Where to Build Online Groups: Alternatives to Facebook Groups for Communities
You can build online groups on community platforms, messaging apps, forums, social platforms, membership tools, professional networks, local platforms, and regional apps. Strong native options include Facebook Groups, Discord, Reddit, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp Communities, Circle, Mighty Networks, Skool, Patreon, LinkedIn Groups, MeWe, Minds, QQ Groups, WeChat Groups, Line OpenChat, KakaoTalk Open Chat, Kaskus, Nextdoor, VK Groups, Strava Clubs, X Communities, and Zalo Groups. Other platforms support group-like behaviour through followers, comments, topics, collaborative boards, channels, memberships, or community feeds.
Platform features and group tooling change — check current availability before relying on them.
Groups are not only Facebook Groups
When people say “online group,” they usually think of Facebook Groups, and that makes sense — they are still one of the most familiar community formats. But a group can also be a Discord server, a Slack workspace, a Telegram group, a WhatsApp Community, a Reddit subreddit, a Skool community, a Circle space, a Mighty Networks community, a Patreon member area, a LinkedIn Group, a Strava Club, a Nextdoor neighbourhood, a WeChat group, a Line OpenChat, a VK group, a Product Hunt launch community, a Pinterest collaborative board, or a topic-based forum. The real question is not “where can I open a group?” but “what kind of community behaviour do I need?” The format has to match the behaviour.
Best places to build online groups
| Platform type | Best use |
|---|---|
| Community platforms | Structured member spaces, courses, events, discussions |
| Messaging apps | Direct conversation, private groups, high-trust updates |
| Forums | Niche discussions, problem-solving, topic communities |
| Social platforms | Public or private groups around interests |
| Membership platforms | Paid communities, creator supporters, exclusive posts |
| Professional platforms | Industry discussion, networking, business communities |
| Local platforms | Neighbourhood groups and local service communities |
| Regional apps | Country or language-specific communities |
Platform-by-platform breakdown
| Platform | How groups fit |
|---|---|
| Beehiiv | Not group-first, but it can build an audience through newsletters, subscriber replies, referrals, and publication growth tools. |
| Behance | Not a group platform, but creators can build follower relationships, receive project feedback, and participate in creative discovery. |
| BeReal | RealGroups can support small private group-style posting, but the platform is not built for structured community management. |
| Bilibili | Community boards and follower spaces can support creator communities, especially around video, anime, gaming, learning, and creator culture. |
| Circle | Strong native fit. Built for branded communities, spaces, member discussions, events, courses, and private groups. |
| Clubhouse | Clubs support audio-first communities around live rooms, recurring discussions, and topic-based groups. |
| DEV.to | Not group-first, but tags, comments, and topic feeds can create developer community behaviour around specific subjects. |
| Diaspora | Aspects allow sharing to selected groups of contacts. Better for privacy-aware social circles than brand community operations. |
| Discord | Strong native fit. Servers, channels, roles, voice rooms, and permissions make Discord one of the strongest community platforms. |
| Douban | Strong native fit for Chinese-market cultural groups, interest communities, reviews, and topic-based discussion. |
| Dribbble | Not group-first, but supports designer discovery, creative feedback, hiring, and peer interaction. |
| Strong native fit. Facebook Groups remain one of the clearest group formats for public, private, local, brand, interest, and customer communities. | |
| Flickr | Flickr Groups support photography communities, shared pools, topic-based image collections, and discussion. |
| GAB | Gab Groups support community discussion, but audience fit and brand risk need careful judgement. |
| Ghost | Not group-first, but memberships, comments, and subscriber communities can support an owned audience. |
| Hacker News | Not a brand group platform. The community exists through submissions and comments. Use only when the topic genuinely fits. |
| Hashnode | Not group-first, but publication followers, tags, and comments can create technical community behaviour. |
| Imgur | Topic communities and tags create informal group-like discovery around memes, visuals, humour, and internet culture. |
| Group chats, Broadcast Channels, Close Friends, and follower interaction can support community behaviour, but not full group structure. | |
| Josh | Basic community behaviour exists through followers, comments, and chats. Not a dedicated group platform. |
| KakaoTalk | Strong native fit through Open Chat and group chat. Best for Korean-market communities and direct communication. |
| Kaskus | Strong native fit. Kaskus is built around forums, threads, regional boards, and topic communities. |
| Kumu | Strong community and livestream fit through Teams and Communities. Best when live interaction is part of the community. |
| Kwai | Community happens through comments, creator interaction, and livestream chats. Not a formal group platform. |
| Line | Strong native fit through group chats, communities, and OpenChat. Best in markets where Line is part of daily communication. |
| LinkedIn Groups support professional discussions, industry communities, networking, and business-focused groups. | |
| Messenger | Group chats and community threads work well for private or semi-private conversation connected to Facebook relationships. |
| MeWe | Public and private groups support posts, chats, and community feeds. Treat as audience-specific. |
| Mighty Networks | Strong native fit. Built for communities, memberships, spaces, events, courses, and paid or free group experiences. |
| Minds | Public and private groups support alternative social communities, feeds, and discussion. Audience fit matters. |
| Mixi | Strong native fit for Japanese-market communities built around shared interests. |
| Nextdoor | Strong local group fit. Built around neighbourhoods, local discussions, local services, and nearby community needs. |
| Niconico | Community pages allow members to share videos, posts, and discussion. Best for Japanese creator and media audiences. |
| Nostr | Group-like behaviour depends on clients, tags, and relays. Treat as decentralised and experimental. |
| Odnoklassniki | Groups and pages support posts, videos, discussions, and regional community activity. |
| Parler | Public and private feeds can mimic group behaviour, but management tools are more limited than dedicated community platforms. |
| Patreon | Strong for creator communities, paid member spaces, exclusive updates, and supporter interaction. |
| PeerTube | Community forms around instances, channels, comments, and federated video spaces. Not group-first, but useful for open video communities. |
| Collaborative boards let multiple contributors save and organise content around shared interests. | |
| Pixelfed | Community behaviour happens through follows, hashtags, local instances, and federated discovery. Not group-first. |
| Product Hunt | Community forms around launches, makers, followers, product comments, and early adopter discussion. Not a general group tool. |
| Strong native fit for large group chats and topic-based communities in Chinese digital ecosystems. | |
| Quora | Spaces support topic-based communities, curated answers, posts, and knowledge-sharing groups. |
| Strong native fit. Subreddits are one of the clearest group formats for topic-based public or private communities. | |
| ShareChat | Chatrooms and communities support regional-language groups, large topic spaces, and social discussion. |
| Skool | Strong native fit. Built around communities, courses, calendars, classrooms, member posts, and structured group learning. |
| Slack | Strong native fit for workspaces, channels, private groups, team communities, and professional learning spaces. |
| Snapchat | Group chats and shared Story threads can support small private groups, but it is not a full community management platform. |
| SoundCloud | Community forms through follows, comments, reposts, playlists, and listener interaction. Not group-first. |
| Spotify for Creators | Builds an audience around shows and followers, but not a group space. Use comments and external communities where needed. |
| Spoutible | Pods create topic-based micro-communities. Treat as secondary unless your audience is there. |
| Strava | Strong native fit for sport and fitness communities through Clubs, activity feeds, events, and discussions. |
| Supernova | Supports public pages and cause-based communities, but group tooling may be more limited. |
| Telegram | Strong native fit. Public and private groups, channels, comments, and broadcasts make Telegram strong for community distribution. |
| Twitch | Community forms around channels, chat, Teams, Categories, subscriber spaces, and live interaction. |
| Vero | Groups and collections can support shared interests, but it is not as mature as dedicated community platforms. |
| VK | Strong native fit for public pages, private groups, events, regional communities, and social publishing. |
| Strong native fit through group chats, Official Accounts, Channels, and Chinese-market community ecosystems. | |
| Groups and Super Topics support fan communities, public discussion, and topic-based social activity. | |
| Whatnot | Community forms around sellers, buyers, category feeds, and live chat. Not a standalone group platform. |
| Strong native fit through Groups and Communities. Best for trusted, private, local, client, or high-context audiences. | |
| WordPress.com | Community can form through comments, subscribers, memberships, plugins, and reader relationships. Not group-first by default. |
| X/Twitter | X Communities support topic-based discussion. Public posting and lists can also create group-like behaviour. |
| Xiaohongshu | Communities and Topics support niche interests such as travel, beauty, fitness, food, lifestyle, and product discovery. |
| Groups and Communities support professional discussion, especially in German-speaking business contexts. | |
| Zalo | Strong native fit for Vietnamese-market groups, chats, business communication, and community updates. |
| Zhihu | Roundtables and Topics support expert discussion, knowledge communities, and Q&A-based community behaviour. |
Strong native group platforms vs group-like platforms
| Category | Platforms |
|---|---|
| Strong native group platforms | Facebook, Discord, Reddit, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, Circle, Mighty Networks, Skool, Patreon, LinkedIn, MeWe, Minds |
| Strong regional group platforms | WeChat, QQ, Line, KakaoTalk, Zalo, VK, Odnoklassniki, Douban, Kaskus, ShareChat, Mixi |
| Strong niche group platforms | Strava, Product Hunt, Quora Spaces, Clubhouse, Twitch, Flickr |
| Group-like but not group-first | Instagram, YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify for Creators, WordPress.com, Ghost, Beehiiv, Pixelfed, Behance, Dribbble |
| Experimental or audience-specific | Nostr, Spoutible, Supernova, Vero, Parler, GAB |
How to choose the right group platform
Do not start by asking which platform is biggest. Ask what the group needs to do.
| Need | Better platform fit |
|---|---|
| Daily chat | Discord, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp |
| Paid creator community | Patreon, Circle, Mighty Networks, Skool |
| Learning community | Skool, Circle, Mighty Networks, Discord |
| Public topic discussion | Reddit, Facebook Groups, Quora Spaces |
| Professional group | LinkedIn Groups, Slack, XING |
| Local group | Facebook Groups, Nextdoor, WhatsApp, Zalo |
| Sport community | Strava Clubs, Facebook Groups, WhatsApp |
| China-facing community | WeChat, QQ, Weibo, Zhihu |
| Visual creator community | Behance, Dribbble, Flickr, Pixelfed |
| Live creator community | Twitch, Kumu, Clubhouse, Discord |
What not to do with groups
Do not open a group just because you can — a dead group weakens trust. Before opening one, decide what people will do there, why they would return, who moderates it, what content belongs and what does not, whether it is free or paid, whether it is public or private, and whether it needs daily, weekly, or occasional activity. A group is not a content dump; it is a behaviour space — and an audience you actually own.
Want the full platform-format map? Get the free Repurposing 101 guide from AInitiation Media. It shows where groups, text posts, articles, videos, images, carousels, polls, GIFs, livestreams, and audio can travel, where they need adaptation, and where they should not be forced. If you found this from a social post, comment “repurpose” and we’ll send you the guide.
Get the free Repurposing 101 guide →Frequently asked questions
Where can you build online groups besides Facebook Groups?
On community platforms, messaging apps, forums, social platforms, membership tools, professional networks, local platforms, and regional apps. Strong native options include Discord, Reddit, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp Communities, Circle, Mighty Networks, Skool, Patreon, LinkedIn Groups, MeWe, Minds, QQ Groups, WeChat Groups, Line OpenChat, KakaoTalk Open Chat, Kaskus, Nextdoor, VK Groups, Strava Clubs, X Communities, and Zalo Groups.
What question should you ask before opening a group?
Not “where can I open a group?” but “what kind of community behaviour do I need?” Some groups are built for discussion, some for learning, some for direct messaging, some for paid membership, some for local communities, some for professional networking, and some for fans. The format has to match the behaviour.
What should you decide before launching a group?
What people will do there, why they would return, who moderates it, what content belongs and what does not, whether it is free or paid, whether it is public or private, and whether it needs daily, weekly, or occasional activity. A dead group weakens trust — a group is a behaviour space, not a content dump.