Remote Communities Report

Executive Summary

We analyzed 26 remote communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.

The big picture: remote communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.

Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically

Communities
26
Platforms
7
Avg members
397K
Median members
4K

Where Remote Communities Are Hosted

  • Slack: 7 communities (27%)
  • Independent Platforms: 7 communities (27%)
  • Reddit: 7 communities (27%)
  • LinkedIn: 1 communities (4%)
  • Telegram: 1 communities (4%)
  • Mighty Networks: 1 communities (4%)
  • Circle: 1 communities (4%)
  • Slack
    7(27%)
  • Independent Platforms
    Independent Platforms
    7(27%)
  • Reddit
    7(27%)
  • LinkedIn
    1(4%)
  • Telegram
    1(4%)
  • Mighty Networks
    1(4%)
  • Circle
    1(4%)

Format mix

  • Forum / feed-based
    14(54%)
  • Chat communities
    8(31%)
  • Other platforms
    2(8%)
  • Private membership
    2(8%)

Forum / feed-based is most common (54%), but chat communities is also well represented (31%).

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

Audience Size & Access

Community size

  • Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
  • Small: 4 communities (15%)
  • Medium: 3 communities (12%)
  • Large: 4 communities (15%)
  • Huge: 1 communities (4%)
  • Massive: 6 communities (23%)
  • Gigantic: 2 communities (8%)
  • Tiny
    <20 members
    0(0%)
  • Small
    20-100 members
    4(15%)
  • Medium
    100-1,000 members
    3(12%)
  • Large
    1,000-10,000 members
    4(15%)
  • Huge
    10,000-100,000 members
    1(4%)
  • Massive
    100,000-1M members
    6(23%)
  • Gigantic
    1M+ members
    2(8%)

6 communities have unknown member counts.

Free vs paid

  • Free to join: 18 communities (69%)
  • Paid or apply-to-join: 8 communities (31%)

The average is much higher than the median (397K vs 4K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.

How Remote Differs From Other Categories

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

MetricRemoteHive Index average
Free to join69%84%
Median members4K25K
Average members397K662K
Paid or apply-to-join31%16%
Live chat58%41%
Topic pageviews / mo7321K

Feature Mix

Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.

Common Features

  • Forum: 16 communities (62%)
  • Live Chat: 15 communities (58%)
  • Online/Offline Events: 11 communities (42%)
  • Job Board: 8 communities (31%)
  • Newsletter: 7 communities (27%)
  • Paid Community: 6 communities (23%)
  • Forum
    62%
  • Live Chat
    58%
  • Online/Offline Events
    42%
  • Job Board
    31%
  • Newsletter
    27%
  • Paid Community
    23%

Niche Features

  • Pairing: 3 communities (12%)
  • Requires Application: 3 communities (12%)
  • Courses: 2 communities (8%)
  • Member Perks: 2 communities (8%)
  • Pairing
    12%
  • Requires Application
    12%
  • Courses
    8%
  • Member Perks
    8%

Live Chat appears on 58% of listings.

What Visitors Click

Outbound clicks / mo
113

Platform supply vs. clicks

PlatformCommunitiesShare of communitiesOutbound clicksShare of clicks
Slack727%
7365%
Independent Platforms727%
2522%
Reddit727%
98%
Telegram14%
33%
Mighty Networks14%
22%
Circle14%
11%

Share is calculated within this topic.

Slack hosts 27% of listings and 65% of clicks, so supply and interest line up.

Most-clicked formats

  • Chat communities
    76(67%)
  • Forum / feed-based
    34(30%)
  • Private membership
    3(3%)

Most-clicked features

  • Live Chat
    87(77%)
  • Job Board
    51(45%)
  • Paid Community
    41(36%)
  • Forum
    32(28%)
  • Newsletter
    32(28%)
  • Member Perks
    29(26%)

Most-clicked size ranges

  • Small
    37(33%)
  • Large
    33(29%)
  • Gigantic
    16(14%)
  • Massive
    13(12%)
  • Medium
    3(3%)

Top-clicked listings

  • Remotely Founders
    32(28%)
  • Remote Work Slack
    26(23%)
  • We Work Remotely
    15(13%)

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

Community Quality & Ratings

Only 1 community has ratings so far, so read this as a small sample.

5.0 average rating across 1 community.

Methodology & FAQ

Methodology

This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Remote. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.

  • •This is a smaller slice of Hive Index's database, so read trends as directional.

FAQ