Executive Summary
We analyzed 86 business communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: business communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically
- Communities
- 86
- Platforms
- 16
- Avg members
- 212K
- Median members
- 3K
Where Business Communities Are Hosted
- Reddit: 16 communities (19%)
- Independent Platforms: 16 communities (19%)
- Discord: 10 communities (12%)
- Slack: 8 communities (9%)
- Skool: 7 communities (8%)
- Circle: 3 communities (3%)
- Facebook: 3 communities (3%)
- Discourse: 3 communities (3%)
- Mighty Networks: 2 communities (2%)
- Nas.io: 2 communities (2%)
- Telegram: 2 communities (2%)
- LinkedIn: 2 communities (2%)
- WhatsApp: 2 communities (2%)
- X / Twitter: 2 communities (2%)
- Campfire: 1 communities (1%)
- Meetup: 1 communities (1%)
- 16(19%)
Reddit - 16(19%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 10(12%)
Discord - 8(9%)
Slack - 7(8%)
Skool - 3(3%)Circle
- 3(3%)
Facebook - 3(3%)
Discourse
Format mix
- 38(44%)Forum / feed-based
- 21(24%)Chat communities
- 14(16%)Other platforms
- 12(14%)Private membership
- 1(1%)Media / newsletter
Forum / feed-based is most common (44%), but chat communities is also well represented (24%).
Reddit leads, but Independent Platforms and Discord also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 2 communities (2%)
- Small: 5 communities (6%)
- Medium: 11 communities (13%)
- Large: 21 communities (24%)
- Huge: 8 communities (9%)
- Massive: 11 communities (13%)
- Gigantic: 3 communities (3%)
- 2(2%)Tiny<20 members
- 5(6%)Small20-100 members
- 11(13%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 21(24%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 8(9%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 11(13%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 3(3%)Gigantic1M+ members
25 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 56 communities (65%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 30 communities (35%)
The average is much higher than the median (212K vs 3K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Business Differs From Other Categories
Business is less free-to-join, smaller, more platform-diverse, more chat-heavy, and more paid or gated, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Business | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 65% | 84% |
| Median members | 3K | 25K |
| Average members | 212K | 670K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 35% | 16% |
| Live chat | 56% | 41% |
| Discord share | 12% | 18% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Forum: 54 communities (63%)
- Live Chat: 48 communities (56%)
- Online/Offline Events: 36 communities (42%)
- Paid Community: 23 communities (27%)
- Newsletter: 21 communities (24%)
- Job Board: 17 communities (20%)
- Courses: 16 communities (19%)
- Member Perks: 15 communities (17%)
- 63%Forum
- 56%Live Chat
- 42%Online/Offline Events
- 27%Paid Community
- 24%Newsletter
- 20%Job Board
- 19%Courses
- 17%Member Perks
Niche Features
- Requires Application: 10 communities (12%)
- Pairing: 7 communities (8%)
- Tools: 3 communities (3%)
- Token: 1 communities (1%)
- 12%Requires Application
- 8%Pairing
- 3%Tools
- 1%Token
Live Chat appears on 56% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 666
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 19% | 29 | 4% | |
| Independent Platforms | 16 | 19% | 5 | 1% |
| Discord | 10 | 12% | 355 | 54% |
| Slack | 8 | 9% | 91 | 14% |
| Skool | 7 | 8% | 16 | 2% |
| Circle | 3 | 3% | 10 | 2% |
| 3 | 3% | 5 | 1% | |
| Discourse | 3 | 3% | 1 | 0% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Discord gets 54% of clicks but only 12% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 553(85%)Chat communities
- 40(6%)Forum / feed-based
- 31(5%)Other platforms
- 30(5%)Private membership
Most-clicked features
- 603(92%)Live Chat
- 433(66%)Online/Offline Events
- 355(54%)Newsletter
- 332(51%)Forum
- 308(47%)Job Board
- 255(39%)Pairing
Most-clicked size ranges
- 378(58%)Large
- 84(13%)Huge
- 34(5%)Small
- 16(2%)Massive
- 13(2%)Medium
Top-clicked listings
- 195(30%)Clarity
- 72(11%)Master Freelancing
- 47(7%)Confluence.VC
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 1946: 1 communities (3%)
- 1983: 1 communities (3%)
- 1986: 1 communities (3%)
- 1998: 2 communities (5%)
- 2009: 1 communities (3%)
- 2010: 1 communities (3%)
- 2011: 3 communities (8%)
- 2012: 1 communities (3%)
- 2013: 2 communities (5%)
- 2015: 2 communities (5%)
- 2016: 1 communities (3%)
- 2017: 2 communities (5%)
- 2018: 1 communities (3%)
- 2020: 11 communities (28%)
- 2021: 3 communities (8%)
- 2022: 6 communities (15%)
- 2023: 1 communities (3%)
46 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2020.
Community Quality & Ratings
Rating breakdown
- 18(95%)
- 1(5%)
- 0(0%)
- 0(0%)
- 0(0%)
19 reviews across 8 communities · 4.9 average rating.
Among highly rated communities
- Live Chatover-indexes75%vs 56% overall
- Newsletterover-indexes75%vs 24% overall
- Forum63%vs 63% overall
- Online/Offline Eventsover-indexes63%vs 42% overall
- Member Perksover-indexes50%vs 17% overall
Based on 8 communities rated 4+ stars.
Among reviewed communities, highly rated groups often include live chat, newsletter, and forum.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Business. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.
Updated periodically
FAQ
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