Circle is a polished place to run a community. Eden gives your members the same kind of chat and events, plus a Library (Eden's forum) for posts worth keeping, in apps on iOS and Android, and puts your store, courses, coaching, and email on the same plan. No $99 email add-on.
Start freeChecked October 9, 2026
Circle is the most polished community platform: spaces, chat, events, live streams, and courses, from $89 a month billed yearly plus 2%. Email is a $99 add-on, and a branded app needs Circle Plus. Eden gives your community a chat with channels, a Library, events, and member apps, and runs your store, courses, coaching, and email on the same plan from $29. On fees alone, Circle keeps more of a big community's revenue. Pick Eden if the community is one part of what you sell.
A community is a store product. Free, monthly, yearly, or included with your course, sold from the same page and checkout as your other products.
Email is in the plan. Broadcasts on Starter, sequences on Pro, and a sequence that starts when someone joins a community. On Circle, email is a $99 a month add-on.
Everything you sell beside it. Courses, coaching, paid calls, downloads, and Custom AIs, plus scheduling and research for the posts that bring people in.
Channels that show what's new. Each channel shows its last message, and you set the order. Members see where the talk is before they tap.
Threads with their own inbox. Reply in a thread so the main chat stays readable. Every thread someone is in waits in one inbox.
Voice notes, photos, forwarding. Members send voice notes and photo grids, @mention each other, and forward a good message to another channel.
A Library next to the chat. Guides, breakdowns, and wins in categories you set, with pinned posts, covers, and video. The good answers don't scroll away.
Sync to calendar. Members add every event to their own calendar once, and it stays current when you move or cancel one.
Profiles that carry over. A photo, a headline, a bio, and links. One profile per person across every community they're in.
Apply first if you want. Turn on applications and accept or decline each person before they can join or pay.
A welcome pop-up and an email. New members see your rules and your welcome the first time they open the community, and get a welcome email.
Quiet by default for new members. Links from new free members wait for review for a day, and slow mode keeps a busy channel calm.
Checked October 9, 2026. A dash means the tool does not do it.
Based on published product information. Features and prices can change.
Pick Circle if the community is the whole business and it makes more than a few thousand dollars a month, where its 2% or 1% fee keeps more. Pick it too if you need a branded app in your own name (Circle Plus) or member DMs.
Pick Eden if the community is one part of what you sell. Your chat, Library, and events sit next to your store, courses, coaching, and email list, on one plan from $29.
Monthly plans plus platform fees on sales. Payment processing comes out on both sides and is left out here.
With email on both sides, Eden Pro costs less up to about $3,600 a month in community sales. Past that, Circle's 2% wins. Eden Max matches the 2% for $11 a month more than this Circle setup, with the store, coaching, and scheduling included.
Import your members. Export your member list from Circle, import it in Customers, and pick your community. Everyone on the list gets in without paying again.
Or send one link. Share your community's join link. Members who already have access go straight in; everyone else lands on the page to join.
Paid members subscribe again. Circle's subscriptions don't move over, so paying members start a new membership on Eden, paid to your own Stripe.
Verified October 9, 2026. Competitor pricing changes; check their site to confirm.
Circle starts at $89 a month billed yearly plus 2%, and email adds $99. Eden runs a community on Starter at $29 plus 5% with email included. On fees alone Circle wins past about $2,000 a month against Starter; with email counted, Eden Pro costs less up to about $3,600.
Yes, if the community is one part of what you sell. Eden communities have a chat with channels and threads, a Library (Eden's forum), events with Sync to calendar, member profiles, and apps on iOS and Android, and the same plan runs your store, courses, coaching, and email. Circle keeps the edge on fees for a big community, member DMs, live streams, your own domain, and a branded app on Circle Plus.
Circle Professional is $89 a month billed yearly plus 2% per sale, and Email Hub adds $99 a month for 10,000 contacts. Eden runs one community on Starter at $29 a month plus 5%, three on Pro at $79, and unlimited on Max at $199 with a 2% fee, with email included. Neither caps members. On fees alone Circle keeps more once sales pass about $2,000 a month against Eden Starter.
No. Members use the Eden app on iOS and Android, which is free for them and included on every plan that runs a community. Circle's own app works the same way on its standard plans; an app in your own name needs Circle Plus, which is custom priced.
Yes. Starter includes broadcasts to 10,000 contacts with 10,000 sends a month, and Pro adds sequences with 50,000 contacts. You can start a sequence when someone joins a community. On Circle, email is the Email Hub add-on at $99 a month for 10,000 contacts, included only on Circle Plus.
Yes. Export your members from Circle, then open Store → Customers → Import customers in Eden, upload the list, and pick your community. Everyone on it gets in without paying again. Paying members start a new membership on Eden, paid to your own Stripe account.
Circle is the most polished community platform: spaces, chat, events, live streams, and courses, from $89 a month billed yearly plus 2%. Email is a $99 add-on, and a branded app needs Circle Plus. Eden gives your community a chat with channels, a Library (Eden's forum), events, and member apps, and runs your store, courses, coaching, and email on the same plan from $29. On fees alone, Circle keeps more of a big community's revenue. Pick Eden if the community is one part of what you sell.
Yes. Circle MCP is official and runs on Circle's Admin API, on Business plans and up, with each action counting against the plan's monthly API requests. Eden's MCP is official too and comes with every plan that runs a community: from Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor you can set up channels and Library categories, post, add events, moderate, and run your store and email.
A community feed, classroom, and calendar in one place.
A community platform with courses, events, livestreams, and apps.
Free group chat with servers, channels, voice, and video.
An all-in-one platform for courses, websites, email, and communities.
A marketplace and payments platform for selling access, courses, and communities.
Memberships for creators, with posts, chats, and an app fans know.
Chat, a Library, events, and member apps, with your store and your emails on the same plan. From $29 a month.
Start your community