Build a Community Platform in 21 Days
Discussion forums, member profiles, events, and memberships — your Circle or Discord alternative.
Why Community Platform development is hard to get right
Circle and Mighty Networks charge $99–$399/month + transaction fees — expensive for growing communities
White-labeling is impossible on off-the-shelf community tools — your brand always competes with the platform's
Event management, cohort courses, and community are three different UX patterns that off-the-shelf tools handle poorly together
Member data portability is locked on third-party platforms — you can't export your community and move
What we build — in detail
Member directory & profiles
Rich profiles with bio, links, expertise tags, join date. Searchable member directory. Member-to-member connection requests.
Discussion spaces & channels
Topic channels, threaded discussions, reactions, rich text posts. Pinned announcements, moderation controls.
Direct messaging
1:1 DMs between members. Group DMs for collaboration. Notifications for unread messages.
Events & live sessions
Event creation, RSVP, reminders. Zoom/Luma embed for live sessions. Event recordings accessible post-session.
Paid memberships & access control
Free vs. paid member tiers. Stripe Billing for monthly/annual community subscriptions. Lock specific spaces to paid members.
Onboarding flow
New member welcome sequence, profile completion prompt, "introduce yourself" post prompt. Reduces early churn.
Admin & moderation tools
Member management, post moderation, ban/mute, analytics (active members, posts per day, top contributors).
Tech Stack
- →Next.js (web)
- →Supabase (Postgres + Realtime + Auth)
- →Stripe Billing
- →Resend (email)
- →Vercel
What you get
- Fully branded community web platform
- Admin dashboard
- Full source code — own your member data
Frequently asked questions
Why build vs Circle/Mighty Networks?
Platform independence and data ownership. Your community's email list, member profiles, and content history are yours — not locked in a third-party database. Also, zero per-transaction fees. Break-even vs Circle typically happens around month 18.
Free Community Platform resources
Download these before you start — no credit card, just your email.
Ready to build your community platform?
Book a free 30-minute scoping call. We'll map out exactly what v1 looks like, give you a fixed price, and start within a week.
Book a Free Scoping Call →Free · No commitment · Delivered in 3–4 weeks