GoHighLevel community features now cover groups, channels, events, a points leaderboard, attached courses and paid access, all inside the same sub-account that runs your CRM. HighLevel's own help article on Communities was last modified on 17 September 2026, so everything below reflects the documentation as it stood then.
One limit on what follows: we didn't read HighLevel's release changelog for this piece. Every detail comes from two HighLevel pages we did open, and where they're silent, we are too.
What GoHighLevel community features include
A community in HighLevel is a branded space where members talk in groups and channels, join events, earn points and take courses. You build it from the Communities section of the dashboard by creating a group with a name, a URL and a short description, according to HighLevel's setup guide for Communities.
The building blocks, as that guide lists them:
- Groups that split conversations by topic, each with its own privacy setting
- Channels inside a group, each with an icon and its own privacy
- An Events tab for one-time or recurring sessions
- A leaderboard with Bronze, Silver and Gold levels
- A Learning tab for attaching courses
- Paid membership plans for monetising access
Chat and direct messages exist too, but the help article only mentions them in the titles of related pages, so we can't tell you how they behave.
How groups and channels work
Among the GoHighLevel community features, groups are the top level and channels sit inside them. Use a group when the audience differs (customers versus staff, say) and a channel when only the topic differs.
HighLevel suggests channels such as Announcements, SOPs and VIP. You add one with the "+ Add Channel" button, and each can be given its own icon and privacy.
Visibility isn't locked in at creation. A group can be flipped between Public and Private later under Group Settings, then Details, and the slug is editable under Discovery on the same screen.
That matters if you're unsure how open to be. Start private, watch who asks to join, and open it up once the conversation is worth reading.
Who can do what: roles and join requests
HighLevel defines three roles: Admin with full control, Contributor with limited permissions, and Member with basic access. You can hand someone admin rights at the moment you invite them, or change their role later from the Members tab.
Join requests arrive as notifications to admins, who approve or decline each one. For a paid or client-only space, that approval step is your gatekeeping.
Events and the points leaderboard
Of all the GoHighLevel community features, events are the easiest to start with. They're created from their own tab with a title, description, banner and a meeting link, and the help article's example is Zoom. They can run once, weekly or monthly, with optional reminders.
The reminder and new-event emails can be customised with merge fields, so a webinar invite can greet each member by name.
The leaderboard is the engagement mechanic. Members move through levels such as Bronze, Silver and Gold based on points earned from posts, comments and likes.
Points can also be awarded by automations, and rewards can include course access, promo discounts or community roles, with workflows triggering them. That's the point where a community stops being a forum and starts feeding your AI and automation setup: a member hitting Gold can unlock a course or a discount without anyone lifting a finger.
Courses and paid access
Among the GoHighLevel community features, courses are the most flexible. You attach one from the Learning tab, either an existing one or a new one built on the spot. Attached courses show up only inside the community and leave your main course catalogue alone, so one course can serve a free group and a paid one separately.
Course access can be open to every member, restricted to specific member levels, sold through "Buy Now", or released on a time or milestone schedule.
On the money side, HighLevel's help article says you can monetise through paid membership plans, though the linked page on paid groups wasn't part of what we read, so we can't quote prices or billing options. A separate HighLevel post on its client portal, published 21 September 2026, says a course can be free, require a recurring payment, or require a one-time payment.
Branding, domains and notifications
Branding lives in the Branding tab of Community Settings, where you upload a favicon, cover image and logo. A custom domain is set under Memberships, then Communities, then Settings: you update your DNS records, save, and wait. HighLevel says propagation can take up to 48 hours.
Notification emails are configured at Sites, Client Portal, Memberships, Settings, Email Settings, then Communities. They go out from the default email address in your sub-account's Email Services settings.
If that address still reads like a test account, fix it before you invite anyone. Members judge the community by the first email it sends.
Setting up your first community
The client-portal post describes the same path in a few steps, and combined with the help article it comes to this sequence:
- Go to Communities, then Groups, then Create a Community, and enter a group name, description and branding.
- Add channels for the topics you want conversations in.
- Open the group's Learning tab and attach a course if the community is built around one.
- Invite people through the Members tab, or let them request to join.
- Schedule a first event so the space has a reason to be visited.
Clients invited this way can join group discussions from the portal, per the same post. If you're moving an existing member list in from another tool, plan the import carefully, and our notes on CRM data migration best practices cover the traps.
What changed recently in the documentation
The help article carries a short undated list of changes. Members now land in a group they already belong to or recently accessed, community URLs are case-insensitive, and older slugs redirect to updated ones.
Personal profile slugs are also editable now, under Settings, then Profile.
None of these is dramatic, which is itself informative. The 2026 story for GoHighLevel community features, going by HighLevel's own pages, is polish and plumbing around a tool that already had its major parts, not a reinvention.
Where a community fits next to the rest of your stack
The GoHighLevel community features work best when they share data with the CRM instead of sitting beside it. Because it lives in the same sub-account, a member's activity can trigger workflows, which is the practical advantage over bolting on a separate forum tool.
If you're still deciding between platforms for that CRM layer, our comparison of GoHighLevel and HubSpot for agencies shows how each one bills you.
Your team will also want to reach the account away from a desk, and we covered that in the GoHighLevel mobile app's new features.
A public group can double as a content channel, since outsiders can read what's open. HighLevel's blog tool does similar work for search, as we explain in using GoHighLevel's built-in blog for SEO.
And if the community is meant to keep customers rather than recruit them, it belongs in a wider digital marketing and growth plan, with a named person owning it.
Frequently asked questions
Do the GoHighLevel community features include private groups?
Yes. Visibility is set per group and can be switched between Public and Private later under Group Settings, then Details. Channels can have their own privacy settings too.
How long does a custom domain take to work?
HighLevel says DNS propagation can take up to 48 hours after you update your records and save the setting under Memberships, Communities, Settings.
Can I delete a community and get it back?
No. HighLevel's FAQ states that deleting a community is irreversible, so export or note down anything you need first.
Can I attach a course to a community?
Yes. Open the group's Learning tab and use "+ Add Course" to attach an existing course or create a new one. It appears inside the community only and doesn't alter your main course catalogue.
Can members earn rewards for taking part?
Yes. Points from posts, comments, likes and automations move members up levels on the leaderboard, and rewards such as course access, promo discounts or roles can be triggered through workflows.
Sources
- How to Setup, Customize, and Manage Your Communities — HighLevel Support
- How to Build a Branded, All in One Client Portal in HighLevel — HighLevel
