Executive Summary
We analyzed 51 saas communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: saas communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically
- Communities
- 51
- Platforms
- 10
- Avg members
- 30K
- Median members
- 450
Where SaaS Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 16 communities (31%)
- Slack: 10 communities (20%)
- Facebook: 8 communities (16%)
- Discord: 8 communities (16%)
- Reddit: 2 communities (4%)
- WhatsApp: 2 communities (4%)
- Circle: 1 communities (2%)
- Turf: 1 communities (2%)
- Skool: 1 communities (2%)
- Meetup: 1 communities (2%)
- 16(31%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 10(20%)
Slack - 8(16%)
Facebook - 8(16%)
Discord - 2(4%)
Reddit - 2(4%)
WhatsApp - 1(2%)Circle
- 1(2%)
Turf
Format mix
- 26(51%)Forum / feed-based
- 20(39%)Chat communities
- 3(6%)Other platforms
- 2(4%)Private membership
Forum / feed-based is most common (51%), but chat communities is also well represented (39%).
Independent Platforms leads, but Slack and Facebook also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 1 communities (2%)
- Small: 10 communities (20%)
- Medium: 11 communities (22%)
- Large: 11 communities (22%)
- Huge: 5 communities (10%)
- Massive: 2 communities (4%)
- Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
- 1(2%)Tiny<20 members
- 10(20%)Small20-100 members
- 11(22%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 11(22%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 5(10%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 2(4%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 0(0%)Gigantic1M+ members
11 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 35 communities (69%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 16 communities (31%)
The average is much higher than the median (30K vs 450), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How SaaS Differs From Other Categories
SaaS is less free-to-join, smaller, more platform-diverse, more chat-heavy, and more paid or gated, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | SaaS | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 69% | 84% |
| Median members | 450 | 25K |
| Average members | 30K | 670K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 31% | 16% |
| Live chat | 63% | 41% |
| Discord share | 16% | 18% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Forum: 35 communities (69%)
- Live Chat: 32 communities (63%)
- Online/Offline Events: 26 communities (51%)
- Newsletter: 19 communities (37%)
- Member Perks: 14 communities (27%)
- Requires Application: 11 communities (22%)
- Job Board: 9 communities (18%)
- Paid Community: 9 communities (18%)
- 69%Forum
- 63%Live Chat
- 51%Online/Offline Events
- 37%Newsletter
- 27%Member Perks
- 22%Requires Application
- 18%Job Board
- 18%Paid Community
Niche Features
- Pairing: 5 communities (10%)
- Tools: 3 communities (6%)
- Token: 1 communities (2%)
- 10%Pairing
- 6%Tools
- 2%Token
Live Chat appears on 63% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 916
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Platforms | 16 | 31% | 20 | 2% |
| Slack | 10 | 20% | 314 | 34% |
| 8 | 16% | 33 | 4% | |
| Discord | 8 | 16% | 376 | 41% |
| 2 | 4% | 5 | 1% | |
| 2 | 4% | 151 | 16% | |
| Circle | 1 | 2% | 14 | 2% |
| Turf | 1 | 2% | 1 | 0% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Discord gets 41% of clicks but only 16% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 841(92%)Chat communities
- 58(6%)Forum / feed-based
- 16(2%)Private membership
- 1(0%)Other platforms
Most-clicked features
- 875(96%)Live Chat
- 515(56%)Forum
- 424(46%)Online/Offline Events
- 302(33%)Requires Application
- 263(29%)Member Perks
- 238(26%)Newsletter
Most-clicked size ranges
- 356(39%)Large
- 229(25%)Medium
- 170(19%)Small
- 117(13%)Huge
- 6(1%)Massive
Top-clicked listings
- 118(13%)Sellers for Sellers
- 105(11%)Growth Partners
- 101(11%)SaaS Community
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 2008: 1 communities (7%)
- 2017: 2 communities (14%)
- 2018: 1 communities (7%)
- 2020: 3 communities (21%)
- 2021: 4 communities (29%)
- 2022: 3 communities (21%)
37 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2021.
Community Quality & Ratings
Rating breakdown
- 27(100%)
- 0(0%)
- 0(0%)
- 0(0%)
- 0(0%)
27 reviews across 7 communities · 5.0 average rating.
Among highly rated communities
- Forumover-indexes86%vs 69% overall
- Live Chatover-indexes86%vs 63% overall
- Member Perksover-indexes71%vs 27% overall
- Newsletterover-indexes57%vs 37% overall
- Paid Communityover-indexes57%vs 18% overall
Based on 7 communities rated 4+ stars.
Among reviewed communities, highly rated groups often include forum, live chat, and member perks.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as SaaS. 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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