Circle vs Mighty Networks
Premium community platforms, head to head.
Circle and Mighty Networks are the two names that come up most when creators want a serious, standalone community platform. Both are polished, both bundle courses and events, and both charge a subscription plus a cut of member payments that shrinks as you move up their plans. Disclosure: we make Drry, a third option, covered honestly at the end. The choice between these two usually comes down to feel, native apps, and where the fees land for you.
The honest recommendation.
Pick Circle
Pick Circle if you want the cleaner, more modern interface and deep integrations, and you value a refined member experience and structured spaces. It suits creators and teams who treat the community as a premium product and want it to look and feel that way.
Pick Mighty Networks
Pick Mighty Networks if native mobile apps and its people-and-interest matchmaking matter to you, and you want courses and community tightly woven together. It suits community builders who prioritize mobile engagement and Mighty's particular approach to connecting members.
Where Drry fits.
Both charge a monthly subscription in the same premium range AND take a percentage of member payments on top, and neither starts free. If you would rather not pay a platform cut at all, and want a free way to begin, that is the difference Drry makes.
- Keep 100% of member payments. Only Stripe's standard processing fee applies, we take nothing on top.
- Payments run through your own Stripe account, so your customers and subscriptions belong to you, not the platform. No payment lock-in.
- Funnels built in: fast landing pages on your domain with views, joins, and revenue attributed per page. Standalone funnel tools charge $49 to $97 a month for less.
- A genuinely free tier: 100 members, 5 GB storage, unlimited courses, and the community feed, with no card required.
- Courses, a community feed, members, and payments in one branded space you own.
- Your own address like grace.drry.com out of the box, with custom domain and site white label on paid tiers, and white-label email from your own domain on Growth.
- Member analytics on the $29 Creator plan: who is showing up, what is landing, and who is quietly drifting away. The kind of insight other platforms save for their priciest plans.
- Get paid for 1:1s and packages: send a client a one-time or installment link with an agreement they sign before paying. Built in, free on every plan, and no platform fee. Other platforms make you bolt on a separate contract tool, and most never reach 0%.
- Email your whole community, built in on every plan, even free (100 sends a month free, unlimited on paid), no add-on and no second tool to wire up. Creator adds email automations: welcome journeys, lead-magnet delivery, and win-backs that run on their own. And on Growth, Spark drafts your emails AND your funnel pages for you, pulling from your own courses and writing in your voice, so you start from a finished draft instead of a blank page. Tweak it and send.
Circle vs Mighty Networks, common questions
Is Circle or Mighty Networks better?
Neither is strictly better; they suit different priorities. Circle tends to win on interface polish and integrations, Mighty Networks on native mobile apps and its member-matchmaking approach. If a branded mobile app is essential, Mighty leans that way; if a clean web experience and integrations matter more, Circle does. Both are capable, premium tools.
Do both Circle and Mighty Networks charge transaction fees?
Yes, both charge a platform fee on member payments on top of the subscription, and on both the fee shrinks as you move to higher plans. That percentage is separate from standard payment processing. The two fact boxes above show each platform's current plans and fee tiers so you can compare where you would actually land.
Which is more expensive?
They sit in a similar premium range, so the cheaper one depends on your plan and revenue. Both stack a monthly subscription and a percentage of member payments, and both reserve their lowest fee for their priciest tiers. Compare the specific plan you would choose on each, plus its fee, rather than the entry prices alone.
Are Circle and Mighty Networks good for courses?
Both include courses alongside the community, and both handle them competently as part of the bundle rather than as a dedicated course product. For most community-led creators that is enough. If a deep, standalone course experience is your priority over the community, a course-first platform is worth a look too.
Try Drry free. Bring your people.
Courses and community together in your own branded space, and you keep 100% of what your members pay you.