Every European community platform software tool reviewed
Paris, France
Founded 2012
Core $895/month and Flex $1,995/month, both billed annually; Prime and Custom Fit quoted after a discovery call; no free trial
None, discovery call required
Best for: Associations and alumni networks that collect dues
Hivebrite is the Paris-built membership platform from Kit United SAS, established in 2012 with the platform launched commercially in 2015. It goes further into membership operations than a discussion-first tool: chapters, tiered dues and donation collection sit next to discussion spaces, events, connections and monetisation. It says it serves more than 2,000 associations and alumni networks, which is the audience it is designed around.
Pricing is partly published. Core is $895 a month billed annually for unlimited users, email campaigns and automation, and Flex is $1,995 a month with group management for community champions. Prime and Custom Fit are quoted after a discovery call, and there is no free trial at any tier. The prices are in US dollars despite the company being French.
The fine print is data residency. Hivebrite's data processing agreement says personal data is hosted on AWS and Google Cloud, and its sub-processor list names EU regions alongside Sydney and North Virginia and a long list of US vendors. Transfers rely on Standard Contractual Clauses rather than an EU-only commitment. It holds ISO 27001. Against forum software it is far more expensive, and against creator platforms it has no course tooling.
What Hivebrite does well
- Parent company is French, with the New York, London and Sydney entities as subsidiaries
- Chapters, tiered dues and donation collection built in
- More than 2,000 associations and alumni networks served, per the company
- ISO 27001 certified in addition to GDPR compliance
- Published entry pricing for the two lowest tiers
Where Hivebrite falls short
- No EU-only hosting commitment, with non-EEA regions and many US sub-processors
- No free tier or trial, and a discovery call for the upper tiers
- Entry price of $895 a month is high for a small community
- Prices listed in US dollars
Standout feature. Membership operations are built in rather than bolted on: dues, chapters and donations sit alongside discussion for the organisations it targets.
Düsseldorf, Germany
Cloud Starter €35.95/month, Professional €71.95/month and Business €224.95/month, all billed annually; Enterprise quoted; self-hosted licence from €129.99 one-time
14-day free demo, no permanent free tier
Best for: A classic forum with German hosting and a one-time licence
WoltLab GmbH is registered in Düsseldorf (Amtsgericht Düsseldorf, HRB 112223) and has been selling forum software since 2001. Its Suite covers forum, blog, calendar, database, filebase and gallery, and it names customers such as Siemens, Deutsche Bahn and Gameforge. Support, hosting and billing are kept in Germany.
Pricing is published at every cloud tier. Cloud Starter is €35.95 a month billed annually with 30,000 MB of storage and unlimited users, Professional is €71.95 and adds WebAuthn and more requests, and Business is €224.95 with white-label error pages, priority ticketing and a 99.5% SLA. Enterprise with SSO is quoted. A self-hosted licence starts at €129.99 once, and a 14-day demo is free.
The trade-offs are scope and licence. It is forum and community software without a dues or chapter layer, and the self-hosted version is a purchasable commercial licence rather than open source. The interface reads as a classic forum rather than a social feed. Next to XenForo it is cheaper at entry level, and it states German hosting more plainly than most.
What WoltLab does well
- German GmbH with a full commercial register entry, operating since 2001
- Cloud hosting stated as Germany on the pricing page
- One-time self-hosted licence from €129.99 alongside the cloud plans
- Published pricing at every tier, in euros
- Named enterprise references such as Siemens and Deutsche Bahn
Where WoltLab falls short
- Not open source, the self-hosted option is a commercial licence
- No membership-billing or chapter layer for associations
- Modest storage and request caps on the entry tier
- The step from Professional to Business is large at €224.95 a month
Standout feature. A one-time self-hosted licence and EU-hosted cloud plans from a vendor with a 25-year track record.
London, United Kingdom
Founded 2010
Cloud Starter $60/month, Standard $100/month, Business $250/month, Enterprise on request; optional branding removal +$30/month; self-hosted licence $195 with one year of support and updates; prices exclude VAT
Best for: Forum operators who want mature software and a choice of data centre
XenForo is forum and community software from XenForo Limited, a company registered at Companies House in England since June 2010 (company number 07294282). Its licence agreement is governed by English law. It sells a managed cloud service and a self-hosted licence, and its software suite includes a media gallery, a resource manager and enhanced search alongside the core forum.
Cloud plans are priced by page views and storage: Starter $60 a month for 400,000 page views and 50 GB, Standard $100 for 1 million and 100 GB, Business $250 for 4 million and 240 GB, and Enterprise on request. Removing the XenForo copyright costs $30 a month extra. All cloud plans let you choose the data centre location. A self-hosted licence is $195, with one year of support and updates and a paid extension after that. Prices exclude VAT.
The practical limits are currency and jurisdiction. It prices in US dollars, and as a UK company it sits outside the EEA under an adequacy decision. It is not open source, though the licence gives access to the source code. Compared with WoltLab it is dearer at entry level and more flexible about where the cloud runs.
What XenForo does well
- UK company with a Companies House entry and English governing law
- Choice of data centre location on every cloud plan
- Self-hosted licence at $195 with source code access
- Full suite including media gallery and resource manager
- Add-ons and a REST API for extension
Where XenForo falls short
- Priced in US dollars, with VAT added at checkout
- UK company, outside the EEA under an adequacy decision
- Not open source
- Ongoing support and updates after the first year need a paid extension
Standout feature. Cloud plans that let you pick the data centre, and a lifetime self-hosted licence for $195.
Munich, Germany
Community Edition free under AGPLv3 and self-hosted; Professional Edition from €144/month with optional managed hosting at €36/month; Enterprise on request; 10% off for annual billing
Free hosted demo network
Best for: A private social network you can host yourself
HumHub is open-source social network software from HumHub GmbH & Co. KG in Munich, entered in the commercial register at the Amtsgericht München as HRA 103451. It is built for companies, public institutions, nonprofits, associations and universities that want a private network with profiles, spaces, a feed, files and events, extended by more than 80 modules.
The Community Edition is free under AGPLv3 and self-hosted. The Professional Edition starts at an indicative €144 a month for up to 100 users with LDAP, SAML SSO and premium support, and managed hosting in ISO 27001 EU data centres adds €36 a month. Onboarding packages are €1,575 or €2,575 one-time, annual billing saves 10%, and Enterprise is quoted. The terms state that data is stored in Germany.
It is built as a social intranet rather than a public forum, so it lacks the SEO-facing thread model of WoltLab or XenForo, and it has no dues or donation layer like Hivebrite. It has no native branded app of the Disciple or tchop kind. For a self-hosted private network under an open licence it is the most direct option in this category.
What HumHub does well
- Open source under AGPLv3 with a free self-hostable Community Edition
- German commercial register entry and German storage stated in the terms
- Switch between managed SaaS and on-premise at any time
- More than 80 modules
- Prices published in euros
Where HumHub falls short
- Professional Edition starts at €144 a month before hosting
- Not built for public, search-indexed discussion
- No dues or donation handling
- Managed hosting is an extra €36 a month on top of the licence
Standout feature. An AGPLv3 core you can run yourself, with the same software sold as a managed EU service.
Berlin, Germany
Founded 2014
User-based pricing with a minimum monthly licence fee depending on use case, no public price list
Free branded app on request
Best for: Publishers and brands that want a branded mobile app
tchop is a community and content platform from tchop GmbH, registered at the Amtsgericht Charlottenburg in Berlin (HRB 164795). It says it started in 2014 as a small MVP, has been profitable from the first day and has taken no venture capital. It builds white-label apps for iOS, Android and the web, now with AI agents for curation and engagement.
It is positioned directly against Circle and Mighty Networks, with a branded native app by default and no transaction fees on memberships. Pricing is user-based with a minimum monthly licence fee depending on use case, and the site publishes no price list, only an offer of a free branded app on request.
The privacy policy states that the platform is hosted on AWS in Frankfurt, region eu-central-1, with backups kept in the same region. That is European hosting on a US-owned provider. Because there are no prices, a comparison needs a sales call, and the platform is aimed at mid-sized organisations rather than solo creators.
What tchop does well
- German GmbH with a Handelsregister entry in Berlin
- White-label native apps for iOS, Android and the web
- Hosting stated as AWS Frankfurt, backups in the same region
- Self-described as profitable and free of venture capital
- No transaction fees on memberships, per the vendor
Where tchop falls short
- No public pricing, only a minimum monthly licence fee on request
- Runs on AWS, a US-owned provider
- Aimed at mid-sized organisations rather than solo creators
- Its website privacy policy lists Google Analytics and Intercom, both US-owned
Standout feature. A white-label native app as the default product, from a Berlin company that publishes where its data sits.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
No public price list, demo request; a feature-limited core distribution is free on Drupal.org
Demo on request
Best for: Sovereign collaboration for large organisations
Open Social is built by Open Social B.V., which describes itself as an Amsterdam company with exclusively Dutch investors. It is built on Drupal and Mautic, and its public core distribution is free on Drupal.org while the commercial platform adds features through a subscription. Its customers named on its site include the European Commission, IATA and Greenpeace.
It publishes the most detailed sub-processor list in this category. Hosting runs on Upsun (formerly Platform.sh) in France, backups on Hetzner in Germany, the CDN on Bunny.net, with legacy Cloudflare and a US email provider flagged for removal on dated deadlines in 2026. The customer chooses the deployment region, EEA or United States, and the vendor states ISO 27001 certification.
There is no public price list, only a demo request, so cost is a sales conversation. It is aimed at large organisations, with isolated single-tenant hosting. Compared with HumHub it is sold mainly as a managed service rather than as software you run yourself, and the Drupal base suits teams that already work in Drupal.
What Open Social does well
- Dutch company, with a subprocessor list naming each provider and region
- Open-core Drupal distribution available free on Drupal.org
- Single-tenant hosting with a selectable EEA region
- ISO 27001 stated by the vendor
- Customers include the European Commission and IATA, per the vendor
Where Open Social falls short
- No public pricing
- Some legacy deployments still use US sub-processors until their removal dates
- US region available as a choice
- Enterprise focus, not suited to small communities
Standout feature. A sub-processor list that names every provider, region and jurisdiction, which few competitors publish.
London, United Kingdom
Branded App $599/month and Branded App Pro $999/month, both billed yearly; Organisation from $3,400/month billed yearly, tailored proposal
Demo on request
Best for: Creators and brands that want their own app, with UK support
Disciple is a white-label community app platform run by Lobaso Limited, trading as Disciple Media, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 11650127) with its office in Farringdon, London. It builds branded apps for iOS, Android and the web with feeds, groups, direct messages, events, livestreaming and courses, and claims about 2,000 apps built over 12 years.
Pricing is published and high. The Branded App plan is $599 a month billed yearly, Branded App Pro is $999, and the Organisation tier is from $3,400 a month with a tailored proposal. There is no free tier. The homepage lists ISO 27001 certification, SSO, CRM integrations with more than 100 CRMs, and a choice of EU or US hosting region at onboarding.
The company is a UK one, outside the EEA under an adequacy decision, and its prices are in US dollars. Its terms name Stripe as the payment partner. It is a closer match to Mighty Networks than to a forum, and costs far more than forum software for a small community.
What Disciple does well
- UK company with a Companies House number and a London office
- ISO 27001 stated on the homepage
- EU or US hosting region chosen at onboarding
- Fully white-labelled apps on iOS, Android and the web
- Published pricing tiers
Where Disciple falls short
- From $599 a month with no free tier
- UK company, outside the EEA under an adequacy decision
- Prices quoted in US dollars
- The data processor list is on request rather than published
Standout feature. A fully white-labelled app with a selectable EU hosting region, sold with published tiers rather than only a sales call.
Netherlands
Free and open source under the MIT licence; self-hosted, no vendor price list
Best for: Small communities that want free, modern forum software
Flarum is open-source forum software governed by Stichting Flarum, the Flarum Foundation, a Dutch non-profit registered with the Chamber of Commerce under KvK number 75601745 and established in August 2019. It is MIT licensed, built on Laravel, and version 2.0 has been released. The foundation describes its role as keeping the project free, open source and community driven.
There is no price list because there is no product to buy: you download it and host it yourself. Features include groups and permissions, moderation and flagging, Markdown or WYSIWYG editing, themes, and hundreds of community-built extensions.
That is both the appeal and the limit. There is no vendor-run cloud listed on flarum.org and no SLA published, so you need your own hosting, backups and someone able to manage PHP and extensions. It has no membership, dues or app layer. For a free forum under a permissive licence it is the cleanest option, and for anything beyond a forum it is not a platform.
What Flarum does well
- MIT licence, free forever, with source under your control
- Dutch non-profit foundation with a KvK registration
- Modern interface with groups, permissions and moderation tooling
- Extension ecosystem built by the community
- No per-user or per-page-view fees
Where Flarum falls short
- No vendor-hosted plan listed on flarum.org
- No commercial SLA published
- Many features depend on community-built extensions
- No membership, dues or mobile app layer
Standout feature. A free MIT-licensed forum maintained by a non-profit foundation, with no commercial tier to upsell.
Berlin, Germany
Group Runtime €6.00 per month per group, prepaid with no subscription: you top up and the balance runs down. Unlimited events, unlimited members, all plugins, custom domain support and data export are included, with one feature set only. Members and attendees are always free. No free tier and no free trial. Optional supporter badge time (roughly one month per €2.50) is separate and does not keep a group online. The software is EUPL open source and free to self-host.
No free tier and no free trial (pricing page)
Best for: Local clubs and meetup groups replacing Meetup
MeetAgain is run by MeetAgain UG (haftungsbeschränkt), a Berlin company whose imprint gives Handelsregister number HRB 290582 B at the Amtsgericht Charlottenburg. The platform is aimed at groups that meet regularly, such as language exchanges, book clubs, film nights and hobby groups. Organisers publish recurring events, members RSVP, and each group gets its own multilingual website built with a block editor.
The core is published under the EUPL 1.2 on GitHub, so a group can use the hosted service or run it on its own Linux, PHP 8.4 and MySQL server. The hosted version runs on a Hetzner server in Germany, with transactional email through Sweego in France and payments through Mollie in the Netherlands. Event lists are strictly chronological and there is no paid visibility.
It is narrower than most of the tools above. HumHub and Open Social are full social intranets, and Hivebrite targets alumni networks with dues, while MeetAgain does one job: running recurring local meetups. The pricing page lists a single €6.00 per group per month plan with unlimited members and no free tier, which is a different shape from Meetup's model. Several of the platform's own pages still read like a young project.
What MeetAgain does well
- EUPL 1.2 open source, with self-hosting and full data export
- Single published price of €6.00 per group per month, unlimited members
- Hosted on Hetzner in Germany, with other processors named and in the EU
- Chronological event lists with no ads and no paid visibility
- Multilingual group sites with a custom domain included
Where MeetAgain falls short
- No free tier and no free trial, unlike Meetup alternatives that start free
- Narrow scope: events and groups, not forums, courses or dues collection
- Young project with no published certifications or SLA
- Small plugin set and no mobile app listed on the site
Standout feature. A single-purpose, EUPL-licensed meetup platform with one published price and German hosting, built for recurring local groups.
