I’ve been on both sides of Heartbeat — running my own membership and learning inside someone else’s. Here’s what I actually think.
There are approximately one million community platforms out there right now, and I’ve tried enough of them to have opinions. Strong ones.
I’ve been the course creator staring at a clunky backend wondering why it takes seven clicks to do something simple. I’ve been the student buried in a Slack channel with 47 unread threads, none of which are relevant to me. I’ve been the community host paying premium prices for a platform that feels like it was designed by someone who’s never actually been in a community.
So when I tell you Heartbeat is the platform I chose — for my own membership, Strategies that Stack®, and as a student inside other communities — I need you to know that this recommendation comes with receipts. Not hype.
Let me break it down from both sides.
The Creator Side: What Running a Community on Heartbeat Actually Looks Like
It doesn’t fight you.
That’s the bar, and it’s shocking how many platforms can’t clear it. Heartbeat’s interface is clean. Setting up courses, creating discussion threads, scheduling events — it all works the way your brain expects it to. No Frankenstein workarounds. No duct-taping three tools together and praying nothing breaks during a live launch (yes, I’ve been there — WordPress site crashed mid-webinar in 2018… or when Thrivecart went down in my 2022 bundle promotion and I still have the emotional scars).
Workflows that actually make you feel like you have a team.
This is the part I get genuinely excited about. Heartbeat has built-in Workflows — automated sequences triggered by member behavior — and they’re one of the reasons I can run Strategies that Stack® without burning out.
Here’s a real example: when someone registers for one of my events, I have a workflow set up to automatically send them a notification asking them to submit questions ahead of time. That one small automation completely changed how I run live sessions. I’m not opening with “so, does anyone have questions?” to dead silence. I’m walking in with a list of exactly what my people need — and I can meet them where they’re at before we even start.
But that’s just one use case. You can trigger workflows when members join (I have this too!), attend events, finish a course, upgrade their membership, or go quiet. The actions range from sending messages and granting access to nudging re-engagement before someone churns. You can even DM everyone in one go.
It’s the kind of automation that feels like having a community manager working behind the scenes — except it runs 24/7 and doesn’t need a Slack reminder to follow up.
Heartbeat also has an AI tool called Pulse that helps you build these workflows through natural conversation, so you don’t need to be a tech wizard to set them up. You describe what you want to happen, and it helps you build it.
Courses that actually flex.
This is where Heartbeat quietly outperforms a lot of competitors. You get two course structures: self-paced evergreen courses with drip-fed lessons, or cohort-based courses with fixed start and end dates. That flexibility matters because not every offer needs the same delivery model.
For Strategies that Stack®, I use the self-paced option with scheduled drip content. Members get lessons at the right pace without me manually unlocking anything. And the built-in feedback workflow — where members submit work and I give direct feedback — is one of those features I didn’t realize I needed until I had it. It changed how I deliver value inside the membership. This feature alone has allowed me to provide students 1:1 feedback without them publicly needing to post.
Push notifications that actually work.
This sounds small. It’s not. One of the biggest problems with community platforms is that members forget they exist. Heartbeat’s push notifications bring people back without being obnoxious. Members can manage their own notification preferences, which means they get reminders for what matters to them without being bombarded by every single thread update. That’s respectful design, and it leads to real engagement.
It’s not push notifications but the built in email reminders are also great and take one task off my plate every event.
Monetization without a PhD in tech.
Heartbeat handles payments through Stripe integration with support for memberships, one-time purchases, course sales, event tickets, and installment plans. You can run an affiliate program directly inside the platform. You can set up automated workflows for onboarding sequences, access changes, and renewal prompts.
All of this lives under one roof. Which means no extra subscriptions and no third-party plugin nightmares. I’ll be honest, I’m still using Thrivecart for my payment processing but only because it’s already set up and I already have recurring subscription payments through there and I don’t want more to manage as far as where money is coming and going.
The pricing is fair.
Let’s talk numbers, because this matters. Heartbeat’s Build plan starts at $49/month (or $40/month annually) and includes unlimited courses, events, chats, paid memberships, affiliate programs, and automated workflows for up to 350 members. The Grow plan at $149/month scales to 5,000 members with unlimited automation workflows and priority support.
Compare that to what you’d pay stitching together a course platform, a community app, an event tool, and an automation service separately. The math isn’t even close.
Yes, there are transaction fees (5% on Build, 2.5% on Grow, 1.25% on Scale) on top of Stripe’s standard processing fee. That’s worth knowing upfront. But when you factor in everything you’re not paying for separately, the value is clear.
The Student Side: What Being a Member on Heartbeat Feels Like
What does it feel like to be inside one of these communities as a member?
Because I’m not just a creator on Heartbeat. I’m a student too. And the member experience is where a lot of platforms quietly fall apart. I think I’m in 5 communities hosted in Heartbeat right now!
It doesn’t feel like Slack with a course bolted on.
That’s the vibe I get from a lot of competitors. You join, and it’s immediately overwhelming. Channels everywhere. No clear path. Notifications blowing up your phone like a group chat you never asked to be in.
Heartbeat feels different. The navigation is intuitive — you know where to find your courses, where the conversations are happening, and where the events live. There’s no learning curve that makes you regret signing up.
Engagement feels organic, not forced.
The way Heartbeat structures conversations, notifications, and content flow creates this rhythm that keeps you coming back without that guilt-scroll energy. You’re not going to find yourself drowning in threads. You’re participating in ones that actually matter to you.
The platform even has automated member matching based on goals and interests, which means you’re connecting with the right people — not just whoever happened to post most recently.
The mobile app is real.
This matters more than people think. If your community doesn’t have a solid mobile experience, your members are checking in less. Period. Heartbeat has native iOS and Android apps, and they work. You can engage on the go without feeling like you’re using a shrunken desktop site. The desktop app is also a standout feature for me as a creator and student. It’s so nice to just have it on my dock and be able to jump in whenever.
What Heartbeat Solves That Other Platforms Don’t
I’m not here to trash other platforms by name, but I will name the problems I’ve experienced elsewhere that Heartbeat directly solves:
Clunky UX that kills engagement. If your members can’t figure out where things are within the first 30 seconds, you’re losing them. Heartbeat’s design is clean and intentional. Members don’t need a tutorial to participate.
Overpriced for what you get. Some platforms charge $100+ per month and still make you pay extra for courses, or events, or basic automation. Heartbeat includes all of that in every plan.
No real community feel. Some platforms are glorified course hosts with a forum attached. Heartbeat was built community-first, and you feel that in how conversations, events, and content all interconnect.
Fragmented tools. Running a community across Slack + Teachable + Eventbrite + Zapier + a landing page builder is a recipe for tech debt and burnout. Heartbeat consolidates all of it. Discussions, courses, events, documents, payments, landing pages, voice and video rooms, custom domain — one platform.
Who Heartbeat Is For
If you’re a course creator or community host: Heartbeat gives you the infrastructure to run a professional, engaging community without cobbling together five different tools. The course delivery options are flexible, the automation workflows save you hours, and the pricing doesn’t punish you for growing.
If you’re evaluating communities to join as a student or member: Look for communities hosted on Heartbeat. The experience is cleaner, more engaging, and more respectful of your attention than most alternatives. You’ll actually use it instead of letting it collect digital dust.
The Bottom Line
I don’t recommend tools lightly. “Tools ≠ Solutions” is something I say all the time, and I mean it. A platform is only as good as the systems and intention you bring to it.
But Heartbeat makes it easier to bring that intention. It removes the friction so you can focus on the human stuff — the teaching, the conversations, the community building that actually moves the needle.
I run Strategies that Stack® on Heartbeat. I participate in other communities on Heartbeat. And I’d choose it again tomorrow.
→ Try Heartbeat free for 14 days (no credit card required)
Whether you’re building your first community or migrating from a platform that’s been draining your energy and your budget, Heartbeat is worth a serious look.
This post contains an affiliate link. I only recommend tools I actually use and believe in — and Heartbeat is one of them.
