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Medium VS Circle.so

Compare Medium VS Circle.so and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. ยป Base Details
  2. ยป Videos
  3. ยป Reviews
  4. ยป Alternatives

Medium logo Medium

Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.

Circle.so logo Circle.so

Bring together your discussions, memberships, and content. Integrate a thriving community wherever your audience is, all under your own brand.
  • Medium Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-08
  • Circle.so Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-14

Medium features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Medium offers an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple for anyone to start writing and publishing content without any technical knowledge.
  • Built-in Audience
    The platform has a large and active user base, so new content has the potential to reach a wide audience quickly.
  • Publishing Tools
    Medium provides versatile publishing tools that support text, images, and various media formats, which helps in creating rich and engaging content.
  • SEO Benefits
    Articles posted on Medium tend to rank well in search engine results, thanks to the platform's high domain authority.
  • Community and Interaction
    Medium encourages reader engagement through comments, claps, and highlights, fostering a sense of community among writers and readers.

Possible disadvantages of Medium

  • Monetization
    While Medium has a Partner Program, it may not be as lucrative as other methods of monetization available on independent blogging platforms.
  • Control and Customization
    Medium offers limited customization options compared to dedicated blog platforms like WordPress, restricting how you can brand and personalize your blog.
  • Content Ownership
    By publishing on Medium, you agree to their terms and conditions, which may include giving up some control over how your content is used and distributed.
  • Paywall Issues
    Some articles are placed behind a paywall, which might limit the reach of your content if you want it to be freely accessible to everyone.
  • Dependency on Platform
    Relying solely on Medium means that any changes to the platform's policies or algorithms can directly impact your reach and engagement.

Circle.so features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Circle.so offers an intuitive and clean design that makes it easy for users to navigate and engage with the community features.
  • Customization Options
    Users can customize their communityโ€™s look, feel, and functionality to align with their brand, making it a versatile platform.
  • Integrated Monetization
    Circle.so provides built-in tools for monetization, such as the ability to charge for memberships, courses, and events, which helps creators generate revenue.
  • Robust Community Features
    The platform includes various features like forums, chats, events, and live streams, enabling rich interactions and engagement within the community.
  • Scalability
    Circle.so can support communities of different sizes, from small groups to large organizations, allowing for growth and adaptability.
  • Integration with Other Tools
    The platform integrates with popular tools and services like Zapier, Slack, and third-party membership platforms to enhance functionality and connectivity.

Possible disadvantages of Circle.so

  • Pricing
    Circle.so can be relatively expensive, with pricing plans that may not be affordable for all individuals or small businesses.
  • Learning Curve
    While user-friendly, some users may still face a learning curve in terms of fully utilizing all the platformโ€™s features and customization options.
  • Limited Built-In Analytics
    The platform's built-in analytics capabilities are somewhat limited, which can make it harder for community managers to track detailed engagement and performance metrics.
  • Dependence on Internet Connectivity
    Circle.so is a cloud-based platform, so a stable internet connection is required at all times to access the community features, which can be a disadvantage for users with unreliable internet.
  • Feature Overwhelm
    The abundance of features can be overwhelming for new users, making it challenging to determine which tools are most beneficial for their specific community needs.

Analysis of Medium

Overall verdict

  • Medium can be considered a good platform for those who enjoy a wide array of content and appreciate quality writing on diverse subjects. However, the value of Medium depends on individual preferences and whether the topics and writing styles align with what the reader is looking for.

Why this product is good

  • Medium offers a diverse range of articles from both professional and amateur writers, providing readers with numerous perspectives on various topics. Its clean user interface and ease of use make it an appealing platform for both writers and readers. The platform also supports monetization for writers, allowing them to earn from their content.

Recommended for

    Medium is recommended for avid readers seeking a variety of topics ranging from personal development to technology. It's also ideal for writers looking to publish their work to a broad audience and potentially earn revenue through the platform's Partner Program.

Analysis of Circle.so

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Circle.so is a robust and effective tool for community building, offering ample features to enhance engagement and communication among members.

Why this product is good

  • Circle.so is considered a good platform for building and maintaining online communities due to its user-friendly interface, customizable spaces, and integration capabilities. It allows creators to gather their audiences, share content, and engage in meaningful interactions through features like discussion forums, live streams, and group events.

Recommended for

    Circle.so is recommended for content creators, educators, coaches, and organizations seeking to build strong and interactive online communities. It's particularly beneficial for those who want to monetize their communities or create exclusive spaces for member interaction.

Medium videos

+ Add

Medium Review - with Tom Vasel

More videos:

  • Review - Starting a blog on Medium.com? Watch this FIRST.
  • Review - The Medium Review
  • Review - The Medium - Before You Buy
  • Review - I recommend: The Medium (Review)

Circle.so videos

+ Add

Circle.So Review: A First Look at Circle, the NEW SASS For Building Online Communities Without Code

More videos:

  • Review - Circle.so Review: Is this the best community platform for creators?
  • Tutorial - Learn how to Use Circle.So: Add Spaces, Structure Your Community and Monetize Your Platform

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Medium and Circle.so)

Medium

Circle.so

Blogging
100 100%
Blogging
0% 0
Community Platform
0 0%
Community Platform
100% 100
Blogging Platform
100 100%
Blogging Platform
0% 0
Community Management
0 0%
Community Management
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Medium and Circle.so. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Medium and Circle.so

Medium Reviews

19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
Medium focuses on thoughtful content and community engagement. It offers a user-friendly interface, a large readership base, and various features for writers and readers.
Source: www.pixpa.com
25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
Medium is an online platform that was created in 2012 by Evan Williams. It is a place for people to share their thoughts and ideas on various topics. Medium has about 100 million monthly visitors, which makes it one of the most popular platforms for publishing articles.
Source: forgefusion.io
10 Best Medium Alternatives for Reading and Publishing
From thะต simplicity of Ghost to thะต vะตrsatility of Substack, thะตrะตโ€™s a homะต for ะตvะตryonะต seeking great Medium alternatives. Thะตsะต altะตrnativะตs offะตr a world of possibilitiะตs for rะตadะตrs and authors alikะต. Whะตthะตr youโ€™rะต in sะตarch of a uniquะต platform to sharะต your thoughts or want to read frะตsh contะตnt, thะตsะต platforms havะต somะตthing spะตcial to offะตr. All in all, we...
Source: www.geeksforgeeks.org
9 Best Medium Alternatives for Making Money With Your Writing in 2023
Substack and Medium differ primarily in their monetization methods. Medium pays creators based on reader engagement, while Substack enables writers to monetize directly through paid subscriptions to their newsletters. This business model allows Substack users to build a direct relationship with their readers via their email inboxes, whereas Medium interactions primarily...
Source: www.authorityhacker.com
How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform in 2021 (Compared)
Medium works much like a social networking site where you can create an account and start publishing your articles. After you sign up, youโ€™ll have a profile address like this: https://medium.com/@yourname. But you cannot use your own domain.
Source: www.wpbeginner.com

Circle.so Reviews

The Top Free and Paid Teachable Alternatives For Creators
While Circle offers video and social integrations, itโ€™s missing quite a number of features on the sales and market side. For example, it doesnโ€™t allow you to create in-app sales funnels with customizable landing pages and checkout for selling community memberships. It also doesnโ€™t offer any native or third-party email marketing tools.
Source: www.thinkific.com
20 Telegram Alternatives to Chat With in 2024
Like Mighty Networks, Circle is a community platform that can work as an alternative to Telegram. It has a combination of forum, course, and livestreaming features to build a community around a shared interest. And your members can share text and video content.
Source: www.mightynetworks.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Medium seems to be a lot more popular than Circle.so. While we know about 3077 links to Medium, we've tracked only 32 mentions of Circle.so. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Medium mentions (3077)

  • Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (July 2026)
    Io_uring, concurrency, TCP, mmap, systems programming Rรฉsumรฉ/CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dQrgGxvun68WMty-m7A-wsR7KF3gxKdU/view?usp=sharing Email: ashishrathour1102@gmail.com GitHub: https://github.com/AasheeshLikePanner Backend and infrastructure engineer focused on systems programming in Go. I build low-level infrastructure from scratch and benchmark it honestly. Recent projects: vase โ€” a pub/sub broker... - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
  • GLM5.2 on AMD MI355X at 2626 tok/s/node at over 2x lower cost than Blackwell
    Not a new phenomena - performance per dollar has been fairly steadily exponentialling since 1900 or so 1900 - 2010 https://www.thekurzweillibrary.com/exponential-growth-of-computing 1939 - 2023 https://medium.com/@timventura/kurzweils-law-for-the-ai-age-b00e82c84d5c. - Source: Hacker News / 2 days ago
  • The Egg Bandits Made a Thousand Times the Fine They Just Paid for Price Fixing
    QB House and its many imitators would like a word. It's a genuine mystery to me why these "fast haircut" chains are ubiquitous in Asia but unknown in the West. https://medium.com/@justin.tan/qb-house-back-to-basics-business-model-innovation-in-the-mens-haircutting-industry-c23893095e13. - Source: Hacker News / 4 days ago
  • Fable 5 Is Back
    It has. We can see 3.5 started with text adventure games https://medium.com/@duncanariey/using-chatgpt-to-make-the-ittiest-bittiest-text-based-adventure-game-f642e8da4dad and with 4.0 it moved up to pong https://x.com/skirano/status/1635736107949195278 As the generations increase, so too has the complexity of the games it can one-shot. - Source: Hacker News / 4 days ago
  • Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (July 2026)
    Location: San Diego, CA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Maybe. Technologies: I'm a full-stack growth marketer with enough coding chops to prototype MVPs. Worked in the blockchain sector for the past 7 years and would like to transition into an AI-enabled consumer product. Some of my writing (before AI/LLMs) straight from the dome: https://medium.com/@dilanka Resume/Work: https://tinyurl.com/bdzez9cv Email:... - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
View more

Circle.so mentions (32)

  • Collaboration Circles for Developers (2026)
    Circle.so is a platform designed for online communities, with sub-groups, private spaces, etc. Ideal for creating private circles: you could set up an "Angular/React/AI circle" of 5 people and use Circle's functionalities to schedule meetings, chats, shared files. Advantage: more structured, ideal for your 5-person model. Limitation: may have a cost or require configuration. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Do you guys know of another platform where people can talk, but is less anonymous than reddit? Allows for more of a sense of connecting with real people in a safe way.
    Https://cptsdfoundation.org/ has a group that you can interact with using https://circle.so/. Membership is 5 bucks a month, and to me, while I was using it, it was a very welcoming community. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Tell HN: DuckDuckGo Search Results have jumped the shark
    Https://circle.so/pricing/ I would guess even if DDG protects your privacy, it would use information (perhaps search and or site history) the browser is broadcasting regardless to filter results it pipes to the end point. For example I never see quora results (honestly it's been some years so I'd forgotten they existed still) as some members in this thread were annoyed with and paid to be done with them ... Then... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Which nocode tool to build an online academy?
    What is the reason you are trying to go custom? https://circle.so this is probably the best platform I have seen. Big and small companies use it (even webflow) so it has great adoption works well. I would stay away from a custom solution when there are wonderful tools like circle out there. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Show HN: Engineering Book Club
    I am also curious about the logistics of the club. It seems to be this: https://circle.so. - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Medium and Circle.so, you can also consider the following products

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

Mighty Networks - Mighty Networks enables entrepreneurs, organizations, and companies to create and grow a community-powered brand.

DEV.to - Where software engineers connect, build their resumes, and grow.

UUKI Live - UUKI helps you build meaningful relationships within your community through events, newsletters, and a community page

WordPress - WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

Bettermode - Create community sites, code-free.

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