Bevy vs Guild

Bevy is a community and events platform built for companies that run networks of local chapters, user groups and meetups. It was spun out of Startup Grind, the global founder community, in 2017 by Derek Andersen and co-founders who needed one system to run hundreds of city chapters consistently. It now powers programs such as Google Developer Groups and Salesforce's Trailblazer Community Groups, plus Snowflake's community.

The base platform is a white-labelled, SEO-friendly community hub with unlimited members, chapter leaders, events and emails. Teams pick a usage type (forum, user groups and events, or all-in-one), then add modules such as a custom domain, Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo or Eloqua sync, SAML SSO, social sign-in, the Bevy Virtual Conference product and AI-powered community search. Chapter pages handle event creation, registration, check-in, newsletters and automations, while central teams see attendance and engagement across every chapter.

Bevy fits enterprise developer relations, customer marketing and community teams that run in-person and virtual events at global scale and want the data in their CRM. It is overkill for a single online community or creator, pricing is quote-only, and its forum features are less rich than Discourse or Circle. Luma is simpler for one-off events, and Hivebrite suits alumni-style networks.

In July 2025 Bevy acquired Intros AI and used it to launch an AI Engagement Hub with agents for member introductions, knowledge answers, content creation, moderation and sentiment.

Guild was a community and messaging platform for professional groups, built in the UK as a privacy-first alternative to running business communities on WhatsApp, Slack or Facebook groups. Associations, membership organizations, B2B brands, alumni networks and professional services firms used it to host private groups where members discussed topics, shared content and met at events.

The app offered group conversations and direct messaging, member profiles and a directory, events, content sharing and moderation tools for hosts, on both web and mobile, and organizations could run several branded groups for different cohorts or regions. It was ad-free, did not monetize member data and was designed around GDPR. Guild closed on 1 October 2024; the service is no longer available to new or existing users, and there is no plan to buy or sign up for.

This page remains as a record and to help former hosts choose a replacement. Circle is the closest fit for branded professional communities with events and courses, Mighty Networks combines community with paid memberships and branded apps, and Slack suits groups whose members already work in it. Bettermode serves companies running customer communities, and Discord is a free option for less formal groups.