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Searching for a customer success community that delivers real value? This guide highlights trusted groups where you can connect, learn from peers, swap ideas, and get support on the challenges you face every day in customer success.

Best Customer Success Communities Shortlist

Here's a shortlist of the best customer success communities I think are worth joining:

  1. The CX Lead - Best for CX and CS leadership insights
  2. Gain Grow Retain - Best for exclusive practitioner-led discussions
  3. Support Driven - Best for Slack-based peer networking
  4. CXPA (Customer Experience Professionals Association) - Best for CX certification paths
  5. Gainsight Community - Best for customer success peers
  6. Customer Success Collective - Best for CS career development
  7. Customer Success Network - Best for free peer mentoring
  8. Pavilion - Best for cross-functional CS executive networking
  9. Women in Customer Success (PowerUp Tribe) - Best for women in CS leadership
  10. CX Network - Best for executive-level CX insights

The 14 Best Customer Success Communities

Below are my summaries of the best customer success communities. My reviews offer a look at each community's audience, size, cost, and more.

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1. The CX Lead - Best for CX and CS leadership insights

The CX Lead community dashboard.
The CX Lead brings together customer service professionals with practical CX insights, expert advice, and industry resources.
  • Audience: CX and customer success leaders
  • Cost: Free
  • Platform: The CX Lead website and member dashboard

The CX Lead is our own community and resource hub built for customer experience and success leaders who want practical support, not just inspiration.

It covers everything from service design and retention to customer success, AI, and CX strategy—with a clear focus on helping you get things done.

Why join? We built The CX Lead for leaders who need insights, tactical resources, and strategic clarity. Members get access to ready-to-use templates, playbooks, AI prompts, how-to guides, tool recommendations, and exclusive events—all grounded in the real challenges of running CX in a SaaS business.

Senior leaders can also apply for early access to a more focused executive peer community built around candid conversations with people who are navigating the same pressures you are.

2. Gain Grow Retain - Best for exclusive practitioner-led discussions

Gain Grow Retain community page.
Gain Grow Retain provides a practitioner-led community for B2B SaaS customer success professionals.
  • Audience: B2B SaaS customer success leaders and professionals
  • Size: 12,900+ members
  • Membership Cost: Free
  • Platform: Online community platform, in-person events

Gain Grow Retain was founded by CS practitioners Jay Nathan and Jeff Breunsbach and is now part of Higher Logic—making it one of the most established free communities built specifically for B2B SaaS customer success leaders. It's designed to connect CS professionals through peer discussion, a widely followed podcast, and regular live programming.

Why join? I'd point to the combination of async community discussions, weekly leadership calls, and in-person GGR Live events as the real draw here—you're getting multiple ways to engage depending on how much time you have. The practitioner-led roots mean the conversations tend to be grounded in real CS challenges rather than surface-level advice. If you work in B2B SaaS and want a free community where you can actually talk shop with people who get it, this one's worth joining.

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3. Support Driven - Best for Slack-based peer networking

Support Driven provides customer service professionals with a collaborative community for networking, learning, and professional growth.
  • Audience: Customer support professionals at all career stages
  • Size: 30,000+ members
  • Membership Cost: Free
  • Platform: Slack, website, in-person events, conferences

Support Driven is a Slack-based community dedicated to customer support as a career, with 30,000+ members ranging from frontline support reps to support leaders. It's one of the longest-running communities in the space, with over 9 years of events across 15 cities and 550+ speakers.

Why join? The Slack workspace is free to join and gives you immediate access to a large, active network of support professionals you can ask questions, share experiences, and learn from. What sets Support Driven apart is the bridge between digital and in-person connection—if you want to meet your peers face-to-face, the annual Expo (Chicago) and Summit (New York) give you that opportunity. 

I'd especially recommend it if you're a support professional looking to grow your network or even get on stage yourself, since there's an open call for proposals for event speakers.

4. CXPA (Customer Experience Professionals Association) - Best for CX certification paths

CXPA equips CX professionals with expert resources, peer connections, and practical guidance to improve customer experiences.
  • Audience: CX professionals and leaders across industries worldwide
  • Membership Cost: From $250 (region-adjusted pricing available) 
  • Platform: Website, online community, webinars, in-person events, conferences, regional meetups

CXPA (Customer Experience Professionals Association) is a global non-profit dedicated to the customer experience profession, with members in 70+ countries across industries ranging from retail to healthcare to government. 

It's the organization behind the CCXP (Certified Customer Experience Professional) credential—the most widely recognized certification in the CX field.

Why join? If you want a CX community to formalize your expertise, CXPA is the only community built around a structured certification path, grounded in the CX Book of Knowledge—a framework covering five core competencies from customer insights to organizational culture. Membership includes discounts on CCXP exam fees, access to regional networks and study groups, and entry to the annual CXPA Leaders Advance conference. 

I'd especially recommend it if you're a CX leader or practitioner ready to validate your skills and connect with a credentialed global peer network.

5. Gainsight Community - Best for customer success peers

Gainsight Community fosters a collaborative space for customer success professionals to connect, learn, and exchange best practices.
  • Audience: Customer success and CS Ops professionals in SaaS
  • Size: 15,900+ members
  • Membership Cost: Free
  • Platform: Website, webinars, virtual events, in-person conferences

The Gainsight Community is a free, web-based community run by Gainsight for customer success, CS Ops, and customer education professionals — and you don't need to be a Gainsight customer to join. It's organized around topic-based discussion boards covering CS strategy, operations, and product experience.

Why join? The community goes beyond peer discussion — top contributors can apply to the CS Ops Product Council, a selective program that gives members direct input into Gainsight's product roadmap through sessions held every 8-12 weeks. It also connects to the annual Pulse conference, one of the largest in-person gatherings for CS professionals. 

I'd flag that if your role is purely frontline support, the content skews toward CS strategy and SaaS — but if your work spans success and service, you'll find it genuinely useful.

6. Customer Success Collective - Best for CS career development

Customer Success Collective fosters a global community where customer success and support professionals can connect, learn, and advance their careers.
  • Audience: Customer success and support professionals worldwide
  • Size: 100,000+ members
  • Membership Cost: Free plan available and starts at $42 per month
  • Platform: Website, Slack, virtual events, in-person summits, local meetups

Customer Success Collective is a global network for customer success and support professionals, run by the Alliance group and drawing members from companies like Microsoft, Google, LinkedIn, Adobe, and Zendesk. With 100,000+ members, it's one of the largest CS-focused communities out there.

Why join? What sets CSC apart is the structured career development infrastructure — 12+ certifications, the CSC IQ skills benchmark that maps out a personalized career roadmap, and a content library of frameworks, templates, and on-demand event footage. 

The free tier gets you real access: the Slack community, local meetups, and virtual events — not just a newsletter. If you're looking to grow into or advance within a CS or support leadership role, this is one of the most practical communities to be part of.

7. Customer Success Network - Best for free peer mentoring

Customer Success Network home page.
The Customer Success Network provides a peer community for CSMs and global CS leaders.
  • Audience: Customer success professionals worldwide, especially in Europe
  • Size: 6,000+ members
  • Membership Cost: Free
  • Platform: Workplace by Meta, dedicated community platform, LinkedIn, in-person events, webinars

Customer Success Network (CSN) launched in London in December 2017 as the first global peer-learning community for CS professionals, run entirely by volunteers as a not-for-profit. It now spans 70+ countries, with particularly strong roots in Europe.

Why join? What makes CSN genuinely different from other CS communities is its free mentoring program, which pairs you with a seasoned CS leader—or lets you give back as a mentor yourself. Beyond mentoring, you get access to a daily job board, a content library, and priority invites to virtual Master Classes, panel discussions, and in-person CSN Cafe meetups across European cities. I'd especially recommend it if you're earlier in your CS career and want structured support from peers without paying for it.

8. Pavilion - Best for cross-functional CS executive networking

Pavilion Community home page.
Pavilion's CS community connects you with cross-functional leaders.
  • Audience: Customer success directors, VPs, and chief customer officers
  • Size: 10,000+ members
  • Membership Cost: From $1,375/year
  • Platform: Slack, website, in-person chapters, annual conference, Pavilion University

Pavilion (formerly Revenue Collective) is a private, paid membership community founded by Sam Jacobs for GTM leaders in sales, marketing, customer success, and RevOps. It's built specifically for directors, VPs, and CCOs who own a number and lead a team — individual contributors won't find a fit here.

Why join? What makes Pavilion different is that it puts you in the same rooms as sales, marketing, and RevOps leaders, which is rare in CS-specific communities and genuinely useful when you're trying to build executive alignment or benchmark your org structure. You'll get access to CSM School, dedicated CS Slack channels, 45+ in-person chapters across 6 continents, Operator Dinners, and the annual GTM conference in New York City.

I'd flag that the entry-level membership starts at $1,375/year, so it's a meaningful investment — but if you're a CS leader looking for peer relationships at your level, I think it's worth it.

9. Women in Customer Success (PowerUp Tribe) - Best for women in CS leadership

PowerUp Tribe's community home page for women in customer success.
Women in Customer Success's community, PowerUp Tribe, empowers women in customer success at all levels.
  • Audience: Women in customer success roles at all career stages
  • Size: 20,000+ members
  • Membership Cost: Free
  • Platform: Mighty Networks, website, LinkedIn, podcast, in-person events, virtual masterclasses

Women in Customer Success is a global community and podcast founded by Marija Skobe-Pilley for women working in customer success roles at all career levels. It's one of the few CS communities built specifically around the experiences and advancement of women in the field.

Why join? The core of the community is the PowerUp Tribe — a free private space on Mighty Networks where you can join regular Connect calls, find peer mentors, and access speaking opportunities that can genuinely raise your professional profile.

Beyond the community itself, WiCS runs CPD-certified masterclasses on topics like revenue-driven CS and first-time leadership, which I think is a meaningful differentiator for women looking to grow into or within leadership roles. The podcast (150+ episodes, 75K+ listeners across 100+ countries) is also worth your time even if you're not ready to join the community.

10. CX Network - Best for executive-level CX insights

CX Network engages customer service professionals through expert content, industry discussions, and CX events.
  • Audience: Senior CX and customer service leaders worldwide
  • Size: 100,000+ members
  • Membership Cost: Free
  • Platform: Website, LinkedIn group, webinars, in-person events, mobile app

CX Network is a global community and media platform for customer experience professionals and leaders, run by IQPC, a global events and media company. It's vendor-neutral and free to join, making it accessible to CX and customer service practitioners at any career stage.

Why join? Where this community stands out is in its executive-level content — you'll get access to state-of-the-industry research reports, expert interviews, and data-backed analysis that help you benchmark your team's performance and make a case for strategic investments. 

The global event portfolio spans both virtual webinars and in-person conferences, where you can hear from senior CX leaders and network with peers across industries.

11. Customer Contact Week (CCW) Digital - Best for contact center research

CCW Digital provides customer service professionals with research, expert perspectives, and industry updates on customer contact.
  • Audience: Contact center and customer service leaders worldwide
  • Size: 185,000+ members
  • Membership Cost: Free
  • Platform: Website, webinars, podcasts, in-person conferences, invitation-only exchanges

CCW Digital, run by IQPC, is the online research and events hub of Customer Contact Week — one of the largest customer contact event brands in the world. It's built specifically for contact center and customer service professionals who want data-backed industry intelligence.

Why join? What sets CCW Digital apart is the depth of its research — you'll get access to market studies, special reports on topics like generative AI and self-service, and a seminar series featuring industry experts, all free with membership. If you're a senior leader, the invitation-only CCW Exchanges offer a more exclusive peer experience alongside in-person CCW conferences. 

I'd say this is less of a peer discussion forum and more of a go-to resource hub for benchmarking your contact center strategy.

12. ICMI (International Customer Management Institute) - Best for contact center training

ICMI provides customer service professionals with training, research, and practical resources for improving contact center operations.
  • Audience: Contact center professionals and customer management leaders worldwide
  • Membership Cost: Free
  • Platform: Website, newsletter, webinars, in-person events, mentorship program

ICMI has been a cornerstone of the contact center industry since 1985, offering training, certifications, research, and community resources for professionals at every level — from frontline agents to executives. It's now part of Informa TechTarget and shaped by contributors like Brad Cleveland and a roster of recognized industry thought leaders.

Why join? If you're looking to build or validate your contact center skills, ICMI's certification tracks — covering agent, manager, WFM, QA, and trainer roles — are some of the most respected in the field. Beyond training, you get access to free webinars, the Contact Center Insider newsletter, a mentorship program, and the annual ICMI Contact Center Expo. One important note: The free membership covers community resources and select webinars, while certifications and in-person events are paid.

13. Execs In The Know - Best for senior CX leaders

Execs In The Know engages CX executives through peer discussions, strategic collaboration, and shared industry expertise.
  • Audience: Senior corporate CX and customer service leaders
  • Size: 1,500+ members
  • Membership Cost: Free
  • Platform: Online community, website, webinars, in-person events

Execs In The Know is a global peer community built exclusively for corporate CX leaders — Directors, VPs, and C-suite executives from brands like United Airlines, The Home Depot, and Nintendo of America. 

It operates on a "Leaders Learning from Leaders" model, connecting senior practitioners through its members-only KIA (Know It All) network, research, and events.

Why join? What sets this apart is the vendor-free environment — no sales pitches, no service providers, just peers in comparable roles sharing real experiences. 

You'll get access to the KIA online community, CX research reports, on-demand webinars, and the quarterly CX Insight Magazine, plus invitations to the Customer Response Summit and exclusive experiences like the Dinner Series and The Leadership Table.

14. National Customer Service Association (NCSA) - Best for service certifications

The National Customer Service Association provides customer service professionals with training, certifications, resources, and membership benefits.
  • Audience: Customer service professionals and organizations worldwide
  • Membership Cost: From $150
  • Platform: Website, webinars, e-learning, member directory, coaching

The National Customer Service Association (NCSA) is a global professional association for customer service professionals at every level — from frontline reps to managers and organizational leaders. 

It's run by NCSA and offers structured membership with certifications, coaching, webinars, and a peer directory.

Why join? NCSA stands out for its globally recognized certifications — the CCSP® for managers and DCSP® for frontline professionals — which give your service credentials real weight. Members also get access to the Coach on Call program, where you can get 1:1 guidance from a customer service expert on specific challenges you're navigating. 

I'd point you here if formal career development and certified credentials matter more to you than a peer chat forum.

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Tim Fisher

Tim brings over two decades of experience leading at the crossroads of tech, editorial, and AI innovation. From launching and scaling Lifewire into a top-ranked tech site, to spearheading AI operations at People Inc., he’s spent his career building systems that connect people with smarter solutions.



His favorite problems are the ones that unlock new possibilities when properly solved. For Tim, problems are just undiscovered opportunities, and AI has opened the door to solving challenges once thought immovable.



When he’s not tinkering with large language models, Tim is either re-reading Project Hail Mary, or eating Mexican food.