Toolradar Research
Community platform software statistics 2026
First-party data on the 99 community platforms Toolradar tracks: Telegram at 3.40 from 7,071 reviews against TownSq at 4.90, with italki leading volume at 4.20 from 13,850.
Founder, Toolradar & Dupple
Key findings
What the data shows.
- 01
99 community platforms tracked, holding 39,314 aggregated third-party reviews. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
- 02
italki leads volume at 4.20 from 13,850 reviews. Telegram holds 7,071 at 3.40. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
- 03
TownSq sits at 4.90 from 1,883 reviews. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
- 04
34% are paid-only. Most community tools still give you a free way in. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
- 05
The review-weighted average is 4.24. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)
About the research
How we built this report.
Toolradar tool database. Editorial review with weekly pricing verification.
2026. Snapshot taken September 17, 2026. Refresh due Dec 17, 2026.
Public scoring rubric. See how we rate for the full criteria.
Creative Commons BY 4.0. Quote, link, and reuse with attribution.
Community platforms mix language tutors, HOA software, and chat apps that people already have. Toolradar tracks 99 tools holding 39,314 reviews. italki holds 13,850 reviews at 4.20. Telegram holds 7,071 at 3.40. TownSq holds 1,883 at 4.90. The default messenger is the weak score. The vertical community product is the strong one.
Every figure below is computed from the Toolradar directory on September 17, 2026. The live dashboard is Community platforms statistics. The buyer ranking is best community platforms.
How large the category is
We track 99 published tools, or 0.9% of the 10,619 tools in the directory. 92% (91 of 99) were added to Toolradar in 2026. "Added" means added to our directory, not founded this year.
A $19 community seat is a small-group plan. The mean of $33 is a gated network.
How these tools are priced
34% of the 99 tools are paid-only. 66% offer a free tier or freemium plan (65 tools). 29% are fully free.
How community platforms are priced
n = 99 tools, September 17, 2026
For the 19 tools that publish a paid tier, the median entry price is $19 a month and the mean is $33.
Entry price distribution
n = 19 tools with a published paid tier
The catalog-wide median entry is $20 (software pricing statistics).
How these tools are rated
54 of 99 tools carry a rating (55%). Those ratings rest on 39,314 reviews. Unweighted mean 4.33. Review-weighted mean 4.24.
Rating distribution
n = 54 rated tools
The most-reviewed tools on September 17, 2026:
| Tool | Rating | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| italki | 4.20 | 13,850 |
| Telegram | 3.40 | 7,071 |
| TownSq | 4.90 | 1,883 |
Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.
Telegram at 3.40 from 7,071 reviews is the public chat tax. TownSq at 4.90 is what a community product looks like when the audience is one job.
The highest-rated tools with at least 150 aggregated reviews:
| # | Tool | Rating | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TownSq | 4.90 | 1,883 |
| 2 | Whova | 4.80 | 4,414 |
| 3 | Workvivo | 4.80 | 2,836 |
| 4 | PheedLoop | 4.80 | 321 |
| 5 | Breeze ChMS | 4.80 | 225 |
| 6 | Uscreen | 4.80 | 224 |
| 7 | vFairs | 4.70 | 1,784 |
| 8 | Bettermode | 4.70 | 211 |
| 9 | Mighty Networks | 4.50 | 769 |
| 10 | Higher Logic | 4.40 | 502 |
TownSq leads at 4.90.
Review volume by platform:
| Review platform | Tools with a profile | Aggregated reviews | Mean rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 11 | 14,741 | 4.15 |
| G2 | 46 | 12,507 | 4.70 |
| Capterra | 22 | 11,435 | 4.71 |
| SourceForge | 12 | 629 | 4.38 |
| TrustRadius | 1 | 2 | 3.70 |
Three tools worth comparing are italki, Telegram, and TownSq.
How often pricing moves
Our pricing tracker logged 2 pricing changes for these tools in 2026, 0 of them applied.
How this data was measured
Every figure in this report is computed live from the Toolradar directory on September 17, 2026, covering the 99 published tools we categorize under Community platforms. Pricing model is read from each vendor's official pricing page. The entry price is the cheapest positive monthly tier a tool publishes. Ratings and review counts are aggregated from third-party platforms (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot and others), not from Toolradar's own reviews. The leaderboard floor is 150 aggregated reviews. This is a directory snapshot, not a survey.
Cite this report
- APA: Corneloup, L. (2026). Community platform software statistics 2026. Toolradar Research. https://toolradar.com/reports/community-platform-software-statistics
- MLA: Corneloup, Louis. "Community platform software statistics 2026." Toolradar Research, 17 Sept. 2026, toolradar.com/reports/community-platform-software-statistics.
Browse the full category on the best community platforms page, or explore all of Toolradar Research.
Cite this report
Use the data, credit the source.
Released under Creative Commons BY 4.0. You may quote, link, and reuse the data with attribution.
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What Toolradar has stored: reviews and logos
57 of 10,667 published tools have at least one Toolradar review. 6,602 have a stored external-review payload. 4,065 have neither. 180 published tools have no logo file.
How fresh Toolradar prices are
On September 22, 2026, 7,331 of 10,667 published tools had their pricing re-checked in the last 30 days. 3,334 have never been checked. One check is older than 90 days. The median price lives on another page. This page is the age of the check.
Free trial share of software tools 2026
2,885 of 10,667 published Toolradar tools have a stored free-trial flag (27%). The free path is a different cut: 5,834 tools (55%) are free, freemium, or open_source. Among Paid listings, 1,433 of 4,786 (30%) carry the trial flag.