Executive Summary
We analyzed 20 rust communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: rust has many smaller groups and a few very large outliers pulling averages up.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated 2026-06-20
- Communities
- 20
- Platforms
- 3
- Avg members
- 214K
- Median members
- 50K
Where Rust Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 8 communities (40%)
- Discord: 7 communities (35%)
- Reddit: 5 communities (25%)
- 8(40%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 7(35%)
Discord - 5(25%)
Reddit
Format mix
- 13(65%)Forum / feed-based
- 7(35%)Chat communities
Forum / feed-based is most common (65%), but chat communities is also well represented (35%).
Independent Platforms leads, but Discord and Reddit also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
- Small: 0 communities (0%)
- Medium: 0 communities (0%)
- Large: 4 communities (20%)
- Huge: 8 communities (40%)
- Massive: 7 communities (35%)
- Gigantic: 1 communities (5%)
- 0(0%)Tiny<20 members
- 0(0%)Small20-100 members
- 0(0%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 4(20%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 8(40%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 7(35%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 1(5%)Gigantic1M+ members
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 20 communities (100%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 0 communities (0%)
The average is much higher than the median (214K vs 50K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Rust Differs From Other Categories
Rust is more free-to-join, and larger, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Rust | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 100% | 85% |
| Median members | 50K | 24K |
| Average members | 214K | 648K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 0% | 15% |
| Live chat | 35% | 40% |
| Discord share | 35% | 16% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Forum: 13 communities (65%)
- Live Chat: 7 communities (35%)
- 65%Forum
- 35%Live Chat
Forum appears on 65% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 13
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Platforms | 8 | 40% | 1 | 8% |
| Discord | 7 | 35% | 8 | 62% |
| 5 | 25% | 4 | 31% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Discord gets 62% of clicks but only 35% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 8(62%)Chat communities
- 5(38%)Forum / feed-based
Most-clicked features
- 8(62%)Live Chat
- 5(38%)Forum
Most-clicked size ranges
- 6(46%)Large
- 4(31%)Huge
- 3(23%)Massive
Top-clicked listings
- 4(31%)Rust Groups - LFG Community Discord
- 2(15%)Official Rust Discord
- 1(8%)RenegadeRust Discord
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 2013: 3 communities (15%)
- 2014: 5 communities (25%)
- 2015: 2 communities (10%)
- 2016: 1 communities (5%)
- 2017: 1 communities (5%)
- 2018: 2 communities (10%)
- 2019: 2 communities (10%)
- 2020: 2 communities (10%)
- 2021: 2 communities (10%)
Most listed groups were founded around 2014.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Rust. 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.
- •Last updated 2026-06-20
FAQ
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