Community platforms, September 2026: 0 open gaps across 7 read companies.

What was read

7 companies placed; 7 read during September 2026.

• CircleSep 30, 2026
• SkoolSep 30, 2026
• Mighty NetworksSep 30, 2026
• DiscourseSep 30, 2026
• DiscordSep 30, 2026
• Communities that go quietSep 30, 2026
• Creators and brands running a paid groupSep 30, 2026

Gaps closed and opened

No complaint theme was raised about two or more read companies this month. There is no previous month on record to compare against.

Who entered

7 companies placed (Circle, Skool, Mighty Networks, Discourse, Discord, Communities that go quiet, Creators and brands running a paid group); 0 products sighted by a search and not yet read.

Pricing moves

6 of 7 read companies have a pricing entry on record; 9 pricing changes recorded across 6 companies this month.

• Circle [COMPANY CLAIM] Sep 30, 2026 · 2 changes this monthCircle's current public plan structure is Professional ($89-129/month), Business ($199-219/month), and Enterprise ($419-499/month), with a custom-priced Plus plan for branded mobile apps; transaction fees scale down from 2% to 0.5% by tier. source
• Mighty Networks [COMPANY CLAIM] Sep 30, 2026 · 1 change this monthMighty Networks structures pricing as Launch (~$79-95/month), Scale (~$179-215/month), and Growth (~$354-425/month) tiers, plus a custom-priced Mighty Pro plan, with transaction fees stepping down from 2% on Launch to 0.5% on Growth/Mighty Pro as plans increase. source
• Creators and brands running a paid group [COMPANY CLAIM] Sep 30, 2026 · 3 changes this monthSkool's entry plan (Hobby) starts at $9/month but carries a 10% transaction fee on paid memberships; its Pro tier runs about $99/month with a lower ~2.9% fee. source
• Skool [COMPANY CLAIM] Sep 30, 2026 · 1 change this monthSkool's official pricing is published as two plans: Hobby at $9/month with a 10% + 30¢ per-transaction fee, and Pro at $99/month with a 2.9% + 30¢ fee on transactions up to $899, rising to 3.9% + 30¢ above $900. Both plans include unlimited courses and members, and annual billing saves roughly 2 months (about 17%). source
• Discourse [COMPANY CLAIM] Sep 30, 2026 · 1 change this monthThird-party pricing trackers report Discourse offers a free tier (unlimited members, ~2 staff seats, ~500k monthly page views, 5GB storage), with paid hosted tiers commonly cited as Starter/Pro around $20-$100/month, Business around $300-$500/month, and a custom-priced Enterprise tier with higher limits and SLA guarantees. source
• Discord [FACT] Sep 30, 2026 · 1 change this monthDiscord's current paid tiers are Nitro Basic at $2.99/month ($29.99/year) and full Nitro at $9.99/month ($99.99/year, ~16% annual savings), with Server Boosts priced separately per boost level. source

What users raised

28 themes raised by users; the most raised: Advanced features gated to higher tiers (1 of 5), algorithmic deprioritization of community content on social platforms (1 of 5), Branded app gated behind expensive Mighty Pro tier (1 of 5).

• Advanced features gated to higher tiers 1/5
• algorithmic deprioritization of community content on social platforms 1/5
• Branded app gated behind expensive Mighty Pro tier 1/5
• Bug reports around profile and display-name rendering 1/5
• chat format hard to search/organize (Discord) 1/5
• Email marketing is a paid add-on 1/5
• engagement fades after events without follow-up 1/5
• Fee tier jump above $899/900 on Pro 1/5
• freebie seekers dominate free groups 1/5
• High pricing relative to simpler tools 1/5
• Legacy plans miss newest features 1/5
• Limited API access on lower tiers 1/5
• Limited integrations (Zapier only) 1/5
• Limited LMS depth (no quizzes/grading/certificates) 1/5
• low active-member rate in free communities 1/5
• Mobile UI redesign fatigue/complaints 1/5
• Nitro perks seen as cosmetic-only, not essential 1/5
• No email marketing tools 1/5
• No free plan 1/5
• No landing page/website builder 1/5
• no native paywall (Discord) 1/5
• No quizzes, grading, or certificates 1/5
• No standard annual-billing discount tier 1/5
• Notification volume from large friend lists 1/5
• Per-community pricing for multiple groups 1/5
• Regulatory/government bans in some countries 1/5
• Stripe-only payments 1/5
• Transaction fees never reach 0% 1/5

Funding by quarter

Withheld: something was read in 1 of the last 8 quarters. A series needs at least 2 to say anything a single reading does not.

The ledger this month

31 observed claims recorded this month, 1 inference counted apart, 4 sources that did not answer.

• PRICING · 9
• PRODUCT · 9
• COMPLAINT · 6
• DISCOURSE · 4
• POSITIONING · 3