Circle.so Review – Is Circle The Complete Community Platform in 2025?

If you are looking for an in-depth review of Circle.so, then this article is for you.

Circle is one of the most popular platforms for building an online community, used by over 7,500 creators and businesses across the world. It comes with a pretty great 14-day free trial, affordable paid plans, and a solid set of community management features.

But how does it work, and is it really the best online community builder out there?

In this post, we will go in-depth and provide you with a first-hand look at everything Circle has to offer so you can have a better idea of the platform before making a final decision.

We’ll show you all the key features of the platform, discuss its pricing options, cover its advantages and disadvantages, and more. So, let’s dive in and find out.

In case you’re in a hurry and looking to test the platform right away, simply click the link below and get started; there’s no need to enter your card details.

🔗 Click here to sign up for a free 14-day trial of Circle 👀

Founded by former employees of Teachable, Circle.so is a platform that helps creators and brands make their own online communities. It allows them to build a place where people can come together, interact, and be a part of a group.

On this platform, you can do a lot of great things to make your community fun and interesting. You can write posts and articles, teach courses online, organize events, do live streaming, make a list of all the members, send messages, and get personalized notifications.

If someone misbehaves, you can also control and manage the community with some special tools.

Circle also lets you make your community look nice. You can change the design and add your own special touches. You can even make money from your community, too. It also integrates with third-party services such as Teachable and Thinkific.

The best part is that you don’t need to be a tech expert to use Circle. It’s cloud-based, so you don’t have to install any software.

All you need to do is make an account, create your community, and connect it to your website.

Yes, it’s that easy, and you don’t need to worry about the technical things—you can just focus on making your community awesome.

One more thing that makes Circle special is that it’s not like Facebook Groups. With Circle.so, you can make your community look unique and run it the way you want.

You have control over the people in the community and can connect with them in any way you like.

• Enjoy a clean and easy-to-use interface.
• Easy integrations with your existing tools.
• Monetize your content with built-in tools.
• Create private and secret spaces for groups.
• Customize your space with flexible layout options.
• Build online courses directly on the platform.
• Automate tasks and manage bulk actions easily.

• Basic page builder.
• Limited entry-level plan.
• There’s a transaction fee of up to 4%, depending on the plan.

Circle.so is a platform that can be beneficial for various individuals and groups. Here are some examples of who should consider using Circle.so:

• Creators and Course Instructors: If you have online courses or educational content and want to provide a dedicated space for your students to interact, collaborate, and support each other, Circle.so is an excellent choice.
• YouTubers: If you have a YouTube channel or produce content on other platforms and want to build a dedicated community around your content, Circle.so can offer a space for your subscribers or followers to engage with each other.
• Facebook group owners: If you already have a Facebook group but want a better space where you have more control and fewer distractions, Circle.so is a good option.
• Membership Sites: If you run a membership-based website or offer premium content to subscribers, Circle.so can enhance the value of your memberships by providing a dedicated space for members to interact and access exclusive content.
• Businesses and Organizations: If you run a business or organization and want to build a loyal customer base, provide value-added services, or create a knowledge-sharing hub, Circle.so can serve as a centralized platform to facilitate these activities.

Basically, it’s a place where you can build a community around what you do and share it with others who are interested.

Big names like Pat Flynn’s SPI, Breakthrough Facilitation, Soapbox Project, Impact Alliance, Code Meets No Code, and Ship 30 for 30 all use Circle.so to grow their communities. But it’s not just for them—plenty of smaller brands and independent creators rely on Circle.so to build thriving communities, too.

Want to see it in action?

Check out the Circle Community Showcase to explore how different creators and businesses are using it.

You should always look for a community platform that is easy to use, especially if you are new to it.

The good news is that Circle is one of the easiest out of all the top community builders we’ve tested, and you don’t need any technical skills to use it.

Now, let’s jump in and see how easy it is for you to use their interface.

When you log in as an admin, everything is organized neatly on the screen. On the left side, you’ll see a list of all your spaces, and you can easily create a new one. From there, you can go to space, join discussions, and adjust settings.

If you want to publish a new post or do a live stream, both options are positioned in such a way that you can easily find them without looking here and there.

All the tools and features of Circle are organized into different categories, like Courses, Members, PayWalls, Direct Messages, etc., so you won’t have to search a lot to find what you need.

For the people using your community (the members), the interface they see looks similar to what you see but without the admin settings. It’s quite simple and easy to understand. They can find important links from the left sidebar and use the search bar to find specific posts, comments, groups, and more.

Moreover, the dashboard has a helpful “Getting Started” setup checklist. If you’re new to Circle, this checklist will help you set up your community correctly. It’s kind of like a to-do list that tells you what steps to follow.

If you know how to set it up and the checklist bothers you, just click on the “X” icon next to the “Getting Started” option on the left side of the screen to remove it.

But remember, once you delete the setup checklist, you can’t bring it back. So it’s best to delete it only after you’ve finished all the necessary steps.

Overall, Circle is user-friendly and simple to manage.

You can start your community in just a few minutes, and everyone (including your community members) will have a great experience using the application.

What Features Does Circle.so Offer?

Circle.so has lots of great features that make it worth buying. When you sign in to your account, you’ll find all the important features right on the main screen.

• Customization
• Live streaming
• Free mobile apps for Android and iOS
• Monetization opportunities
• Online courses (with new updates)
• Workflows and automation

A community software platform helps you create and maintain an active online community. In this section, we’ll see how Circle performs in this area.

Here are some key community features it offers:

• Custom domain – You can connect your own domain to your community. By default, it runs on a Circle.so subdomain.
• Public or private community – You can set your community to be open to everyone or restrict access to members only.
• Branding options – You can customize your community’s appearance to match your brand, including changing colors and adding your logo.

Now let’s explore the features Circle.so offers and learn how each one operates.

Events are one of the most popular content types on Circle, right after posts.

Setting up an event in Circle.so is easy and fast. All you need to do is enter some basic information like the date, time, whether it’s a one-time or recurring event and the location—and you’re all set.

If you’re doing an online event, you have choices. You can use Circle’s own live-streaming tools or link it to another platform like Zoom.

Your members can say they’re coming (RSVP), and Circle sends them an email to confirm. Also, you can set up automatic reminders so everyone knows when the event is about to start.

Circle’s live-streaming options give you a lot of freedom.

You can go live in your community whenever you want, for planned events or just because. You have two ways to do it:

• Live Room – Perfect for small group meetings with up to 50 participants, where everyone can join the conversation.
• Live Stream – This works best for webinars or Q&A sessions, where only the hosts can speak while others watch. Up to 1000 people can join.

During live sessions, you can show your screen, chat with people watching, and save the session to share later.

In short, Circle helps you host events and live streams easily, and this keeps your community involved and active.

With Circle, setting up and organizing online courses is simple. You can create lessons using videos, audio, and text, then arrange them into sections by dragging and dropping them into place.

Uploading content is easy. You can add videos and audio, embed media from other platforms, and attach files for students to download. Circle also offers unlimited video hosting, so you don’t have to worry about storage limits or playback issues.

Here’s what you can do with Circle:

• Schedule lessons to release on a set date or when a student joins.
• Require students to complete lessons in a specific order.

However, Circle doesn’t include built-in quizzes or completion certificates, which might be a drawback for some course creators.

The course player keeps everything simple and organized. The main lesson appears on the left, while the navigation stays on the right. Students can hide the sidebar or switch to full-screen mode for better focus.

One useful feature is the automated transcription powered by Circle’s Community AI. It generates captions and lets students search within videos or jump to specific sections instantly.

While Circle isn’t a full-fledged course platform, it does a solid job of helping you create engaging courses. You can also connect your courses with discussion spaces and live events to build a more interactive learning experience.

Circle.so offers iOS and Android apps.

You can find your communities, courses, events, and chats all in one place within these apps. Plus, you can make purchases directly inside the app and get branded notifications, which people open more often than emails.

A really useful part of Circle is going live right from the app. When you start a live stream, all your members get notified, just like when your favorite creator goes live on Facebook. This lets you connect with your community in real time.

Your community members have full control over their notifications. They can choose to receive updates via email or within the app and customize settings for each space.

Circle also keeps your members informed about events. When someone publishes a new event or RSVPs, the app sends a notification. The app even handles confirmations and reminders to help increase attendance.

Circle allows members to message each other directly, and you can switch this feature on or off, depending on what your community requires.

If you need tighter control, you can restrict specific members from using direct messaging.

Beyond one-on-one chats, Circle also supports group conversations. You can set up a Chat space where members can talk together, much like traditional chat rooms.

The interface is easy to use, much like popular messaging apps. You can mention others, react with emojis, start chat threads, and send voice messages to keep conversations lively and engaging.

Now, let’s look at member notifications.

By default, your community members will get notifications when someone posts in a space they belong to, likes or comments on a post they follow, or sends them a direct message.

They have full control over their notification settings. They can choose the activities they want to be notified about and select the spaces they want updates from.

They can also decide if they want to receive notifications via email, in-app, or push notifications on their mobile devices.

As a community owner, you have the same level of control over your notifications. You can choose how and when you want to be notified.

You also have the option to send a weekly digest. This gives your members a personalized summary of what’s happening in the community. Enabling this feature is simple—just one click—and it helps everyone stay in the loop and connected.

We also want to tell you about an exciting feature that Circle.so has added recently. They now have workflow automation built right into the platform, available for users on the business plan or higher.

We have personally used these automated workflows in my community to make things easier for new members and to manage existing members better.

But automation doesn’t stop there. Circle also has the ability to integrate with different platforms like Thinkific or WordPress using something called single sign-on (SSO). This lets your members use one set of credentials to access their accounts.

Moreover, you can also use automation tools like Zapier to connect Circle with your CRM (Customer Relationship Management), email software, and more. In our experience, there’s hardly any repetitive task in Circle.so that cannot be automated.

Sign up for a 14-day free trial of Circle.

Circle.so Customer Support

Circle has a dedicated support team ready to assist you with any questions or issues. You can reach out to them via email, and they’ll respond quickly during their working hours in the U.S.

If you need help while using Circle, you won’t get immediate live chat support. However, you can use the help box in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Just type your message there, and the support team will reply to your email.

That help box also lets you search for answers on your own. It’s packed with helpful articles that guide you through different features and how to use them.

Circle also has an active and friendly community of users. You can connect with others, share your ideas, and get advice from people who have already built successful communities.

What’s even better? Circle’s own community runs on Circle itself. This gives you a real-time look at how others use the platform and helps you discover what’s possible.

Circle.so Pricing Explained

Now you might be wondering, “How much does it cost to get all the fantastic features that Circle.so offers?”

Well, let’s dive into their pricing plans and see what options are available for you.

Circel.so comes with four different plans: Basic, Professional, Business, and Enterprise.

They provide options for both monthly and annual billing cycles. Here’s a brief summary of their pricing structure:

Plans	Basic	Professional	Business	Enterprise
Monthly	$49	$99	$219	$399
Annually	$39	$89	$199	$360

Aside from the subscription cost, they also have a separate transaction fee for each plan — it’s 4% for the Basic Plan, 2% for the Professional Plan, 1% for the Business Plan, and 0.5% for the Enterprise Plan.

Okay, so what are the main differences between these plans?

The Basic Plan has limitations with 100 members, 10 spaces, and a total storage capacity of 10 GB, which might be insufficient for some users.

To access more resources, you’ll need to upgrade to the Professional Plan. This plan offers unlimited members, 20 spaces, and 100 GB of storage, along with essential features like live streaming, online courses, and white labelling. It offers great value for money.

However, if you require additional space or advanced features like automation workflows and APIs but your current plan does not offer them, then switch to one of their Business or Enterprise plans.

Circle.so also offers a pretty great 14-day free trial (no credit card needed), so you can explore their platform well and make the right decision before becoming a paid customer. Click the button below to sign up and get started.

Additionally, there is a discount available for annual billing plans.

If you are committed to using Circle, we suggest opting for the Professional plan to enjoy all of its key features and higher usage limits.

Please note that the provided information does not include a huge list of differences, so visit Circle’s pricing page to get a complete understanding of what each plan includes before making a decision to sign up.

Circle Customer Testimonials and Reviews

We’re providing you with a detailed review of Circle. If you’re interested in knowing what other users think about this software, here are a few customer reviews we found on the Circle website.

These are only a few examples, but you can find more by clicking here.

Circle.so Alternatives

Not convinced that Circle.so is the right fit for building your community? Here are some alternatives you might want to check out instead.

Circle.so Review Final thoughts

After taking a look at Circle.so, we are sure that you will be as impressed with Circle’s remarkable features or capabilities as we are.

In our experience, it stands out as one of the most powerful online community builder tools available, particularly due to its exceptional video streaming and seamless live event hosting.

Moreover, Circle.so lets you have full control over your content and how people see it. It also comes with lots of other cool features to help you manage your content even better.

With this community-building platform, you can make sure your audience gets the best experience when they check out your materials.

But if you’re still unsure about whether Circle.so is the ideal solution for you, we suggest giving it a try. You can take advantage of their generous 14-day free trial without any commitment. Simply click the button below to sign up and test it out.

Thanks for reading our Circle or Circle.so review. If you’ve any other questions about this platform, let us know in the comment box below and we’ll reply soon.