BuddyNext - community engine for WordPress

BuddyNext vs Circle Migrate

Migration guide

Migrate from Circle to BuddyNext.

Moving off Circle is an invitation plus a rebuild. Circle gives you CSV files for your people and a request route for the rest, and BuddyNext has no importer for it, so the posts you keep are the ones you choose to republish. Our team can run the move with you if you would rather hand it over.

Ask us to move it for you See the move, step by step

Watch it first

See where you are moving to

What the community looks like once it runs on your own site, then the setup wizard you start the move with.

Circle and Mighty Networks Alternative on WordPress3:22Chapters and transcript

Start the move

Do this first

What to take out of Circle.

Nothing carries across automatically, because Circle is a separate system with no WordPress accounts behind it. Export before you change anything else, and check each file once.

  • The member list from Manage audience, filtered by tag, role, space access, paywall subscription or join date. Circle documents a member CSV export there.
  • A full community data export. Only admins can request it, by emailing Circle support, so ask first because it is the slowest item. It arrives as CSV files for members, spaces, posts, comments and events, without uploaded media.
  • Paywall subscriptions and transactions, if you charge for access. Circle documents a separate export of that data.
  • Your own copies of course videos, documents and images, since the text exports leave media behind.

The honest part

What you set up after the move.

There is no importer for Circle, so this is what you rebuild. It is less than it sounds: a hosted community is mostly its people and a handful of pages that matter, and BuddyNext has tools for the people part.

  • Your members. There are no WordPress accounts to carry over, so people are invited to new ones: bulk invites by CSV in the free plugin (an email and optional first name per row, up to 500 rows per upload, with resend and revoke), or space invite links that expire after a day, a week, a month or never.
  • Your spaces and structure. Rebuild the rooms that matter as spaces, each with its own visibility, members and moderators, and set auto-join so a new member lands in your welcome space.
  • The content people still need. Republish the welcome guide, the rules and the best answers as announcements or discussion posts, and leave the long tail of old chatter behind.
  • Payments. A subscription started on another platform cannot be taken over, so paying members subscribe again on a Pro membership plan. A founding discount is a coupon you create yourself.

We can move it for you: the free importer covers WordPress-native sources only. For Circle our team can run the migration with you, so you do not have to do the rebuild yourself. Tell us about your community. The playbook below is the do-it-yourself route.

Same jobs, friendlier names

Your Circle vocabulary, translated.

Where each Circle concept lands in BuddyNext, and which tier it needs.

  • CircleSpaces BuddyNextSpaces Open, private or secret visibility per space, and secret spaces stay out of search.
  • CircleSpace groups BuddyNextSpace categories or sub-spaces Sub-spaces go two levels deep.
  • CirclePaywalled spaces BuddyNextMembership plans A Pro plan can open one or several spaces, and a space can be opened by several plans.
  • CircleCourses BuddyNextLearnomy courses A separate LMS plugin; the bridge to BuddyNext is in Pro.
  • CircleEvents BuddyNextEventonomy events The bridge is in Pro. BuddyNext does not host live video, so keep your live tool and link it in the event.

No fairy tales

Your move, step by step.

The order that keeps your members calm: export first, rebuild on a staging copy, invite a small group, then announce a date.

  1. 1Export first. Do the exports above while you are still on the plan you pay for today, and open each file once to check it has the columns you need. If member emails are missing, collect them inside Circle before anything else.
  2. 2Decide what moves. Write down which spaces, categories or rooms move, merge or retire. A few well-run spaces beat a long list of dormant ones.
  3. 3Build on a staging site. Install the free BuddyNext plugin on a staging copy, create the spaces and set each one's visibility.
  4. 4Set up payments if you charge. Pro membership plans with Stripe or PayPal checkout and coupons. Attach each plan to the spaces it opens.
  5. 5Rebuild the content that matters. Pin a welcome post in the first space and republish the guides and answers new members still need.
  6. 6Invite a small group first. Send a CSV invite to a few active members and ask them to sign up on a phone, post, react and open a gated space. Fix what they find.
  7. 7Announce the date, then invite in batches. Tell your members where the new home is and when Circle stops being the place, then invite everyone in batches so the first week stays calm.
  8. 8Retire Circle last. Keep it running until your regulars are posting on the new site. Before you cancel, check what cancelling does to your exports.

Moving off Circle, specifically

What is different about this move.

People leave Circle for ownership and cost control: a monthly subscription plus a per-transaction fee on payments, on a platform where no one but Circle can change the terms. On WordPress the community lives in your own database, and there is no platform cut of your revenue. In return you run WordPress, or your host does.

  • Circle's full data export is requested from Circle support and arrives as CSV files for members, spaces, posts, comments and events. Uploaded media is not in those files, so save your own copies.
  • Circle has a mature branded app on its higher tier. BuddyNext offers an installable web app on Free and web push on Pro, and has no native app today.
  • Paywalled spaces become Pro membership plans, and members who pay start again on the new site because a subscription cannot be taken over.

Still weighing it up? Read the full BuddyNext vs Circle comparison → Or see the honest Circle alternative guide →

Why it is worth it

What you get once you have moved.

  • Circle bundles community, courses, and events as a hosted product; BuddyNext is a whole platform built in-house by one team - forums, a job board, a marketplace, and gamification alongside community, courses, and events - and you own the whole thing on your own site rather than renting it.
  • Circle has raised prices and shuffled tiers more than once; when your community lives in your own WordPress database, no vendor can reprice or re-tier the ground under you. You hold the members, posts, and messages.
  • No per-member monthly fee and no platform cut of your revenue. You pay for hosting and an optional Pro license, not a percentage of every transaction.
  • BuddyNext ships a full free community you can launch today, with no licence key and nothing set to expire. Circle has no free plan at all, only a trial that runs out.

Go deeper

The full migration docs.

This page is the overview. When you are ready to actually do it, these walk through every detail, honestly.

Sandbox demo

Try it on a live demo community

One click builds a private copy of our demo community, with members, spaces and posts already in it. InstaWP asks for an email to create it, it lasts four hours, and nobody else sees what you change.

Launch the demo (opens in a new tab) Get BuddyNext free

Prefer to watch first? See the tutorials.

What to try in the demo

  1. Open a space and look at its privacy setting and member roles, the closest match to a Circle space.
  2. Open the activity feed and a member profile, the two screens your members will judge first.
  3. Open the admin side and look at the Members area, where the CSV invites and the member export live.

From the same team

Add the pieces your community needs

BuddyNext runs on its own. These are separate plugins from the same team, for when the community needs more than a feed and spaces.

The questions you are asking

Migration questions, answered honestly.

Will my members have to sign up again?

They will have to accept an invitation and set up an account, because Circle is a separate system and there are no WordPress accounts to carry over. The free plugin sends bulk invites from a CSV (an email and an optional first name per row, up to 500 rows per upload, with resend and revoke), and a space invite link can be shared where your members already are. Auto-join puts each new member into your welcome space straight away.

Is there an importer from Circle?

No. The free BuddyNext Importer covers WordPress-native sources (BuddyPress and BuddyBoss) and nothing else, so nothing is copied across automatically. You export what Circle lets you export, invite your members, and rebuild the content worth keeping. If you would rather not, our team can run the migration for you.

Can your team do the migration for me?

Yes, that is the done-for-you route. Send the details through the contact page: where the community lives today, roughly how many members and spaces it has, and whether members pay. We reply within one to two business days, and tell you what is realistic for your community before anything starts.

Will I lose my Circle data when I switch?

BuddyNext never touches your Circle account, so nothing is deleted by switching. Keep Circle running until the new site is where members answer each other, and before you cancel, check what cancelling does to your exports. Finish every export while the old community is still fully open to you.

Can BuddyNext and Circle run at the same time?

Yes, they are separate systems and do not interfere. Run them side by side for a few weeks at most, answer questions only in the new place, and pin a post in Circle saying where the new home is and when the old one stops being the place.

What happens to my paying members?

BuddyNext has no tool that takes over a subscription created on another platform, so a paying member subscribes again on a Pro membership plan. A founding discount is a coupon you create yourself, and if someone has already paid for a period elsewhere, the Pro Billing screen has an Add order form for recording a payment that arrived outside the site.

How long does the move take?

It depends on how much you rebuild. The slow parts are the exports and any conversation with paying members, so start with those. Build on a staging copy, invite a small group, then cut over on a date you announce.

Ready to move your community?

Move it yourself with the free plugin on a staging copy, or hand the move to our team. Tell us where your community lives today and we will reply within one to two business days.

Ask us to move it for you Get BuddyNext free

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