Now live

One complete platform. Not a slice of one.

BuddyNext ships the whole community in a single plugin - feed, spaces, members, messaging, moderation, monetization, and AI. Most alternatives hand you one piece and send you shopping for the rest. Here, every area below is in the box, and you own all of it: your WordPress, your database, your members.

Try the live demo → Get BuddyNext free

11feature areas, one plugin
18Gutenberg blocks
1,000+hooks for developers
4feed tabs, not one stream

Why this matters

The depth is the point.

The usual WordPress community stack is four or five plugins taped together - one for the feed, one for forums, one for messaging, one for memberships, one for moderation - each with its own settings, its own bugs, and its own upgrade bill. BuddyNext is one codebase where those areas already know about each other: a moderation strike, a paid plan, and a space ban all speak the same language. Below is the real, shipped surface. Nothing here is a roadmap promise - it is what the plugin does on day one, with Pro tags where a capability lives in Pro.

The everyday surface

A feed your members actually want to open.

The home screen of your community - posting, reactions, and replies that feel like the apps your members already live in. This is one area, and it alone carries more than some plugins ship in total.

Activity feed & posting

Give members a place to show up every day.

Four feed tabs: For you, Following, Spaces, Network
Composer: text, photo/media, link, and polls with 2-5 options and live results, plus auto-fetched link previews
Six reactions: like, love, haha, wow, sad, angry
Threaded comments up to 5 levels deep
Reposts and quotes, plus a private bookmarks hub
Hashtags with 24-hour trending pages
Post privacy (Public, Followers, Connections, Only me, Space) and per-member mention privacy
Pinned posts, admin announcements, and drafts that sync across devices
Scheduled posts with an admin queue Pro
Multi-pin up to 10 posts per scope Pro
Custom emoji reactions, up to 20 total Pro

Read the docs →

Explore & unified search

Help newcomers find their people fast.

Public Explore deck - masonry of community activity
Explore type filters (narrow to one kind)
One search across members, posts, spaces, hashtags, media
Type tabs + recency / relevance sort
Works with JavaScript off
Every result respects privacy and blocks
Advanced filters: tier, space, label, join date, activity Pro
Saved searches Pro
AI semantic re-ranking of results Pro

Read the docs →

Where communities form

Rooms for every corner of your world.

Big communities are really lots of small ones. Spaces let members find a corner, and let you keep the right doors locked - sub-communities, roles, and a forum, with no second plugin.

Spaces

Run focused sub-communities without a second plugin.

Open, Private, and Secret space types
Each space has its own feed and member list
Roles: Owner, Moderator, Member
Join flow: instant, request + approval, or invite
Pending requests, invites, remove, and per-space bans
"Who can post" and "who can invite" controls
Space avatar + cover; archive or transfer ownership
Admin-managed categories with colored badges
Per-space notification levels (All / Mentions / None)
Sub-spaces (one level of nesting)
Discussions / forum tab via Jetonomy
Per-space banned-word lists
Membership-gated spaces with a paywall Pro
Real-time space activity and presence Pro

Read the docs →

Members & profiles

Profiles your members are proud to fill out.

Avatar + cover; claimable @username handle
13 profile field types, with per-field privacy
Repeating field groups
Profile completion meter and nudges
Member directory: search, filter, sort, online-only
Member types with colored badges
Following (one-way) + follow requests
Connections (two-way) with optional note
Block, mute, and restrict - one unified list
Online presence and "active now" filter
6 advanced field types: location, file, conditional… Pro
Member labels (Verified, Expert, Staff) Pro

Read the docs →

Get in, and come back

Accounts and onboarding done properly.

The path from stranger to active member - branded sign-up, real account security, and a guided first run, all in the same plugin.

Accounts & access

A front door that looks like yours, not WordPress.

Branded registration + login (your colors and copy)
Registration modes: open, invite-only, admin approval
Email invitations: a personal link with their address already filled in
Built-in spam protection (no third-party captcha) and optional email verification with resend
Social login: Google, Facebook, GitHub, Discord
Two-factor auth: app, backup codes, email fallback
Sign out of all devices
Privacy and data: export, delete, anonymize-on-delete, cookie banner, and search-indexing policy
Guests can browse and read, with a join prompt you can switch off

Read the docs →

Member onboarding

A guided first run that lifts activation.

Five-step wizard: profile, interests, spaces, follows, notifications
Live profile preview as members type, with instant handle availability
Join spaces and follow people in one click, without leaving the wizard
Skippable at any point, and members can step back to change an answer
Two reminder emails (+24h, +72h), scheduled the moment someone registers
Both reminders cancel themselves as soon as onboarding is finished
Finishes on the profile they just built, not an empty feed

Read the docs →

Stay in the loop

Conversations and signals that bring people back.

A community is only alive when people hear about it. Messaging, a real notification center, and a full branded email system do the bringing-back for you.

Messaging

Keep members talking, one to one.

One-to-one direct messages (via WPMediaVerse)
Media and file attachments in messages
"Who can DM me" privacy control
Blocking enforced at the messaging layer
Group messages (via WPMediaVerse Pro - sold separately) Pro
Read receipts (via WPMediaVerse Pro - sold separately) Pro

Read the docs →

Notifications

Every signal, in one bell - on your terms.

Notification bell with live unread count
Full notifications page, grouped by day
Smart grouping (10 reactions → one row)
Per-type, per-channel preferences
Channels: on-site, email, sound - and push Pro
Per-space notification levels
Near-real-time via adaptive polling

Read the docs →

Email engine

Transactional email that actually looks like you.

Branded wrapper: logo, brand color, custom footer
Editable templates across every event type
Merge tokens, email log, and test send
Background delivery (member actions stay fast)
One-click unsubscribe per type
Daily and weekly digests, member-chosen
Broadcast email to member segments Pro
Automated drip sequences Pro

Read the docs →

Keep it healthy

Moderation that protects the room, not the rule book.

Trust is the product. BuddyNext ships a full moderation stack - graduated actions, a clean paper trail, automatic safeguards, and a Pro rules-and-AI layer on top.

Reports & queue

Handle problems calmly, with a record.

Report posts, comments, and profiles with a reason
Grouped queue with an urgency threshold (3+ reporters)
Filters by type + sort by most-reported
Actions: dismiss, remove, warn, strike, suspend
Permanent moderation log (who did what, when)
DM reports kept private in the queue
Bulk actions across many reports Pro

Read the docs →

Member trust

Graduated consequences, not a hammer.

Warn, strike, and reverse a strike, each with a reason the member sees
Suspend for a set number of days or indefinitely; it lifts on its own
Shadow-ban: their posts quietly stop reaching anyone, with no error shown
Strike thresholds you set: warning at 2, suspension at 5, ban off by default
A reversed strike lowers the count and can drop them below a threshold
Content auto-hides past your report threshold, then waits in the queue
Appeals: the member states their case, approval lifts that exact suspension

Read the docs →

Safeguards & auto-moderation

Stop the worst before it ever posts.

Banned words, site-wide or per-space, matched whole-word and case-insensitively
Banned hashtags and blocked link domains
Blocked IPs and per-minute rate limits
Duplicate-content window and a new-member gate that flags for review
Checks re-run on edit, so an edit cannot sneak a banned word past
Rule-based auto-moderation (4 rule types) Pro
AI moderation: score, flag, auto-remove Pro

Read the docs →

Reward the regulars

Engagement that compounds on its own.

The loops that turn a quiet sign-up into a daily regular - points, badges, a leaderboard, live updates, and an installable app, with a real-time Pro layer when you want it instant.

Gamification & leaderboard

Turn everyday participation into momentum.

Points, badges, and levels (via WB Gamification)
Owner-tunable point values per action
Leaderboard with week / month / all-time windows
Profile shows points, level, rank, streak, badges
Badge-awarded and level-up notifications

Read the docs →

Live & installable

Make the community feel modern and present.

Near-real-time bell, feed pill, and presence
Installable PWA with an offline shell
App-like standalone window, brand-colored icon
Real-time WebSocket delivery Pro
Web and mobile push via Firebase Pro

Read the docs →

Make it pay

Turn a community into a business.

When you are ready to earn, the money tools are built in - not bolted on with a fourth plugin. Plans, gating, Stripe, and content protection, all inside WordPress.

Pro

Membership & monetization

Charge for access, the WordPress way.

Membership tiers: monthly, yearly, or one-time
Free-plan and trial-day support
Stripe Checkout + self-service customer portal
Automatic renewals and past-due handling
Gate whole spaces behind a plan
Protect posts or sections inline (teaser + lock)
Per-tier perks and numeric caps

Read the docs →

Pro

AI assist

Better relevance and a calmer queue.

AI feed ranking on the For-you tab
AI semantic search re-ranking
Smart reply suggestions on comments
AI moderation with a test bench
Falls back to a local check if a provider is down

Read the docs →

Pro

Analytics

See what your community is actually doing.

DAU / WAU / MAU and member growth
Top content, most-active members
Per-space joins, leaves, posts, net change
Retention cohorts and a conversion funnel
Profile-view stats (with member opt-out)
CSV export

Read the docs →

See it for real

Every feature, in the actual product.

These are real BuddyNext screens, not mockups, running inside a real WordPress theme. Click any screen to open it full size.

BuddyNext Home feed screen — Home feedA real-time stream of posts, reactions, and comments.

BuddyNext Explore screen — ExploreTrending posts, suggested members, and active spaces.

BuddyNext Spaces screen — SpacesOpen, private, and secret rooms for every topic.

community.buddynext.com

Member profilesRich profiles with custom fields and verified badges.

BuddyNext Member directory screen — Member directoryA searchable, filterable directory of everyone.

BuddyNext Messaging screen — MessagingPrivate conversations, right inside the community.

BuddyNext Notifications screen — NotificationsOn-site alerts and email digests that bring members back.

BuddyNext Owner dashboard screen — Owner dashboardProGrowth, monetization, and moderation at a glance.

The free engine is shown here. Pro adds monetization, AI, real-time, and analytics on the same screens. See Free vs Pro →

One complete community platform

The engine, and the apps that run on it.

Most community products are one app. BuddyNext is the complete platform - the engine plus 12+ apps from the same team that extend it into forums, courses, jobs, a marketplace, directories, media, and more. Not a roadmap, not a third-party hunt: they exist today, they speak the same language as the core, and they install in a click.

Grow engagement

Jetonomy New Threaded discussions, questions, and ideas your members keep coming back to.

Eventonomy New Events, RSVPs, and calendars your members actually show up for.

MediaVerse New Private messaging plus a full photo and video library.

WB Gamification New Points, badges, levels, and leaderboards that keep people active.

WB Polls Rich polls and surveys you can drop in anywhere.

WB Member Blog Let members publish their own blogs on your site.

Build a business

Learnomy New Sell courses with quizzes and certificates - a full learning platform.

WP Sell Services New Let members buy and sell services right inside your community.

WP Career Board New A job board and resume portal built into your community.

Listora New Directories and listings of any kind, member-submitted or curated.

WB Ad Manager New Run and manage ad placements to earn from your traffic.

Meetings & Booking Let members schedule meetings and book time with you.

See it in action

Watch every feature, one short tour at a time.

A feature-by-feature video tour of the free plugin - activity feed, spaces, profiles, messaging, moderation, and more. Follow along on your own site.

Browse the full video library →

Built to extend

The community engine you build on.

BuddyNext is not a closed app - it is a platform. Every screen is REST-backed and theme-overridable, with hooks on every social event and Gutenberg blocks for the building blocks. If you can imagine it for your community, there is a seam to build it.

Pure REST APIA documented endpoint behind every screen - no admin-ajax. Read it, build on it, ship your own app.

1,000+ hooksActions and filters on follows, posts, reactions, spaces, moderation, and more - plus 700+ template seams.

18 Gutenberg blocksDrop the feed, directory, spaces, profile, login, and search pieces into any page or theme.

Outbound webhooks13 community events signed with HMAC-SHA256, sent to Zapier, Make, n8n, or your own stack.

WP-CLI & cronScriptable operations and background jobs that run on real cron - built for big communities.

You own itYour WordPress, your database, your members. No platform lock-in, ever.

See the whole thing for yourself.

Eleven feature areas, one plugin, live now. Click through the live community, read the docs, or compare Free and Pro line by line.

Try the live demo → Read the docs Free vs Pro

Or get BuddyNext free →