Circle vs Mighty Networks
The two most established branded community platforms. They price similarly and diverge on video and apps.
The verdict
Circle is the safer default; Mighty Networks is the better bet if a branded app is in your future. Circle includes native video hosting on every paid plan, which Mighty Networks reserves for the unpublished Mighty Pro tier. That single gap decides it for most course-and-community businesses. Mighty Networks earns its place when the plan is a named community brand with its own app, since Mighty Pro has a longer track record of shipping those.
Choose Circle if
- You need native video hosting without an upgrade to custom pricing
- You want headless API access on a published plan
- You want the lower entry fee at 2% on the $89 plan
Choose Mighty Networks if
- Your own iOS and Android apps are part of the plan
- You are building a named community brand rather than a forum
- Streaming hour caps of 20 to 30 a month are enough for you
Cost at three real sizes
Cheapest plan that holds the member count, including each platform's own cut and payment processing.
| Scenario | Circle | Mighty Networks |
|---|---|---|
| 50 members at $20$1,000 monthly revenue | $153Professional | $143Launch |
| 200 members at $25$5,000 monthly revenue | $394Professional | $384Launch |
| 500 members at $30$15,000 monthly revenue | $934Business | $914Scale |
Feature by feature
| Capability | Circle | Mighty Networks |
|---|---|---|
| Community features | Supported | Supported |
| Courses | Supported | Partially supported |
| Coaching and live events | Supported | Supported |
| Video hosting | Supported | Higher plan required |
| Livestreaming | Supported | Partially supported |
| Newsletter and publishing | Partially supported | Partially supported |
| Private podcast support | Not supported | Not supported |
| Payments and monetization | Supported | Supported |
| Branding and customization | Higher plan required | Supported |
| Branded mobile app | Higher plan required | Higher plan required |
| Audience discovery | Not supported | Partially supported |
| Email and marketing | Add-on required | Partially supported |
| Integrations and API | Higher plan required | Higher plan required |
| Migration support | Partially supported | Higher plan required |
| Customer and data ownership | Supported | Supported |
Best case across each platform’s full range. Individual plans gate some of these; the platform pages show which.