instance

Instance is a community platform for creators, course sellers, and online businesses that want to build a branded member space on their own domain instead of relying on a third-party community such as Discord.

The platform brings memberships, payments, content, member management, communication, and moderation into one place. Businesses can control how their community looks, who can access it, what members can do, and how paid content or memberships are delivered.

Key Features

Branded Community Platform

Create a community that operates under your own brand.

Instance allows businesses to customize elements such as:

• Custom domain
• Instance name
• Community icon
• Brand colors
• Social preview settings

This helps the community feel like part of the existing business or product rather than a separate third-party chat server.

Memberships and Payments

Manage paid memberships and member access from the same platform.

Instance supports Stripe-backed subscriptions and paid access, allowing businesses to create communities where membership can be part of the revenue model.

This can be useful for:

• Paid communities
• Membership programs
• Creator subscriptions
• Course access
• Premium content
• Private customer groups

Roles and Member Management

Control how members access and participate in the community.

The platform includes tools for:

• Member roles
• Admin management
• Invite links
• Member bans
• Access controls

This makes it easier to organize different groups of members and provide different levels of access where needed.

Multiple Channel Types

Create different spaces for conversations, content, products, and other activities.

Instance supports channel types including:

• Text channels
• Voice channels
• Course channels
• Storefront channels
• Webhook tester channels
• App-specific channels

This allows a single community to support multiple parts of an online business without requiring members to move between separate platforms.

Community Communication Tools

Give members familiar ways to interact with each other.

The platform includes:

• Messages
• Replies
• Reactions
• Pinned posts
• Announcements
• Notifications
• Direct messages

These features help create an experience similar to modern community and chat platforms while keeping the space under the business's own branding.

Course and Storefront Channels

Combine community activity with products and educational content.

Course and storefront-focused channel types allow businesses to use the same environment for:

• Community discussions
• Online lessons
• Educational content
• Product access
• Paid offerings

This can reduce the need to send members between separate community, course, and storefront tools.

Moderation and Safety Controls

Manage community activity with built-in moderation tools.

Instance includes controls for:

• Link stripping
• Word filters
• Phrase filters
• Auto-mute rules
• Geo restrictions
• Moderation logs

These tools can help community operators set participation rules and manage unwanted content or behavior.

Automation and API Support

Connect the community to external tools and workflows.

Instance supports:

• Bots
• Webhooks
• Callback URLs
• External automation workflows

This can be useful for businesses that want to connect membership events, community activity, or other actions with their existing systems.

Member Access and Authentication

Provide a structured sign-up and sign-in experience for members.

The platform includes:

• Member sign-up
• Member sign-in
• Email verification
• Access controls
• Invite-based access

This gives businesses more control over who can enter and participate in the community.

Notifications and Mobile Web Access

Help members stay connected without requiring a traditional native app.

Instance includes:

• Push notifications
• Mobile web access
• Web app install prompts

This allows members to access the community through the browser while still receiving features designed to make the experience more accessible on mobile devices.

SEO and Social Sharing Controls

Manage how the community appears across search and social platforms.

The platform includes settings for:

• SEO
• Social sharing previews
• Custom metadata
• Legal pages
• Email consent controls

These features can help businesses integrate the community into a broader branded customer experience.

Built for Branded Online Communities

Instance combines community communication, memberships, payments, content delivery, moderation, and automation into one platform for businesses that want greater ownership over their member experience.

Key benefits include:

• Launch a community on your own domain
• Keep community branding under your control
• Manage memberships and paid access
• Accept Stripe-backed subscription payments
• Create roles and access levels
• Manage invites and member permissions
• Support text and voice communication
• Create course and storefront channels
• Send announcements and notifications
• Enable direct messages and member interactions
• Moderate content with filters and automated rules
• Use bots, webhooks, and callback URLs
• Support sign-up and email verification
• Enable mobile web app installation
• Configure SEO and social sharing settings

Built For

• Content Creators
• Course Creators
• Online Educators
• Membership Businesses
• Coaches
• Community Managers
• SaaS Companies
• Online Businesses
• Digital Product Sellers
• Agencies
• Creator Communities
• Private Customer Communities

Common Use Cases

• Launching a branded online community
• Creating a paid membership community
• Building a community on a custom domain
• Selling access to premium member spaces
• Hosting courses and community discussions together
• Creating private customer communities
• Managing creator memberships
• Building a community around a digital product
• Combining a storefront with member discussions
• Managing member roles and permissions
• Running invite-only communities
• Connecting community activity with external workflows
• Creating a branded alternative to Discord

Why It Matters

Many businesses build their communities on third-party platforms, which can make the community feel separate from the rest of the customer experience. Branding, member access, payments, content, and communication may also need to be managed across multiple services.

Instance takes a more consolidated approach. Businesses can launch a community under their own domain, manage the visual identity of the space, control member access, and support payments and subscriptions from the same platform.

The inclusion of different channel types also allows the community to support more than conversation. Businesses can combine discussions with courses, storefronts, content, and other app-specific experiences without necessarily moving members between separate tools.

Build a Branded Community on Your Own Terms

Set up a community on your own domain, customize the branding, manage memberships and paid access, organize members with roles and permissions, create channels for conversations, courses, or products, moderate activity, connect external workflows with webhooks and bots, and give members a single place to access your content, community, and business experience.