70k+ reviews
Higher Logic is built for member management. Circle is for building active communities.
Don’t mistake an outdated member database for a community. Circle is built for engagement thanks to its modern and easy-to-use interface.
Conversations, events, courses, and payments in one place — not stitched together through integrations
AI and automation that spark participation
A modern, mobile-first experience your members actually use
Trusted by more than 13 million members across 18,000 communities
Higher Logic fails to deliver where it matters most — member engagement and retention
VS
Higher Logic feels like a forum from another era
Circle communities feel alive and connected
Communities are upgrading from Higher Logic to Circle
“Circle has hosted two communities I’ve built. Each time, it’s been important for the community to have flexibility, the ability to be customized, and create a seamless member experience.”
Reina Pomeroy, Senior Director of Community, Good Inside
“I think the folks building Circle are thinking about community in a more holistic way than some of the other tools on the market—they’re thinking beyond a ‘forum’. Circle was one of the platforms I felt best enabled the structure I was going for”
Noele Flowers — Director of Community, Articulate
You’re ready for Circle if any of these sound familiar
Your community feels like a forum from 2012, so members aren't engaging the way you expected
Your members never open the mobile app, and you want a branded experience they'll actually use
You're paying for a separate LMS add-on just to deliver courses alongside your community
You want to run live events natively — without Zoom, manual replay uploads, and all the duct tape
You want AI that helps manage and moderate your community — not one that just searches it
Everything members need to learn, connect, and pay you
Community, courses, events, email, payments, website, and a branded app — all in one place.
Real-time DMs and chats
Native course builder
Native events and live streaming
Website and landing page builder
Branded checkout with flexible pricing
Native email automation system
A member experience so good, retention takes care of itself
Give members a modern, mobile-friendly experience that makes participation feel natural.
Gamification — points, badges, leaderboards
Workflows to personalize member communication at scale
Push notifications matching your branding
Mobile and desktop apps
Custom app builder that puts your brand in the app store
AI-powered activity scoring
AI and automations that actually help run your community
Personalized onboarding, AI that answers and moderates with context, and workflows that engage members at the right moment — automatically.
Visual workflow builder
Conditional and branching workflow logic
AI agents with distinct roles and placement controls
AI inbox (visibility into AI interactions)
Community-behavior communication triggers
The complete community platform
Circle is the best platform to build, engage, and scale your business
A platform that moves as fast as your community
Circle consistently ranks higher than Higher Logic for member experience, feature depth, and overall customer satisfaction.
Upgrade from Higher Logic to Circle in three steps
Let our migration team handle the heavy lifting—so you don’t have to.
Request your migration
Fill out a quick form to tell us about your setup. We'll take it from there. We’ll migrate your:
1. Courses
2. Email list
4. And more
Approve your custom plan
We’ll create a tailored migration plan based on your needs. You review and approve before we begin.
Sit back while we migrate
Our team moves everything over—content, members, settings—fully structured and ready to go live.
Leader on G2
Trusted by 18,000+ businesses to power their communities
Frequently asked questions
Higher Logic has been in the association space for nearly 20 years. How does Circle compare?
Higher Logic's has clear roots in the association space, but hasn’t shown the level of growth your members likely need.
The question is whether association members in 2026 expect the same experience they got in 2010.
Your members use Slack, Notion, and YouTube every day — they expect a platform that feels that modern.
Circle serves professional associations and membership organisations today, and was built for how members engage now: real-time chat, mobile apps, AI, live events, and structured learning, not just discussion forums and email newsletters.
Will Circle integrate with our AMS?
Yes, in that Circle integrates with Zapier, webhooks, and a direct API.
This means that member data from your AMS can flow into Circle's workflows, segmentation, and member management.
Higher Logic Thrive Learn provides courses and LMS functionality. Does Circle have this?
Yes. And it's native, not a third-party add-on.
Circle's course builder includes:
- Modules
- Lessons
- Video hosting
- Quizzes
- Progress tracking
- Drip content scheduling
- Cohort-based delivery
- Completion certificates
- … All inside the same platform as your community
Higher Logic's learning functionality is provided through Thrive Learn. This is a separate add-on powered by third-party partners that requires a separate admin experience and additional cost. This hinders member experience.
For example, on Circle, a member can complete a lesson, post a question in the lesson's discussion thread, attend a live event, and renew their membership — all without leaving the platform.
Does Circle offer community management support services?
Circle offers:
- A dedicated customer success team
- Concierge onboarding
- Priority migration support available through Circle Plus, for communities that want hands-on strategic guidance during and after the transition
On top of all this, Circle's AI agents, automated workflows, and modern engagement tools handle the tasks that managed services teams typically perform:
- Auto-responding to member questions
- Moderating content
- Triggering onboarding sequences
- Flagging at-risk members
- Re-engaging lapsed participants
- And more
Will migrating from Higher Logic hurt my business’s performance?
We’ll work with you to migrate your content, email list, payments, and more to ensure minimal churn.
Because Circle delivers a meaningful upgrade in terms of user experience and your value proposition to members, you’ll soon see membership, engagement, and revenue growth.
During migration, can I run both Higher Logic and Circle?
Yes. Many organizations keep Higher Logic live during the migration period to ensure a smooth transition.
Before sunsetting Higher Logic, it’s best practice to:
- Clearly communicate with your members about the move
- Set a specific cutover date
- Offer existing members an easy path to join your Circle
Still can’t find the answer? Go to help center
