Indie Business Communities Report

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Executive Summary

We analyzed 51 indie 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: indie business communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.

Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically

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Communities
51
Platforms
10
Avg members
19K
Median members
628

Where Indie Business Communities Are Hosted

  • Independent Platforms: 16 communities (31%)
  • Slack: 12 communities (24%)
  • Discord: 8 communities (16%)
  • Reddit: 4 communities (8%)
  • Circle: 2 communities (4%)
  • Skool: 2 communities (4%)
  • Facebook: 1 communities (2%)
  • Campfire: 1 communities (2%)
  • Heartbeat: 1 communities (2%)
  • Telegram: 1 communities (2%)
  • Independent Platforms
    Independent Platforms
    16(31%)
  • Slack
    12(24%)
  • Discord
    8(16%)
  • Reddit
    4(8%)
  • Circle
    2(4%)
  • Skool
    2(4%)
  • Facebook
    1(2%)
  • Campfire
    1(2%)

Format mix

  • Forum / feed-based
    21(41%)
  • Chat communities
    21(41%)
  • Other platforms
    5(10%)
  • Private membership
    4(8%)

Forum / feed-based is most common (41%), but chat communities is also well represented (41%).

Independent Platforms leads, but Slack and Discord also represent meaningful shares.

Audience Size & Access

Community size

  • Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
  • Small: 5 communities (10%)
  • Medium: 17 communities (33%)
  • Large: 12 communities (24%)
  • Huge: 1 communities (2%)
  • Massive: 3 communities (6%)
  • Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
  • Tiny
    <20 members
    0(0%)
  • Small
    20-100 members
    5(10%)
  • Medium
    100-1,000 members
    17(33%)
  • Large
    1,000-10,000 members
    12(24%)
  • Huge
    10,000-100,000 members
    1(2%)
  • Massive
    100,000-1M members
    3(6%)
  • Gigantic
    1M+ members
    0(0%)

13 communities have unknown member counts.

Free vs paid

  • Free to join: 33 communities (65%)
  • Paid or apply-to-join: 18 communities (35%)

The average is much higher than the median (19K vs 628), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.

How Indie Business Differs From Other Categories

Indie Business is less free-to-join, smaller, more platform-diverse, more chat-heavy, and more paid or gated, compared with typical Hive Index topics.

MetricIndie BusinessHive Index average
Free to join65%84%
Median members62825K
Average members19K662K
Paid or apply-to-join35%16%
Live chat69%41%
Discord share16%18%

Feature Mix

Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.

Common Features

  • Live Chat: 35 communities (69%)
  • Online/Offline Events: 27 communities (53%)
  • Forum: 25 communities (49%)
  • Newsletter: 23 communities (45%)
  • Member Perks: 18 communities (35%)
  • Paid Community: 16 communities (31%)
  • Pairing: 8 communities (16%)
  • Requires Application: 8 communities (16%)
  • Live Chat
    69%
  • Online/Offline Events
    53%
  • Forum
    49%
  • Newsletter
    45%
  • Member Perks
    35%
  • Paid Community
    31%
  • Pairing
    16%
  • Requires Application
    16%

Niche Features

  • Courses: 7 communities (14%)
  • Tools: 3 communities (6%)
  • Job Board: 2 communities (4%)
  • Courses
    14%
  • Tools
    6%
  • Job Board
    4%

Live Chat appears on 69% of listings.

What Visitors Click

Outbound clicks / mo
286

Platform supply vs. clicks

PlatformCommunitiesShare of communitiesOutbound clicksShare of clicks
Independent Platforms1631%
279%
Slack1224%
6623%
Discord816%
14651%
Reddit48%
62%
Circle24%
145%
Skool24%
21%
Facebook12%
21%
Campfire12%
197%

Share is calculated within this topic.

Discord gets 51% of clicks but only 16% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.

Most-clicked formats

  • Chat communities
    213(75%)
  • Forum / feed-based
    35(12%)
  • Other platforms
    21(7%)
  • Private membership
    16(6%)

Most-clicked features

  • Live Chat
    261(92%)
  • Online/Offline Events
    236(83%)
  • Newsletter
    183(64%)
  • Member Perks
    128(45%)
  • Forum
    100(35%)
  • Paid Community
    87(31%)

Most-clicked size ranges

  • Large
    129(45%)
  • Medium
    96(34%)
  • Small
    33(12%)
  • Massive
    15(5%)
  • Huge
    1(0%)

Top-clicked listings

  • AIMidUs
    40(14%)
  • House of Vibes
    39(14%)
  • Early Stage Founders
    33(12%)

Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.

Community Quality & Ratings

Rating breakdown

  • 47(100%)
  • 0(0%)
  • 0(0%)
  • 0(0%)
  • 0(0%)

47 reviews across 10 communities · 5.0 average rating.

Among highly rated communities

  • Live Chatover-indexes90%vs 69% overall
  • Member Perksover-indexes90%vs 35% overall
  • Newsletterover-indexes90%vs 45% overall
  • Online/Offline Eventsover-indexes90%vs 53% overall
  • Paid Communityover-indexes70%vs 31% overall

Based on 10 communities rated 4+ stars.

Highly rated examples

Among reviewed communities, highly rated groups often include live chat, member perks, and newsletter.

Methodology & FAQ

Methodology

This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Indie 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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