Build a community forum

Give your users a home base. A space to connect, help each other, and stick around.

Tools in this stack

Real-time chat community

Create channels, voice rooms, and bots for an active real-time community

Structured community platform

Modern community space with spaces, courses, and member profiles for creators

Async discussion forum

Open-source forum software trusted by major developer communities

Professional workspace

Channel-based messaging suited for professional and B2B communities

1
Discord
Create a Discord server and set up channels organized by topic (announcements, general, help, showcase). Configure roles so new members start with limited permissions and earn access over time. Add a verification bot like MEE6 to reduce spam and reward engagement.
Open Discord
2
Circle
Sign up for Circle and create your community. Add Spaces for different topics or member tiers. Set up a welcome post and onboarding checklist so new members know where to start. Connect Circle to your product login so members authenticate with their existing account.
Open Circle
3
Discourse
Deploy a Discourse instance via the official Digital Ocean one-click app or Discourse's hosted plan. Configure categories to match your community topics. Enable SSO so users log into the forum with the same credentials as your main product, reducing friction.
Open Discourse
4
Slack
Create a Slack workspace and organize channels by topic. Use Slack Connect to invite external users without requiring them to manage multiple accounts. Add a Zapier integration to post a welcome message automatically whenever a new member joins.
Open Slack