Executive Summary
We analyzed 87 tech communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: tech communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically
- Communities
- 87
- Platforms
- 12
- Avg members
- 640K
- Median members
- 3K
Where Tech Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 20 communities (23%)
- Discord: 20 communities (23%)
- Slack: 19 communities (22%)
- Reddit: 8 communities (9%)
- WhatsApp: 6 communities (7%)
- Facebook: 5 communities (6%)
- Circle: 2 communities (2%)
- LinkedIn: 2 communities (2%)
- X / Twitter: 2 communities (2%)
- Telegram: 1 communities (1%)
- Mighty Networks: 1 communities (1%)
- Discourse: 1 communities (1%)
- 20(23%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 20(23%)
Discord - 19(22%)
Slack - 8(9%)
Reddit - 6(7%)
WhatsApp - 5(6%)
Facebook - 2(2%)Circle
- 2(2%)
LinkedIn
Format mix
- 46(53%)Chat communities
- 34(39%)Forum / feed-based
- 4(5%)Other platforms
- 3(3%)Private membership
Chat communities is most common (53%), but forum / feed-based is also well represented (39%).
Independent Platforms leads, but Discord and Slack also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 4 communities (5%)
- Small: 2 communities (2%)
- Medium: 16 communities (18%)
- Large: 25 communities (29%)
- Huge: 11 communities (13%)
- Massive: 2 communities (2%)
- Gigantic: 6 communities (7%)
- 4(5%)Tiny<20 members
- 2(2%)Small20-100 members
- 16(18%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 25(29%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 11(13%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 2(2%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 6(7%)Gigantic1M+ members
21 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 75 communities (86%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 12 communities (14%)
The average is much higher than the median (640K vs 3K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Tech Differs From Other Categories
Tech is smaller, more platform-diverse, and more chat-heavy, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Tech | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 86% | 84% |
| Median members | 3K | 25K |
| Average members | 640K | 668K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 14% | 16% |
| Live chat | 59% | 41% |
| Discord share | 23% | 18% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Live Chat: 51 communities (59%)
- Forum: 48 communities (55%)
- Online/Offline Events: 32 communities (37%)
- Newsletter: 25 communities (29%)
- Job Board: 19 communities (22%)
- Pairing: 17 communities (20%)
- Courses: 13 communities (15%)
- Member Perks: 13 communities (15%)
- 59%Live Chat
- 55%Forum
- 37%Online/Offline Events
- 29%Newsletter
- 22%Job Board
- 20%Pairing
- 15%Courses
- 15%Member Perks
Niche Features
- Paid Community: 8 communities (9%)
- Requires Application: 5 communities (6%)
- Tools: 3 communities (3%)
- Token: 1 communities (1%)
- 9%Paid Community
- 6%Requires Application
- 3%Tools
- 1%Token
Live Chat appears on 59% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 342
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Platforms | 20 | 23% | 10 | 3% |
| Discord | 20 | 23% | 161 | 48% |
| Slack | 19 | 22% | 122 | 36% |
| 8 | 9% | 9 | 3% | |
| 6 | 7% | 1 | 0% | |
| Circle | 2 | 2% | 12 | 4% |
| X / Twitter | 2 | 2% | 9 | 3% |
| Telegram | 1 | 1% | 2 | 1% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Discord gets 48% of clicks but only 23% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 286(85%)Chat communities
- 22(7%)Private membership
- 19(6%)Forum / feed-based
- 9(3%)Other platforms
Most-clicked features
- 298(89%)Live Chat
- 179(53%)Online/Offline Events
- 141(42%)Newsletter
- 113(34%)Pairing
- 112(33%)Forum
- 104(31%)Job Board
Most-clicked size ranges
- 140(42%)Large
- 127(38%)Huge
- 44(13%)Medium
- 8(2%)Gigantic
- 3(1%)Massive
Top-clicked listings
- 52(15%)All Things YC
- 48(14%)NYCTech
- 34(10%)Tech Workers Club
Most clicks go to chat communities and private membership communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 2008: 2 communities (8%)
- 2010: 2 communities (8%)
- 2011: 1 communities (4%)
- 2015: 1 communities (4%)
- 2016: 3 communities (13%)
- 2017: 3 communities (13%)
- 2019: 1 communities (4%)
- 2020: 7 communities (29%)
- 2021: 3 communities (13%)
- 2022: 1 communities (4%)
63 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2020.
Community Quality & Ratings
Only 4 communities have ratings so far, so read this as a small sample.
4.9 average rating across 4 communities.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Tech. 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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