AR
Alex Rivera
Shipped a new prototype today. Spent way too long on the empty states but it was worth it. #design#ux
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The free, self-hosted community engine · Now live
The complete community platform for WordPress.
Ready on day one. Feed, forums, courses, events, jobs and a marketplace, all built in-house by one team, with nothing to stitch together.
Free forever. You download the zip and upload it in Plugins › Add New. The demo hands you a real community for four hours and asks for an email.
A glimpse of BuddyNext
The Home Feed, alive.
Posts, reactions, and Spaces that move on their own and respond when you tap. This is the real product UI, not a screenshot.
You
What’s on your mind?
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Sara Lindqvist
Hot take: most dashboards would be better as a single well-chosen number. #data#design
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PN
Priya Nair
Finally got dark mode pixel-perfect across the whole app. #frontend#css#accessibility
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The difference that matters
Everyone else hands you a feed. Then a shopping list.
A social feed is where most community products stop. To add forums, courses, events, or payments you go hunt down third-party plugins from different makers and hope they fit. With BuddyNext every one of those is already in the box, built by the same team.
The usual way
- Social feed plugin Vendor A
- Forum plugin Vendor B
- Courses / LMS Vendor C
- Events & RSVPs Vendor D
- Payments & memberships Vendor E
Five makers, mismatched interfaces. You wire it together and hope they get along.
BuddyNext
- Community & social layer Wbcom
- Forums & Q&A Wbcom
- Courses & LMS Wbcom
- Events & RSVPs Wbcom
- Jobs, marketplace, gamification, media Wbcom
One maker, one language, one support desk. It just works together.
The complete community stack
Not just a plugin. A complete community platform.
The engine at the core runs your feed, spaces, members, and messaging. The full ecosystem of apps plugs straight in - forums, courses, a job board, a marketplace, and more - all built and supported by one team. You get a complete community platform on day one, not a pile of plugins to assemble yourself.
- The apps 12+ Wbcom plugins extend it - forums, an LMS, a marketplace, directories, media, ads.
- The engine Feed, Spaces, members, profiles, messaging, moderation - the core that runs your community.
- Your WordPress It all lives on your server, in your own database. You own the whole stack, members included.
Your choice, plug and play
Install BuddyNext. Add any capability when you're ready.
You install BuddyNext and a complete community works from day one. When you want more, plug in any of these capabilities - forums, events, courses, a job board, a services marketplace, and more. Each one is fully functional, free to start, and built by the same team, so it just works with your community. You pick what you want, nothing to stitch together.
Grow engagement
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Forums & Q&ANew Threaded discussions, questions, and ideas your members keep coming back to. Jetonomy -
Events & RSVPsNew Events, RSVPs, and calendars your members actually show up for. Eventonomy -
Media & messagingNew Private messaging plus a full photo and video library. MediaVerse -
GamificationNew Points, badges, levels, and leaderboards that keep people active. WB Gamification -
Polls & surveys Rich polls and surveys you can drop in anywhere. WB Polls -
Member blogs Let members publish their own blogs on your site. WB Member Blog
Build a business
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Courses & LMSNew Sell courses with quizzes and certificates - a full learning platform. Learnomy -
Services marketplaceNew Let members buy and sell services right inside your community. WP Sell Services -
Jobs & resumesNew A job board and resume portal built into your community. WP Career Board -
DirectoriesNew Directories and listings of any kind, member-submitted or curated. Listora -
Ads & sponsorshipNew Run and manage ad placements to earn from your traffic. WB Ad Manager -
Meetings & bookingSoon Let members schedule meetings and book time with you. Coming soon
All from Wbcom Designs - one team, one roadmap, one support desk. No stitching together strangers’ plugins and hoping they get along.
Why one in-house platform wins
Built by one team, so the whole platform just works together.
One team builds all of it
The social layer, forums, courses, events, jobs, a marketplace and more are all made by Wbcom Designs. No third-party vendors to coordinate, no plugin roulette.
Everything speaks the same language
Because one team wrote it all, a paid plan, a moderation strike and a space ban work together out of the box. Nothing to glue, nothing to hope about.
One roadmap, one support desk
One place for updates, one place for help, for the whole platform. Not five vendors pointing at each other when something breaks.
Spaces
Rooms for every corner of your community.
Open, private, or secret. Members find their people and owners keep the right doors locked.
Design Critique
openShare work in progress and get honest, kind feedback.
248 members
Frontend Guild
openEverything CSS, a11y, and the modern web platform.
412 members
Book Club
privateOne book a month. Request to join and pick up the read.
86 members
Trail Runners
openRoutes, gear talk, and weekend meetups.
159 members
Founders Lounge
secretInvite-only room for the core team to talk shop.
12 members
Photo Walks
privateMonthly city photo walks. Share your best frame.
134 members
Why BuddyNext over the rest
Four reasons people pick BuddyNext.
Plenty of ways exist to run a community. Here is where BuddyNext is genuinely different, and honest about it.
One maker, not fifty strangers
Forums, courses, events, jobs, a marketplace and the social layer are all built by Wbcom Designs. Everything interoperates because one team wrote it, not because you got lucky wiring third-party plugins together.
Others hand you a feed, then a shopping list
Most community products give you an activity feed and stop. Forums, courses, events, payments come from other vendors you have to find, buy, and pray work together. Here they are already in the box.
You own the whole stack
Your community lives on your own WordPress, on your own server. Nothing rented from Circle, Skool, or Mighty Networks, and nobody can switch it off.
Fast, modern, and yours to extend
Built from the ground up for speed and an app-like feel, with a real REST API, hooks on every event, and Gutenberg blocks. Shape any direction you like without forking the core.
What's inside
Everything a community needs, in the box.
The free plugin already covers the essentials. Pro layers on monetization, AI, and real-time delivery when you are ready to scale.
- Activity feed & posting A real-time stream with reactions, comments, and hashtags people actually open.
- Spaces Open, private, or secret rooms so every topic gets its own home.
- Members & profiles Rich profiles, connections, and a directory members can search.
- Messaging Private one-to-one chats, right inside the community.
- Notifications & email On-site alerts and email digests that keep people coming back.
- Moderation & trust Reports, a review queue, and tools to keep things kind.
- Engagement & gamification Points, badges, and ranks that reward the people who show up.
- MonetizationPro Paid plans and members-only content, gateway-agnostic.
- AIPro Smart assists for writing, moderation, and discovery.
- Real-time & pushPro Live updates and push notifications for that instant feel.
See it for real
Not mockups. The actual product.
Every screen below is the real BuddyNext interface, running inside a real WordPress theme. This is what your members use - and what you run it with - on day one.
This is the free engine - Pro adds monetization, AI, real-time, and analytics on the same screens. Tour every feature →
Watch it in action
See every feature, in 147 short videos.
From a five-minute setup to feature-by-feature tours, free and Pro, plus real use cases. Pick a series and watch the actual product work.
A 12 videos Online Community Platform for WordPress You Fully Own What BuddyNext is, why you own it, and the community you can run on WordPress. Watch series → B 9 videos Skool and Mighty Networks Alternative You Actually Own A self-hosted alternative to the SaaS platforms - keep your members, data, and money. Watch series → C 6 videos How to Create a Social Network: Full Step-by-Step Guide Long-form, start-to-finish builds: setup, a full tour, courses, memberships, moderation. Watch series → D 9 videos Community Website Builder: Courses, Memberships, Forums, Jobs WordPress as a community website builder - courses, memberships, forums, jobs, a store. Watch series → E 8 videos Community Website Examples: Real Online Community Ideas Real community ideas you can build - coaching, alumni, gaming, SaaS, nonprofit and more. Watch series → F 21 videos How to Use an Online Community Platform (Member Guide) The member experience, step by step - sign up, profile, feed, spaces, messaging, search. Watch series → G 22 videos How to Build a Social Network Website on WordPress (Setup Guide) Every admin screen for site owners - wizard, branding, features, members, moderation. Watch series → H 20 videos Social Network Plugin for WordPress: Full Feature Tour (Free) Every free feature, one short tour at a time. Watch series → I 21 videos Online Community Software: Memberships, Analytics and AI Tools Every Pro feature, one short tour at a time. Watch series → J 13 videos How to Build a Paid Membership Community Website (WordPress) Pro admin setup - tiers, Stripe, drips, broadcasts, real-time, moderation. Watch series → K 6 videos Membership Community Website for Members: Gated Content and Plans The Pro member side - membership, gated spaces, custom reactions, advanced search, badges. Watch series →
How it stacks up
They built a feature. We built the whole platform.
Most alternatives cover one slice and send you assembling third-party plugins for the rest. With BuddyNext every capability installs free and switches on like a module - one platform, one team, all built to work together.
- Activity feed & community A typical stack Built in BuddyNext Included
- Member profiles & directory A typical stack Built in BuddyNext Included
- Forums & discussions A typical stack Built in BuddyNext Included
- Private & group messaging A typical stack Built in BuddyNext Included
- Courses & LMS A typical stack Separate plugin BuddyNext Included
- Events & RSVPs A typical stack Separate plugin BuddyNext Included
- Job board & resumes A typical stack Separate plugin BuddyNext Included
- Services marketplace A typical stack Separate plugin BuddyNext Included
- Directories & listings A typical stack Separate plugin BuddyNext Included
- Gamification & leaderboards A typical stack Separate plugin BuddyNext Included
- Moderation suite A typical stack Built in BuddyNext Included
- Memberships & paywalls A typical stack Separate plugin BuddyNext Included
A typical stack 5 of 12 built in 7 more you’d bolt on or can’t get
BuddyNext 12 of 12 included every base included; a few have an optional Pro tier
All-in-one The work of a dozen tools Community, forums, events, courses, jobs, a marketplace and more, in one platform instead of a dozen separate products to buy and wire together.
Fair price Free to start, Pro from $149 A single fair price for BuddyNext Pro, not a separate plan for every feature, and no per-member SaaS bill that climbs as you grow.
Try it live A real sandbox, not a tour Your own throwaway BuddyNext site with full admin, yours for four hours. It asks for an email. See what you get →
Fast Built for performance Modern and self-hosted, engineered to stay quick from fifty members to fifty thousand.
Loved by community builders
From the team behind BuddyX, Reign, and Jetonomy.
Wbcom Designs' verified Trustpilot standing, the team that builds BuddyNext. BuddyNext itself is newly launched, so these reviews are for the team and its wider plugin family.
I wanted to build a community website and these guys created the perfect plugins for me. To be honest, I want to buy every single one of their plugins.
We use BuddyPress with several free plugins from Wbcom Designs and we are extremely satisfied. They add real value for our community, are updated regularly, and continuously improved.
After 16 years of buying WordPress themes and plugins, I know exactly what bad support looks like, and Wbcom Designs is the polar opposite.
I have been frustrated by slow support for most themes and plugins, but they are helpful and quick to reply. Highly recommend.
A Wbcom Designs product, led by vapvarun.
13+ years and 50+ BuddyPress add-ons of community-building experience, distilled into BuddyNext.
The next generation
Built for what communities are becoming.
Premium UX on par with the apps your members already live in, on a platform you own. An installable PWA ships today, so members can add it to their home screen right now - native iOS and Android apps are on the roadmap for next quarter.
- Membership communities
- Brand & fan spaces
- Cohort & course groups
- Creator audiences
- Support communities
- Internal teams
From the blog
Building the future of community.
Community
Online Community Platforms: How to Choose One
A guide to the real types of online community platforms, who each one actually suits, and the mistakes people make picking between them.
Read →Guides
How to build an online community people actually use
A practical, platform-agnostic guide to building an online community from scratch - picking a home, seeding the first conversations, and keeping people coming back.
Read →Guides
Self-hosted vs hosted community platform: how to choose
The honest trade-offs between a self-hosted community platform you own and a hosted SaaS you rent - cost, control, data ownership, and effort - so you can pick with clear eyes.
Read →Common questions
Questions people ask first.
Is BuddyNext really free?
Yes. BuddyNext Free is a complete, self-hosted community platform you can run forever at no cost - feed, spaces, members, messaging, and moderation. Pro is an optional upgrade for monetization, AI, real-time, and priority support.
Is BuddyNext self-hosted or a hosted service?
Self-hosted. BuddyNext installs on your own WordPress site, so your members, content, and data live in your own database on your own hosting. There is no platform in the middle and no monthly per-member fee.
Do I have to buy separate plugins for courses, events, or a job board?
No. Courses, events, forums, a job board, a marketplace, and more come as free modules from the same team (Wbcom Designs), built to work together. You switch on what you need instead of assembling third-party plugins from different makers.
Is BuddyNext a BuddyPress or BuddyBoss fork?
No. BuddyNext is a fresh, modern community engine built from the ground up, not a fork. That means a lighter, API-first codebase rather than years of legacy carried forward.
Can I move an existing community to BuddyNext?
Yes, planned as a real project rather than a one-click switch. If you are already on WordPress your data is in your database, and there are migration guides in the docs; from a hosted platform you export, rebuild on staging, and cut over.
Be part of what’s next.
BuddyNext is live. Install the free plugin and launch your community today, or try the live demo first.