links, course progress bars, and other widgets or menus.
There are a number of useful integrations that can help build your community, including bbPress, a WordPress plugin that allows you to add forums to your site. Here, they can share insights, ask course-based questions, and collaborate on projects.
You can also assign group leaders to projects responsible for communicating with group members, managing assignments and running reports.
Best for: Course creators who are familiar with WordPress and its functions.
Features: Drag-and-drop course builder. Multiple course structures allowing lessons, quizzes, assignments, and certificates to be grouped together. Multiple options for monetization, including fixed price payments for courses, tiered subscriptions, and coupons.
Pros: bbPress integration allows learners to engage with one another via forums. Leaderboards and points available to the coursesâ top learners. LMS features provide a complete learning experience for members.
Cons: With multiple plugins, the app can become too complex. Users require previous WordPress experience to get started. There are no built in marketing tools to promote your courses.
Pricing:
- LearnDash LMS - from $199/year
- MemberDash Plugin - $199/year for one site
- LearnDash Cloud plugin from $29/month
Need to manage and monetize your community in one place? Whop is here to help
If youâre on the hunt for a Slack alternative to build your community and monetize it, Whop is by far the best option.
Whop is an incredibly versatile platform that suits every kind of creator. Whether youâre an entrepreneur just stepping into the digital world, or a seasoned business owner branching out into different avenues, Whopâs fully customizable platform stands out from all other competitors.
Whop has a range of powerful community-building features, including forum and chat functions, Whop wheel giveaways, and course creation tools, tied together in a straightforward, user-friendly interface.
But best of all, Whop is free to sign up, allowing you to focus on scaling your community without the hassle of costly monthly payments.
So, if you want to empower your content creation, ecommerce or digital business with a top-notch community website, check out Whop. Getting set up only takes a few minutes.
FAQ
Is Slack good for community building?
Though Slack comes with several disadvantages when used as a community-building app, it does have some handy tools to help fit this purpose. These include:
- Channels help organize topics and projects into different groups and subgroups.
- Integrations with third-party sites such as Google Drive, Trello, Zoom can be useful.
- Cross-platform access, so communities can be accessed via desktop, web, or mobile app.
- User-friendly interface with a speedy learning curve.
What is Slack most commonly used for?
Slack is used most frequently in workspaces and organizations. It allows people to collaborate on various projects, discuss different topics, and share information. Instead of the back-and-forth of emailing, Slack allows users to chat in real time, streamlining communication.
What does Slack stand for?
Slack stands for âSearchable Log of All Communication and Knowledge.â
What are the three most useful Slack functionalities?
Slack has three key functionalities. These include:
- Sharing
- Tagging
- Collaboration
These functionalities are built directly into the Slack Canvas feature, which means youâll be able to collaborate on projects by granting edit access to your team.
What is the biggest problem associated with Slack?
Perhaps the biggest problem associated with Slack is the influx of messages, which quickly increases as more people join the workspace. This surge in communication can be difficult to keep up with, and cause notification overload.
What does Slack do better than Microsoft Teams?
Both Slack and Teams serve their own functionalities. While Microsoft Teams is better for video calls, Slack is more highly regarded for its instant messaging capabilities. Slack also has an extensive array of app integrations, including Google Drive, Dropbox, Zoom, Zapier, and Asana.
Can you video call on Slack?
Yes, Slack does have video-calling capabilities. These are called âhuddles,â and allow you to talk face-to-face with multiple people in a team at the same time. In huddles, you can chat, share your screen, and react with emojis. Thereâs no time limit to Slack - they can be as long as they need to be.
Many users, however, have reported that video calls on Slack can be slow and laggy. The app generally requires a speedy internet connection to function properly.
Why are people leaving Slack?
Many people are opting to leave Slack and using other communication platforms instead. There have been complaints regarding Slackâs sustainability in big-picture discussions. With so many people involved at the same time, it can be difficult to keep track of conversations.