Executive Summary
We analyzed 85 writing communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: writing communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically
- Communities
- 85
- Platforms
- 12
- Avg members
- 423K
- Median members
- 16K
Where Writing Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 26 communities (31%)
- Reddit: 22 communities (26%)
- Facebook: 10 communities (12%)
- Skool: 6 communities (7%)
- Slack: 5 communities (6%)
- WhatsApp: 5 communities (6%)
- Discord: 4 communities (5%)
- X / Twitter: 2 communities (2%)
- Circle: 2 communities (2%)
- LinkedIn: 1 communities (1%)
- Mighty Networks: 1 communities (1%)
- Meetup: 1 communities (1%)
- 26(31%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 22(26%)
Reddit - 10(12%)
Facebook - 6(7%)
Skool - 5(6%)
Slack - 5(6%)
WhatsApp - 4(5%)
Discord - 2(2%)
X / Twitter
Format mix
- 58(68%)Forum / feed-based
- 14(16%)Chat communities
- 9(11%)Private membership
- 4(5%)Other platforms
Most listings are forum / feed-based (68%).
Independent Platforms leads, but Reddit and Facebook also represent meaningful shares.
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
- Small: 1 communities (1%)
- Medium: 6 communities (7%)
- Large: 21 communities (25%)
- Huge: 24 communities (28%)
- Massive: 10 communities (12%)
- Gigantic: 3 communities (4%)
- 0(0%)Tiny<20 members
- 1(1%)Small20-100 members
- 6(7%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 21(25%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 24(28%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 10(12%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 3(4%)Gigantic1M+ members
20 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 72 communities (85%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 13 communities (15%)
The average is much higher than the median (423K vs 16K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Writing Differs From Other Categories
Writing is smaller, and more platform-diverse, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Writing | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 85% | 84% |
| Median members | 16K | 25K |
| Average members | 423K | 668K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 15% | 16% |
| Live chat | 34% | 41% |
| Discord share | 5% | 17% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Forum: 60 communities (71%)
- Live Chat: 29 communities (34%)
- Newsletter: 15 communities (18%)
- Online/Offline Events: 14 communities (16%)
- 71%Forum
- 34%Live Chat
- 18%Newsletter
- 16%Online/Offline Events
Niche Features
- Paid Community: 12 communities (14%)
- Courses: 9 communities (11%)
- Job Board: 9 communities (11%)
- Member Perks: 6 communities (7%)
- Pairing: 4 communities (5%)
- Tools: 2 communities (2%)
- Requires Application: 1 communities (1%)
- Token: 1 communities (1%)
- 14%Paid Community
- 11%Courses
- 11%Job Board
- 7%Member Perks
- 5%Pairing
- 2%Tools
- 1%Requires Application
- 1%Token
Forum appears on 71% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 175
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Platforms | 26 | 31% | 31 | 18% |
| 22 | 26% | 13 | 8% | |
| 10 | 12% | 31 | 18% | |
| Skool | 6 | 7% | 1 | 1% |
| Slack | 5 | 6% | 11 | 6% |
| Discord | 4 | 5% | 67 | 39% |
| X / Twitter | 2 | 2% | 6 | 3% |
| Circle | 2 | 2% | 3 | 2% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Discord gets 39% of clicks but only 5% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 78(45%)Chat communities
- 75(43%)Forum / feed-based
- 14(8%)Private membership
- 6(3%)Other platforms
Most-clicked features
- 100(58%)Live Chat
- 89(51%)Forum
- 30(17%)Newsletter
- 25(14%)Online/Offline Events
- 23(13%)Courses
- 13(8%)Pairing
Most-clicked size ranges
- 56(32%)Large
- 45(26%)Huge
- 39(23%)Medium
- 12(7%)Massive
- 3(2%)Gigantic
Top-clicked listings
- 28(16%)Script Hive
- 25(14%)Absolute Write Discord
- 10(6%)Writers Unite!
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 1975: 1 communities (2%)
- 1981: 1 communities (2%)
- 1996: 1 communities (2%)
- 2003: 1 communities (2%)
- 2006: 1 communities (2%)
- 2008: 4 communities (10%)
- 2009: 5 communities (12%)
- 2010: 1 communities (2%)
- 2011: 2 communities (5%)
- 2012: 1 communities (2%)
- 2013: 3 communities (7%)
- 2014: 1 communities (2%)
- 2015: 4 communities (10%)
- 2016: 1 communities (2%)
- 2017: 3 communities (7%)
- 2018: 3 communities (7%)
- 2019: 2 communities (5%)
- 2020: 2 communities (5%)
- 2021: 2 communities (5%)
- 2022: 2 communities (5%)
44 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2009.
Community Quality & Ratings
Only 2 communities have ratings so far, so read this as a small sample.
5.0 average rating across 2 communities.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Writing. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.
Updated periodically