Support Group Software: What It Costs and What to Look For
Before you shop for support group software, know this: a support group has one requirement almost no other kind of community has. The fact that someone is a member can itself be sensitive. That single requirement changes what good software looks like, and no feature list will tell you so.
It’s also a thin market. We read every vendor’s own pricing page on 5 September 2026 and found that the products built specifically for peer support publish almost no pricing, while the general community platforms that support groups actually end up using publish nothing specific to peer support at all.
Here’s how to weigh the options honestly, what each one costs where a price exists, and the five requirements that should drive the decision.
On this page
Five requirements a support group actually has
- Membership isn’t automatically public to other members. In most communities a member directory is a feature. In a support group it can be the opposite. Ask every vendor what one member can see about another by default, and whether that’s configurable.
- Someone controls who gets in. Approval by a facilitator, not an open join link, and a way to remove someone quickly and completely.
- Announcements reach everyone who opted in. A meeting time change that reaches 40% of the group is worse than no notice at all, because half the room turns up at the wrong time.
- The facilitator can hand over. Groups outlast the person who started them. The account, the member list and the meeting history should belong to the group, not to one person’s login.
- You can get the data out, and delete it. Both directions matter. Ask what deletion actually removes and how long backups retain it.
None of those are exotic. What’s unusual is how rarely they appear in a demo, because most community software is sold on engagement and growth, and a support group isn’t trying to grow.
Where a Facebook group falls short
This isn’t an argument that Facebook is unsafe. It’s that a Facebook group is built around a set of assumptions that don’t match a support group.
- Members can see each other. In a Facebook group, members can see the member list and each other’s profiles. For many groups that’s fine. For some it’s the whole problem, and there’s no setting that changes it.
- An algorithm decides delivery. Posting to the group isn’t the same as reaching the group, and nobody in the group can see the difference.
- Identity is real-name by design. There’s no anonymity layer and no separation between the person’s support group participation and the rest of their account.
- Ownership sits with an individual. The admin who created the group in 2019 owns it, and when they leave, that can be difficult to resolve.
If the first point doesn’t apply to your group, and many groups are open about who attends, Facebook may be genuinely adequate and free. Be deliberate about it rather than defaulting into it.
Support group software: the options, and what they publish
| Tool | Entry price | Priced by | Platform fee | Free trial | Publishes pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kannect | $29/mo, or $276/yr | People, 500 on the entry plan | 2% | 7 days, card required | Yes, in full |
| Facebook group | Free | Not applicable | None, it takes no payments | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Support Groups Central | Free to attend | Not published for host organizations | Not published | Not applicable | Attendee side only |
| HeyPeers | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | No, contact required |
| Mighty Networks | $79/mo | Flat tiers, unlimited members, 3 hosts | 2% | 14 days, no card | Yes, in full |
| Circle | $89/mo | Flat tiers, unlimited members, 3 admins | 2% | 14 days, no card | Monthly rates only |
Two of these are purpose-built for support groups and four are not. HeyPeers and Support Groups Central are designed around peer support specifically, which shows in the moderation tools and the way sessions are structured. Facebook groups, Circle, Mighty Networks and Kannect are general community platforms, so the safety and privacy work is yours to configure rather than something the product assumes. That is the real trade in this table, and it matters more than the price difference for most groups.
Each support group software option in detail
HeyPeers
Built specifically for peer support, with facilitated groups and one to one peer sessions. It’s the closest thing on this list to purpose-built support group software.
Pricing. Not published for organizations. The organizations page routes to a contact form, so a conversation is required before you can compare it to anything.
Worth asking. Whether pricing is per facilitator, per group or per participant, and whether it changes as attendance grows. That distinction matters more here than in most categories, because support group attendance is deliberately variable.
Support Groups Central
A directory and hosting service for online support meetings. Membership is free; the site states plainly that there’s no charge to join. Most meetings are free where a nonprofit sponsors them, and some unsponsored meetings carry a small registration fee that’s shown before you register.
Pricing for hosts. Not published. If you want to run groups on it rather than attend them, you’ll need to ask.
Best for. Groups that want to be findable by people actively searching for support, which is a real advantage no self-hosted platform gives you.
Circle
Pricing. Professional $89 a month with 3 admins and 10 moderators, Business $199 a month with 5 admins and 15 moderators, Circle Plus custom. Transaction fees on paid memberships are 2%, 1% and 0.5%. Members are unlimited and the trial is 14 days with no card.
On support groups specifically. Circle publishes nothing aimed at peer support or anonymous communities. It documents private communities generically. The product is genuinely good at private, well-moderated discussion, so it’s a reasonable choice, but you’ll be configuring a general tool rather than buying a fitted one.
Mighty Networks
Pricing. Launch $79 a month or $950 a year, Scale $179 a month, Growth $354 a month, Mighty Pro custom. Transaction fees 2%, 1% and 0.5%. Members unlimited, 14 day trial with no card.
On support groups specifically. Mighty has a private community page and private groups as a feature, but nothing aimed at peer support or anonymity. Like Circle, it’s a general tool you would be adapting.
What to settle before you pick support group software
The software decision is downstream of four decisions that aren’t technical, and getting these right matters more than the platform.
- What do members see about each other? Write the answer down before you look at any product, then hold every vendor to it. First names only, no directory, no photos is a legitimate and common answer.
- What’s the confidentiality expectation, and who states it? Say it out loud at the start of every meeting. No platform setting substitutes for that.
- Who approves new members, and what happens if someone has to be removed? Decide this while nothing is going wrong.
- What happens if someone is in crisis? Agree in advance what facilitators do and which local or national resources you point people to. This is a policy question, not a feature question, and it belongs in your facilitator guidance rather than in a software evaluation.
We have written more about the shape of a group that works in designing valuable support groups, and about the reach problem generally in why community engagement fails.
Where Kannect fits
Kannect is our product, so check the pricing page yourself, and note it’s a general community engagement platform rather than a purpose-built peer support tool.
Memberships, properly. One membership type with multiple pricing tiers on every plan, or multiple membership types each with their own tiers on the higher plans. Custom application forms, manual or automatic approval, and a welcome flow that drops a new member straight into the conversation. Discounts and renewals are built in, so nobody’s tracking who gets the early-bird rate in a spreadsheet.
And the rest of the organization. A member directory with unlimited listings on every plan, and multiple directories side by side on the higher plans for sponsors, alumni, partners or your team. Groups and programs for chapters, committees and cohorts, each with its own conversation and analytics. A people database with statuses for member, alumni, donor, staff, parent and student, which members keep current themselves from the app. Events, broadcast email, a community website and a member app.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | People | Admins | Emails/mo | Platform fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $29 | $276 | 500 | 3 | 5,000 | 2% |
| Launch | $69 | $660 | 2,000 | 5 | 20,000 | 2% |
| Growth | $149 | $1,428 | 5,000 | 10 | 50,000 | 1.5% |
| Scale | $299 | $2,868 | 15,000 | 25 | 150,000 | 1% |
The part that matters most day to day is reach. Every opted-in member receives every announcement. No algorithm decides who sees it, and there’s no per-contact overage bill for sending it. Payments run on Stripe. You connect your bank once, and money from events, memberships, programs and donations lands in your own account, usually within three business days. Kannect never holds your money. Registered nonprofits pay 0% Kannect fee on donations.
Two things are relevant to a group like yours. Every opted-in member receives every announcement, so a change of meeting time isn’t left to a feed to distribute. And the account belongs to the organization rather than to whoever created it, with multiple admins from the entry plan, so facilitators can hand over. If your group charges anything, whether that’s a sliding scale, a suggested contribution or a training fee for facilitators, membership tiers and discounts cover it.
Most organizations start with one job, usually events, CRM, payments or the directory, and bring the rest across as they need it. Setup is self-serve at no cost. If you’d rather we build the account for you, that’s an optional one-time service starting at $150.
We write separately for support groups and for nonprofits.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the best software for running a support group?
There’s no single answer, because the market is thin. HeyPeers is purpose-built for peer support but publishes no organization pricing. Support Groups Central is free to members and helps people find your group. Circle at $89 a month and Mighty Networks at $79 a month are strong general private community tools with nothing specific to peer support. Kannect starts at $29 a month and covers members, meetings and announcements.
How much does support group software cost?
Where prices are published, entry points in 2026 run from $29 to $89 a month: Kannect $29, Mighty Networks $79, Circle $89. The two products aimed specifically at peer support don’t publish organization pricing at all, so a shortlist that includes them will require sales conversations before you can compare numbers.
Is Facebook a good place for a support group?
It depends on one question: does it matter if members can see who else is in the group? Facebook groups show the member list and profiles to members, use real-name identity, let an algorithm decide who sees a post, and are owned by the individual who created them. If none of that’s a problem for your group, Facebook is free and adequate. If the first point is a problem, no setting fixes it.
Can members stay anonymous in a support group platform?
It varies a lot, and it’s rarely covered in a demo. Ask every vendor exactly what one member can see about another by default, whether that’s configurable, and whether display names can be first-name-only with no profile. Write down your own answer before you evaluate anything, because this is the requirement most likely to rule a product out.
What should a support group settle before choosing software?
Four things, all non-technical: what members can see about each other, what the confidentiality expectation is and who states it out loud, who approves and removes members, and what facilitators do if someone is in crisis. The last is a policy question that belongs in facilitator guidance rather than in a software evaluation.
How do we make sure everyone gets a meeting time change?
Don’t rely on a feed or a group post, because posting isn’t the same as reaching and nobody in the group can see the difference. Use a channel that delivers to every opted-in member, keep an up to date contact for each member, and confirm the change in more than one place. A notice that reaches half the group is worse than no notice, because half the room arrives at the wrong time.
Where these support group software prices came from
What little support group software pricing exists came off each vendor’s own site on 5 September 2026.
Related reading
- Designing valuable support groups
- 12 best community engagement platforms, with verified pricing
- Kannect vs Mighty Networks, Circle and Bettermode
- Member onboarding in the first 30 days
- Why members join and then go quiet
- Running a support group without Facebook
- How to start a support group people feel safe joining
- The hidden cost of running your community on Facebook Groups
- Why communities lose engagement after the first event
- Free guides and templates
Related Posts
From Awareness to Action: Designing Valuable Support Groups With Purpose (4 Core Elements)
From Crisis to Connection: 3 Ways Community Tools Prevent Isolation and Expand Mental Health Support
