SaaS Communities Report

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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

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Communities
51
Platforms
10
Avg members
29K
Median members
400

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%)
  • Independent Platforms
    Independent Platforms
    16(31%)
  • Slack
    10(20%)
  • Facebook
    8(16%)
  • Discord
    8(16%)
  • Reddit
    2(4%)
  • WhatsApp
    2(4%)
  • Circle
    1(2%)
  • Turf
    1(2%)

Format mix

  • Forum / feed-based
    26(51%)
  • Chat communities
    20(39%)
  • Other platforms
    3(6%)
  • Private membership
    2(4%)

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: 11 communities (22%)
  • Medium: 11 communities (22%)
  • Large: 11 communities (22%)
  • Huge: 5 communities (10%)
  • Massive: 2 communities (4%)
  • Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
  • Tiny
    <20 members
    1(2%)
  • Small
    20-100 members
    11(22%)
  • Medium
    100-1,000 members
    11(22%)
  • Large
    1,000-10,000 members
    11(22%)
  • Huge
    10,000-100,000 members
    5(10%)
  • Massive
    100,000-1M members
    2(4%)
  • Gigantic
    1M+ members
    0(0%)

10 communities have unknown member counts.

Free vs paid

  • Free to join: 34 communities (67%)
  • Paid or apply-to-join: 17 communities (33%)

The average is much higher than the median (29K vs 400), 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.

MetricSaaSHive Index average
Free to join67%84%
Median members40025K
Average members29K672K
Paid or apply-to-join33%16%
Live chat65%41%
Discord share16%18%

Feature Mix

Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.

Common Features

  • Forum: 34 communities (67%)
  • Live Chat: 33 communities (65%)
  • Online/Offline Events: 26 communities (51%)
  • Newsletter: 19 communities (37%)
  • Member Perks: 14 communities (27%)
  • Requires Application: 11 communities (22%)
  • Paid Community: 10 communities (20%)
  • Job Board: 9 communities (18%)
  • Forum
    67%
  • Live Chat
    65%
  • Online/Offline Events
    51%
  • Newsletter
    37%
  • Member Perks
    27%
  • Requires Application
    22%
  • Paid Community
    20%
  • Job Board
    18%

Niche Features

  • Pairing: 5 communities (10%)
  • Tools: 3 communities (6%)
  • Token: 1 communities (2%)
  • Pairing
    10%
  • Tools
    6%
  • Token
    2%

Live Chat appears on 65% of listings.

What Visitors Click

Outbound clicks / mo
971

Platform supply vs. clicks

PlatformCommunitiesShare of communitiesOutbound clicksShare of clicks
Independent Platforms1631%
182%
Slack1020%
29230%
Facebook816%
293%
Discord816%
45547%
Reddit24%
30%
WhatsApp24%
15716%
Circle12%
172%

Share is calculated within this topic.

Discord gets 47% of clicks but only 16% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.

Most-clicked formats

  • Chat communities
    904(93%)
  • Forum / feed-based
    50(5%)
  • Private membership
    17(2%)

Most-clicked features

  • Live Chat
    944(97%)
  • Forum
    566(58%)
  • Online/Offline Events
    440(45%)
  • Requires Application
    318(33%)
  • Job Board
    295(30%)
  • Newsletter
    272(28%)

Most-clicked size ranges

  • Large
    380(39%)
  • Medium
    243(25%)
  • Small
    179(18%)
  • Huge
    144(15%)
  • Massive
    3(0%)

Top-clicked listings

  • SaaS Community
    156(16%)
  • Tech Startups
    121(12%)
  • Sellers for Sellers
    107(11%)

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

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 67% overall
  • Live Chatover-indexes86%vs 65% overall
  • Member Perksover-indexes71%vs 27% overall
  • Newsletterover-indexes57%vs 37% overall
  • Paid Communityover-indexes57%vs 20% overall

Based on 7 communities rated 4+ stars.

Highly rated examples

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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