Right now, private online community platforms are having a moment. Creators around the world are looking for new ways to connect their members and grow their brands.

One platform that has garnered some buzz is Geneva Chat, an online community platform, that’s trying to help build “authentic, tight-knit communities.” While their product has some cool ideas, they still aren’t fully baked yet.

Instead of investing your time in starting (or transitioning) your community to a platform that isn’t ready for you, we’re going to present some great Geneva Chat alternatives to check out.

But first, let’s dive into why creators are searching for new community platforms in the first place.

Why are creators looking for new online community platforms?

So many people are looking for new community platforms right now because they provide creators more control over their brand and more features.

While there was a time where traditional social media platforms like Facebook made sense to use to grow your business, that simply isn’t the case anymore. It seems more and more each day major social media platforms are in the news for everything ranging from privacy concerns to censorship. All of these headlines inadvertently affect many creator’s businesses and brands.

Online community platforms are providing a new way for creators to bring people together, experiment with new forms of content, and much more easily make money off their hard work.

Ahead, we’re unpacking what the deal is with Geneva Chat.

What’s the deal with Geneva Chat?

Geneva Chat describes itself as a “cozy, private space for you & your people.” Similar to many of the alternatives to Geneva Chat, they are trying to build a different kind of online community platform.

Generally speaking, that’s a good thing. Services like Facebook work because they’ve brought in millions and millions of people, it’s all about mass. Geneva Chat, on the other hand, is all about tight-knit communities with deeper connections between members.

Because of that distinction, it might not be apparent why you should look for alternatives to Geneva Chat. So ahead, we’re going to break down what Geneva Chat is all about, what the platform is good at, as well as where they miss the mark.

Where Geneva Chat excels

Geneva Chat has gained some buzz thanks to its upbeat marketing which emphasizes that communities on their platform are safe and welcoming. They have a lot of great features that many creators would be interested in utilizing.

Their platform has a minimalist design (maybe a bit too much so!) that allows users to create different “Home” spaces that are basically your online community space. Within a “Home” you can create a variety of experiences for your members to interact: text chat, audio chat, discussion boards, and even video chat, to name a few.

Their platform is also available on the web as well as iOS and Android devices through their respective app stores.

Where Geneva Chat stumbles

Geneva Chat has a lot of great ideas for their platform, when you start digging deeper you realize why it might be worth looking elsewhere.

Currently, many of the features we just listed above are still in their beta phases. While it’s awesome that the platform is working on these options for creators, there are alternatives to Geneva Chat that are much further along and more stable.

Additionally, unlike some of their direct competitors, it is not easy to monetize your community if you build it on Geneva Chat. That means you’ll end up juggling multiple platforms and sending your members to multiple places in order to have them purchase your content.

So, now that we’ve covered what the platform is all about, we’re going to walk through what to look for in an alternative to Geneva Chat.

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What to look for in Geneva Chat alternatives

Creators are flocking to online community platforms because they’ve opened up new possibilities to gain creative control over your brand, as well as stronger monetization options. The best Geneva Chat alternatives have been around the block a bit longer (and even inspired some of the features they utilize!)

Below, we’re exploring in greater detail what some of these features are and why you’ll want them in the platform you choose.

Community building features

Geneva Chat has some interesting ideas for how it is building its community platform, but as we said above, they are pretty early.

There are other platforms on the market that have been creating robust tools for creators to build online communities for much longer, and in turn, they are a much better alternative to Geneva Chat.

What are some of those features, you ask? Here’s a list of some that we love:

The ability to post gorgeous content that your members can comment on and cheer.

A robust main activity feed where you and any member can share text, video, files, and more with your community.

Robust messaging features from direct, group, mass, and automated messages.

The ability for your members to build in-depth profiles.

**Native livestreaming, virtual events, and subgroups.

Having a plethora of options to utilize in your online community will allow you to give your members unique experiences they can’t get anywhere else.

Monetization options

One of the most important reasons to choose an online community platform instead of a social media website is your ability to monetize your business.

The best online community platforms will give you features such as paid memberships, online courses, the ability to host paid virtual events, and even gated content. Other options that you might want to consider are tiered pricing and the ability to charge for bundled content.

The best Geneva Chat alternatives will let you charge for what you’re building.

New ways to grow your business

Many great online community platforms offer the ability to expand your business into new frontiers. What might those be? Once you’ve gained a few members and gotten the ball rolling, you can start thinking of new ways to interact with your members.

For example, your business might have started as a paid online community space to tackle an issue or goal that you and your members are passionate about. But what if down the line you wanted to offer a paid online course that members could take to learn a new skill? The best online community platforms allow you to do that.

Another example would be offering a paid mastermind group for your most dedicated members to join that goes even more in-depth into your community theme.

All of these features are examples of ways you can expand your business when you choose a community platform with a plethora of features.

Availability

The last component you should look for in a Geneva Chat alternative is whether they offer a mobile app experience. Why? Because the more available your online community is, the more likely your members are to be invested and interactive.

Geneva Chat realized the importance of availability for their platform which is a major plus, so the best alternatives to Geneva Chat should do the same. And when we talk about availability we mean that your community should be available across web, iOS, and Android devices.

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What are the best Geneva Chat alternatives?

So we’ve made it to the moment of truth, what are the best alternatives to Geneva Chat out there? Below, we’re showcasing a few different options that approach online community building differently.

Geneva Chat alternative #1: Tribe

Tribe has become a contender in the online community space by focusing on the bread and butter of what more creators want in an online community.

A customizable community space that integrates with your website.

Discussion boards, Q&As, and polls

The ability for members to create detailed profiles.

The option to create subgroups within your community.

The platform has a good set of features for keeping the community engaged and interactive. They also have solid analytics for how your community members are interacting with your content. When you have the proper data, it can help you make more informed decisions for your business.

But while Tribe is a solid Geneva Chat alternative, they aren’t perfect by any means. They have a lot of features that are important in a community platform, but you basically need to have an existing website to implement them. Additionally, you can’t create an online course on Tribe and they don’t offer a mobile app experience.

The best Tribe alternatives actually give you the online community features they offer in addition to online courses and paid memberships.

Geneva Chat alternative #2: Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is an all-in-one creative business platform powered by community. On top of offering world-class features for building a community, you also get access to options for memberships, subscriptions, virtual events, online courses, and more. The best part is that all those features are in one place, under your brand, it’s all instantly available on web, iOS, and Android.

Mighty Networks unlocks a new era for independent communities creating and mastering something interesting or important together.

What makes Mighty Networks a great Geneva Chat alternative is how its tools are designed to create dynamic communities sustained by network effects. The platform gives creators detailed analytics and data about their users’ interactions so that you can design your community in a way that is most beneficial to your business. Here’s a list of some of the features you get with a Mighty Network:

Native mobile app support.

The ability to create and charge for online courses.

A variety of content options: livestreaming, prerecorded video, text, articles, and more.

Charge for memberships and subscriptions.

Direct & group messaging, member profiles, and subgroups.

Host virtual events.

Basically, Mighty Networks is a great alternative to Geneva Chat because they offer all of the same features plus the ability to expand your business into new territories. Additionally, unlike all of the other Geneva Chat alternatives on the list, Mighty Networks will save you the most money by relying less on integrations.

It’s a platform that will help you create a thriving community where members have the tools to sustain conversations so you can create new content and grow.

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Geneva Chat alternative #3: Circle

Circle is a new community platform designed to bring together your discussions, members, and content. They’ve gained some popularity amongst creators looking to integrate their audience from a variety of platforms into one space.

The platform focuses on communication features much like a Slack or Discord channel. They have done a solid job of giving creators a very organized minimalist community space that focuses on creating “Topics” for members to interact within. You can think of a “Topic” as a more sophisticated discussion board mixed with a chat room. Here are some other features on their platform:

You can make private groups.

Members can create their own profiles.

You can integrate existing content easily into your community space.

One of the hurdles of choosing Circle as your Geneva Chat alternative, however, is that their mobile app is only available on iOS which limits your reach. They also don’t have much setup yet for monetization unless you have preexisting payment services set up and ready to go.

Mighty Networks is the best alternative to Geneva Chat

If it’s not apparent yet, there’s a clear winner for Geneva Chat alternatives and it’s Mighty Networks.

When you build a community on a Mighty Network you’re choosing a platform that will grow with you. Not only are you getting world-class community building features, but you’re also getting online courses, memberships, virtual events, and an ever-evolving platform that is available across all devices. If you’ve been looking for the best Geneva Chat alternatives, there’s no need to look any further.

Let’s create something awesome together.