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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.

Louis Corneloup
Louis Corneloup

Founder, Toolradar & Dupple

Published September 17, 2026
3 min read
Next update Dec 17, 2026
As featured inTechCrunchForbesBloombergBusiness InsiderThe Verge

Key findings

What the data shows.

  1. 01

    99 community platforms tracked, holding 39,314 aggregated third-party reviews. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)

  2. 02

    italki leads volume at 4.20 from 13,850 reviews. Telegram holds 7,071 at 3.40. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)

  3. 03

    TownSq sits at 4.90 from 1,883 reviews. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)

  4. 04

    34% are paid-only. Most community tools still give you a free way in. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)

  5. 05

    The review-weighted average is 4.24. (Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026.)

About the research

How we built this report.

Data source

Toolradar tool database. Editorial review with weekly pricing verification.

Coverage period

2026. Snapshot taken September 17, 2026. Refresh due Dec 17, 2026.

Methodology

Public scoring rubric. See how we rate for the full criteria.

License

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

Freemium
36.4%36
Paid
32.3%32
Free
29.3%29
Custom
1%1
Enterprise
1%1
Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026. Share of published tools in the Community Platforms category by pricing model.

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

Under $10
6
$10 to $24
7
$25 to $49
2
$50 to $99
3
$100 to $249
1
Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026. Entry price = the cheapest positive monthly tier each tool publishes.

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

Below 4.0
8
4.0 to 4.4
22
4.5 to 4.7
10
4.8 to 5.0
14
Source: Toolradar directory, September 17, 2026. Aggregate rating per tool across G2, Capterra, Trustpilot and other third-party platforms.

The most-reviewed tools on September 17, 2026:

ToolRatingReviews
italki4.2013,850
Telegram3.407,071
TownSq4.901,883

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:

#ToolRatingReviews
1TownSq4.901,883
2Whova4.804,414
3Workvivo4.802,836
4PheedLoop4.80321
5Breeze ChMS4.80225
6Uscreen4.80224
7vFairs4.701,784
8Bettermode4.70211
9Mighty Networks4.50769
10Higher Logic4.40502

TownSq leads at 4.90.

Review volume by platform:

Review platformTools with a profileAggregated reviewsMean rating
Trustpilot1114,7414.15
G24612,5074.70
Capterra2211,4354.71
SourceForge126294.38
TrustRadius123.70

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

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.

Toolradar Research (2026). Community platform software statistics 2026. Toolradar. https://toolradar.com/reports/community-platform-software-statistics