Tools and providers
Part of Mighty Networks vs Kajabi vs Circle UK: which suits your community?
Mighty Networks vs Kajabi vs Circle UK: which suits your community?
A UK comparison of Mighty Networks, Kajabi and Circle with sterling guide prices, VAT treatment, plan tiers, community features and GDPR duties.
What to take away
- Mighty Networks suits a community-first membership, with spaces, courses and payments in one product.
- Kajabi suits a course-first business that wants a community attached to teaching.
- Circle suits a member-led space built on threads, events and a clear member view.
- UK list prices are in US dollars, so ask for a sterling quote and written VAT treatment.
- Your organisation stays the controller under UK GDPR, whatever platform you pick.
UK pricing, VAT and plan tiers
No platform publishes a fixed GBP price list. The public list prices are in US dollars. Converted at £1 = $1.27, the figures below are indicative and exclude VAT. UK VAT standard rate is 20%. A UK business may use the reverse charge on an overseas invoice. A consumer may see VAT added at checkout.
Indicative GBP monthly prices
Mighty Networks
- Entry tier
- £39
- Mid tier
- £141
- Top tier
- Custom
- VAT
- Check
Kajabi
- Entry tier
- £70
- Mid tier
- £141
- Top tier
- £314
- VAT
- Check
Circle
- Entry tier
- £70
- Mid tier
- £157
- Top tier
- £314
- VAT
- Check
Public plan tiers
- Mighty Networks
- Community $49; Business $179; Mighty Pro custom
- Kajabi
- Kickstarter $89; Basic $179; Growth $249; Pro $399
- Circle
- Basic $89; Professional $199; Business $399
Indicative GBP per month
- Mighty Networks
- About £39; about £141; custom
- Kajabi
- About £70; about £141; about £196; about £314
- Circle
- About £70; about £157; about £314
UK VAT note
- Mighty Networks
- Ask if VAT is added or reverse charged
- Kajabi
- Check renewal VAT and currency
- Circle
- Confirm hosting region and VAT invoice
These are not quotes. Suppliers can change list prices. Ask for a written sterling quote that states the plan, billing period, VAT and renewal terms. Set those quotes beside what UK SMEs budget for community software.
Check what triggers a tier change. Member numbers, admin seats or a gated feature can move you up. A plan that looks cheaper at launch can cost more once a second moderator joins.
Community features compared
Kajabi began as a course-hosting product. Its community sits inside a teaching frame.
Community features at a glance
Mighty Networks
- Main strength
- Community-first
- Spaces
- Spaces, feed, chat
- Courses
- Attached
- Payments
- Stripe
- Member app
- iOS, Android
- Data export
- Member data
Kajabi
- Main strength
- Courses
- Spaces
- Inside a course
- Courses
- Core product
- Payments
- Stripe, PayPal
- Member app
- Courses app
- Data export
- Contacts, members
Circle
- Main strength
- Member-led
- Spaces
- Spaces and threads
- Courses
- Available
- Payments
- Stripe
- Member app
- Members app
- Data export
- Member data
Mighty Networks
- Main strength
- Community-first memberships
- Spaces or groups
- Spaces, feed and chat
- Courses
- Yes, attached to membership
- Payments
- Built-in payments via Stripe
- Member app
- iOS and Android app
- Moderation
- Moderator roles and member controls
- Data export
- Member data export
Kajabi
- Main strength
- Courses and marketing
- Spaces or groups
- Community area inside a course
- Courses
- Yes, core product
- Payments
- Stripe and PayPal
- Member app
- Mobile app for courses
- Moderation
- Moderator tools
- Data export
- Contact and member export
Circle
- Main strength
- Member-led spaces
- Spaces or groups
- Spaces and threads
- Courses
- Yes, courses available
- Payments
- Payments via Stripe
- Member app
- Mobile app for members
- Moderation
- Moderator roles and approvals
- Data export
- Member data export
Verify each row with a trial. Ask each supplier to show a member joining, being welcomed, then leaving with their data intact. Marketing pages rarely show the moderator's screen. Ask for it directly.
Test search as well. A community of two hundred people can survive weak search. A community of two thousand cannot. Ask about the mobile experience. Most members arrive on a phone. A slow platform loses people before a moderator meets them.
Data protection and moderation duties
Your organisation is the controller, so the obligations are yours rather than the platform's. The Data Protection Act 2018 sits alongside the UK GDPR. You still need a lawful basis, a retention rule and a route for member rights requests.
A processing addendum that names sub-processors and a hosting region is more useful than a badge on a pricing page. The ICO's advice for small organisations covers the practical steps when nobody in the business owns data protection.
If members can post to each other, moderation duties apply on top. Budget for cover in the same line as the licence. The GDPR duties that fall on community software buyers are the ones to map before procurement starts.
Use Stripe for card payments and Xero for VAT records. Stripe processes cards and can send receipts. Xero records VAT and helps you keep an audit trail. Neither makes the platform compliant on its own.
A five-step decision sequence
- Write down, in one sentence, what the community must do in its first ninety days.
- Ask all three for a sterling quote with VAT treatment and renewal terms in writing.
- Request the processing addendum, the hosting region and the deletion rules.
- Run a trial with two moderators and test joining, search, notification and export.
- Set an exit date now and confirm what an export actually returns.
Common questions
Which of the three is cheapest for a small UK business?
None is reliably cheapest, because plan tiers and currency conversion move the figure. Get three written sterling quotes for the same membership number and compare those, not the pricing pages.
Does the platform make us compliant with UK GDPR?
No. The platform is a processor at most, while your organisation remains the controller and keeps the duties. Check the addendum, the hosting region and the retention settings.
Can we move to another platform later?
Usually yes, but the export decides how painful it is. Test what comes out before you sign, and keep member email addresses in a system you control.
Do moderation duties change the choice?
They can. If members post to each other, you need a moderation rota and a record of decisions, whatever platform you pick.
