SaaS Communities Report

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Executive Summary

We analyzed 50 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
50
Platforms
10
Avg members
29K
Median members
450

Where SaaS Communities Are Hosted

  • Independent Platforms: 15 communities (30%)
  • 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
    15(30%)
  • 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
    25(50%)
  • Chat communities
    20(40%)
  • Other platforms
    3(6%)
  • Private membership
    2(4%)

Forum / feed-based is most common (50%), but chat communities is also well represented (40%).

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: 10 communities (20%)
  • 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
    10(20%)
  • 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: 33 communities (66%)
  • Paid or apply-to-join: 17 communities (34%)

The average is much higher than the median (29K 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.

MetricSaaSHive Index average
Free to join66%84%
Median members45025K
Average members29K673K
Paid or apply-to-join34%16%
Live chat64%41%
Discord share16%17%

Feature Mix

Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.

Common Features

  • Forum: 34 communities (68%)
  • Live Chat: 32 communities (64%)
  • Online/Offline Events: 25 communities (50%)
  • Newsletter: 19 communities (38%)
  • Member Perks: 14 communities (28%)
  • Requires Application: 11 communities (22%)
  • Paid Community: 10 communities (20%)
  • Job Board: 9 communities (18%)
  • Forum
    68%
  • Live Chat
    64%
  • Online/Offline Events
    50%
  • Newsletter
    38%
  • Member Perks
    28%
  • 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 64% of listings.

What Visitors Click

Outbound clicks / mo
902

Platform supply vs. clicks

PlatformCommunitiesShare of communitiesOutbound clicksShare of clicks
Independent Platforms1530%
182%
Slack1020%
33737%
Facebook816%
344%
Discord816%
37742%
Reddit24%
40%
WhatsApp24%
10912%
Circle12%
172%
Turf12%
10%

Share is calculated within this topic.

Discord gets 42% of clicks but only 16% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.

Most-clicked formats

  • Chat communities
    823(92%)
  • Forum / feed-based
    56(6%)
  • Private membership
    19(2%)
  • Other platforms
    1(0%)

Most-clicked features

  • Live Chat
    868(97%)
  • Forum
    522(58%)
  • Online/Offline Events
    411(46%)
  • Requires Application
    333(37%)
  • Job Board
    263(29%)
  • Newsletter
    242(27%)

Most-clicked size ranges

  • Large
    402(45%)
  • Medium
    207(23%)
  • Huge
    132(15%)
  • Small
    129(14%)
  • Massive
    6(1%)

Top-clicked listings

  • SaaS Community
    142(16%)
  • Tech Startups
    102(11%)
  • Growth Partners
    98(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 68% overall
  • Live Chatover-indexes86%vs 64% overall
  • Member Perksover-indexes71%vs 28% overall
  • Newsletterover-indexes57%vs 38% 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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