Your #1 alternative to Facebook Groups
Circle — where creators and brands build distraction-free, safe, scaleable communities
Facebook is where old memes, spam, and hostility live. Circle puts you back in control, giving you a place to bring your content and your people together while growing your business.
10,000+
Brands use Circle to power their online communities
2M+
Members across Circle communities
Facebook is not built for communities
Facebook’s goals are not aligned with yours. Your content and brand values are not their priority.
While smart community builders prioritize user experience, Facebook’s only concern is their revenue.
People grow discouraged and overwhelmed with Facebook Groups
I’m still concerned about data security and fake accounts.
Verified Facebook Groups
review on G2
Less than savory characters have access to photos and information & sadly take advantage of some people.
Verified Facebook Groups
review on G2
It isn’t yours and Facebook can take it away at any moment.
Verified Facebook Groups
review on G2
You don’t control your list, so when Facebook decides to change the algorithm, then you can’t even reach the people who joined your group.
Verified Facebook Groups
review on G2
I have so many difficulties in controlling individual behaviors and implementing a code of conduct.
Verified Facebook Groups
review on G2
Groups seems to be the domain purely of spammers, which makes posting in them like shouting on a street corner with other hustlers.
Verified Facebook Groups
review on G2
Build a community you’re proud of, where your people bond without fake news, drama, or distractions
Your brand
Facebook Groups look a lot like… well, Facebook. Endless scrolling, hardly any organization, and lots of ads pushing people away.
With Circle, you can easily tailor the look and feel of your community to seamlessly match your brand. Choose your community name and URL and customize your logo, imagery, and color palette. Put your brand front and center, while creating an intentional, premium member experience.
Circle gives you a fully branded look and a custom domain, making your brand stand out.
Your voice
When you play by Facebook’s rules, it’s hard to control what’s being said or censored. You never know when their algorithm is going to change and affect your reach.
Circle is a scam-free, spam-protected space where you set the tone. Members engage in meaningful conversation when community guidelines are clear and honest.
Your business
Building your business on someone else’s land is always a risk. Is a Facebook Group really yours if you don’t own the domain, the data, or the keys to it?
In Circle, the domain, the content and the data are yours. No one’s here to change the algorithm, delete your hard-earned community or censor your members.
“I’m loving Circle! It puts private Facebook Groups to shame.”
Ebony Evaughn
Soulstruck Republic
Ditch distractions and low engagement for true conversations
Facebook is all about distractions
Ads and scrolling is how Facebook makes their revenue. They are organically against meaningful conversations.
Circle encourages conversations
Give members a space to engage with your content and connect with each other, with real purpose.
Facebook strangles your reach
Facebook decides if your content is worthy enough for people to see it, even if they’re active members of your community, and you need to pay to boost your post for higher visibility and engagement.
Circle amplifies your voice
You work hard to create new content — Circle will never hide it from your followers. You’re in control of how they get notified and what they get notifications about.
Your people might not be on Facebook
Young people and 60+ folks are not on Facebook. This puts a limit to the kind of people you can attract to join your community.
Anyone can join your Circle community
People don’t need to be “on Facebook” to join your community. Invite anyone you want, even those who hate Facebook and other social media.
Go from all over the place to all in one place
Facebook is a messy feed of content
Everyone’s Facebook feed shows something different. It’s impossible to organize content in a way that makes sense for both you and your members.
Everything has a place in Circle
Organize your community in spaces to help members share ideas, get feedback, host relevant discussions, take courses, and connect at live events. Create private and secret spaces for special memberships and groups.
It’s hard to monetize a Facebook Group
Facebook doesn’t offer monetization tools. If you want people to pay for their membership or your content, you’re forced to use a different tool.
Circle makes making money easy
Accept single payments or payments in installments for memberships, one-time access to content, or recurring subscriptions. Do it all inside Circle and avoid paying for extra tools or losing people during the checkout process.
Facebook won’t play nice with other tools
Automating tasks between Facebook and other tools is a nightmare, creating confusion for your users, endless support tickets, and constant headaches for you and your team. You always need to do things manually or link members outside your group to get things done.
Circle connects to the tools you use
If it’s not already built inside Circle — no integration needed, yay! — you can easily connect to your favorite tools directly or use Zapier.
Facebook prioritizes its ads
Your content works hard for Facebook. The more you manage to bring people back to your group, the more money Facebook makes off ads shown on their feed.
Circle gives you the spotlight
Your community members only interact with you, your brand and your people. We’ll never show 3rd party ads in your community.
Trade unmanageable spam for a place everybody feels safe in
Facebook is full of spam
Fake accounts, relentless spammers and self-promoters. There’s no easy way to block them from your Facebook Group because Facebook doesn’t care.
Circle is a safe space for all
You choose exactly who joins your community and which spaces they participate in. Automated moderation helps you keep your community clean, without the extra work.
The Facebook police are out of hand
Facebook is known for blocking members — even admins — and closing down groups without reason. Users with an agenda can report and kill your group and there’s no way to get it back once that happens.
Circle trusts your moderation skills
You set the rules and tone for your community. Circle would never enforce moderation, block members or terminate your community (unless you are doing something illegal, of course.)
Facebook keeps tabs on your group
Everybody knows how deep Facebook goes in tracking users’ activity and interests. Is the privacy of your group members safe with Facebook?
Circle protects your privacy
Things shared in your community are seen by you and your members only. Nobody’s tracking your data, opinions or interests in Circle.
Facebook owns your member data
There’s no way to export data from Facebook. Names, emails, posting history… the more you have, the more you risk losing if Facebook decides to shut down your group.
With Circle, you own your member data
In your Circle community you own member data, including email addresses. You and your members are free to use data as you see fit.
Ever tried contacting Facebook support to resolve an issue?
Yeah — we know how that went…
Unless you’re a major celebrity, Facebook won’t provide you with customer support on any issue you might face building your community.
Circle friendly support staff is always available via email. And you get priority support and a dedicated customer success manager in our top plans.
Join the Circle Community
Learn and grow with community building experts and +8K creators
See how others are using Circle to build their community. Share your wins, make new friends, and have fun!
Meet and greet with seasoned community builders like Pat Flynn (Smart Passive Income), Noele Flowers (Teachable), and Pedro Hernandes (Gumroad).
Kelly Tay
Founder at Juicy Parenting
Remember what happened to Facebook Pages?
Building your business on someone else’s land is always a risk.
Facebook Pages were all the rage when they appeared. Today, the average engagement with posts on a page is 0.07%*
If Facebook decides groups are no longer part of their strategy tomorrow, it’ll be too late to move your community members somewhere else.
Facebook Groups vs Circle
Circle is the right place to build your community
Circle
Facebook Groups
Content organization
Organize your content into relevant spaces
Tags — but no one uses them
Private spaces
Create private spaces only selected members can join
No, unless you build another group
Courses
Available on Pro and up
Not available
Live streams
Yes, with multi co-hosts
Available
Private messaging
One-on-one or private group chats
Available
Payments
Available on all plans for one-off payments, subscriptions, gated content and upsells
Not available
Custom Domain
Available on Pro and up
Not available
Member profiles
Searchable directories with rich profiles that help members discover each other
Go to their Facebook profile to see who they are
Out-of-the-box integrations
Memberstack, MemberSpace, Memberful, WordPress, EasyCSV, Auth0, Teachable, Shopify, Typeform, Bubble, Outseta, Stripe
None
Zapier integration
Available on Pro and up
Yes, but mostly limited to replicating posts
Migrating from Facebook Groups?
We know switching platforms can be stressful…
You don’t need to move your entire community all at once.
Get started with Circle for free, invite a few members and see how our friendly onboarding helps them feel at home in no time.
And if it doesn’t work out for you, you can still go back to what you’re using right now.
“To do the things I wanted would make a hassle in terms of payment processing with Mighty Networks. Because I didn't want to have 2 sites for my members and students I decided to do the trial at Circle to see if it was possible. I'm now a paid member and see that I can get my vision done.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Still can’t find the answer? Go to help center
Ready to get started?
Want to see Circle in action? Start your free 14 day trial today.
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