# Circle alternatives: what AI models name instead, September 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. 138 of the 216 answers in the 1 category where Circle holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/vendors/circle/alternatives/

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- Higher Logic Vanilla: 32
- Bettermode: 12
- Gainsight Customer Communities: 11
- Discourse: 8
- Khoros Communities: 7
- Discord: 6

## Community platforms

**Small business**: 26 of 72 answers did not name Circle (Circle is #1 of 13 at 31%).

- Bettermode: first choice in 6 of those 26
- Discord: first choice in 3 of those 26
- Discourse: first choice in 3 of those 26
- Facebook Groups: first choice in 1 of those 26
- Gainsight Customer Communities: first choice in 1 of those 26
- Slack: first choice in 1 of those 26
- Slack Communities: first choice in 1 of those 26
- Zendesk Community: first choice in 1 of those 26

**Mid-market**: 46 of 72 answers did not name Circle (Circle is #3 of 14 at 15%).

- Higher Logic Vanilla: first choice in 7 of those 46
- Bettermode: first choice in 4 of those 46
- Gainsight Customer Communities: first choice in 4 of those 46
- Discord: first choice in 3 of those 46
- Discourse: first choice in 2 of those 46
- Facebook Groups: first choice in 1 of those 46
- GroupApp: first choice in 1 of those 46
- Skool: first choice in 1 of those 46

**Enterprise**: 66 of 72 answers did not name Circle (Circle is #8 of 9 at 2%).

- Higher Logic Vanilla: first choice in 25 of those 66
- Khoros Communities: first choice in 7 of those 66
- Gainsight Customer Communities: first choice in 6 of those 66
- Salesforce Experience Cloud: first choice in 5 of those 66
- Discourse: first choice in 3 of those 66
- Bettermode: first choice in 2 of those 66
- Elcom: first choice in 2 of those 66
- Khoros: first choice in 2 of those 66

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.