Community Platforms host branded online communities, member forums, and customer-and-prospect networks owned and operated by the brand — separate from public social networks. The category exists because brands want defensible owned-audience assets that don't depend on Meta or TikTok algorithm changes, and because B2B and DTC brands increasingly use communities for product-led growth and customer advocacy. Core capabilities include forums and discussion boards, gated and tiered membership, real-time chat, live events, member directories, content/course delivery within community, gamification, and CRM/MAP integrations. The market spans modern community platforms (Circle, Mighty Networks, Discord for brand servers, Bevy, Discourse, Skool) and enterprise/forum platforms (Hivebrite).