Ning Interactive

What Ning Interactive does

Ning Interactive, Inc. is a privately held SaaS company founded in 2004 and incorporated in Nevada, operating a cloud-based platform that enables users without coding expertise to build, customize, and operate their own branded social networks and online communities. The core Ning Platform is a no-code, drag-and-drop website builder that bundles community features — groups, blogs, photos, videos, forums, events, chat, and member management — alongside content moderation tools, HTML/CSS design customization, and analytics. The platform exposes a RESTful API (version 1.0) with OAuth 1.0 authentication and OpenSocial support, and offers social sign-in through Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo, and Windows Live. Ning has accumulated more than 2 million networks built on the platform over its lifetime and supports English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Ning operates a product-led, self-serve go-to-market distributed entirely through ning.com, with no disclosed sales-led or reseller channels. Revenue is generated primarily through tiered monthly subscriptions — Ning Mini, Ning Plus, and Ning Pro — with annual billing available, plus a special discounted annual plan for nonprofit organizations. A secondary revenue layer is the NING E-commerce module, which enables creators to monetize networks via product sales, advertising, and Google AdSense integration. The customer base is a long-tail mix of individual creators, hobbyists, SMBs, industry associations (e.g., CULytics), entertainment fan communities (e.g., ThisIs50), educational sites (e.g., Hat Academy), and nonprofits (e.g., ISKCON Desire Tree). Ning has raised approximately $134 million in disclosed funding (2005–2009) from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Allen & Company, Legg Mason, SV Angel, and Marc Andreessen, but has not raised outside capital since 2009 and operates without a disclosed parent company, subsidiaries, or recent M&A activity.

Name

Ning Interactive

Legal name

Ning Interactive Inc

Website

https://ning.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Ning Interactive operates a no-code SaaS platform that enables individuals, SMBs, nonprofits, and fan communities to build and monetize their own branded social networks without coding, distributed via a self-serve, product-led model since 2004.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Community / Social Network Platform Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Virtual Worlds & Social Sandbox Experiences (persistent social spaces) (MPAFAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Creator Monetization & Tipping Platforms (MPACABAE)

Keywords

• Social network builder
• Community platform software
• Online community SaaS
• Creator community platform
• White-label social network

Headquarters

HQ city

Menlo Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription Plans: Ning offers tiered subscription plans (Ning Plus, Ning Pro, Ning Mini) with different feature sets and limits. Pricing varies by plan level, with annual billing options available. The platform targets organizations and individuals seeking to create branded social communities.
2. E-commerce and Monetization Services: The E-commerce platform module allows Network Creators to monetize their networks by driving traffic, converting visitors, selling products, and posting advertisements. This creates a secondary revenue stream through transaction-based monetization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Ning Interactive operates a cloud-based SaaS platform that enables individuals and organizations to create customized, branded social networks and online communities without coding. The platform combines a no-code drag-and-drop builder with built-in community features (groups, blogs, photos, videos, forums, events, chat), social sign-in integration with Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Yahoo, an e-commerce/monetization module, custom HTML/CSS design tools, content moderation, and analytics.

Product overview

Ning Interactive offers a unified social network platform builder that allows users to create customized online communities without coding knowledge. The core Ning Platform provides drag-and-drop website building, social media integration, and custom HTML/CSS design options. The platform includes a built-in E-commerce module for monetization. The product portfolio includes the Ning API for developer access, the Ning Creator Network for community resources, and the Ning Developer Network for API documentation. Core social features (Groups, Blogs, Photos, Videos, Forums, Events, Chat) are integrated into the platform. Users can sign up via social identity providers (Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo) and the platform supports RSS feed integration for content aggregation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ning Platform
• NING E-commerce / Monetization Module
• Ning API
• NING Creator Network
• Ning Developer Network

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,000,000+ networks built to date
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• FacebookcoreTechnology or IntegrationSocial login integration allowing users to sign up and log in to Ning Networks using their Facebook credentials. Also enables social sharing functionality.
• GooglecoreTechnology or IntegrationSocial login integration enabling users to authenticate using Google credentials. Also supports Google Sign In functionality for Ning Networks.
• TwittercoreTechnology or IntegrationSocial login integration and social sharing capabilities allowing users to sign in with Twitter and share content to the platform.
• LinkedIncoreTechnology or IntegrationSocial login integration enabling professional users to sign in to Ning Networks using their LinkedIn credentials.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Circle: Circle is a direct peer providing a modern community platform with spaces, events, courses, and monetization — targeting creators and brands with a more contemporary UX that directly challenges Ning's product.
• Wild Apricot: Wild Apricot is a direct peer offering membership management and community websites for nonprofits and associations — overlapping Ning's nonprofit and association verticals with deeper member database functionality.
• Kajabi: Kajabi is a direct peer providing creators with a platform for communities, courses, and digital products — competing with Ning for creator and SMB customers who want to monetize their audience.
• Discourse: Discourse is a direct peer offering open-source community forum software used by organizations to host discussion communities — overlapping with Ning's forums and groups feature set for technical and professional communities.
• Hivebrite: Hivebrite is a direct peer providing an all-in-one community management platform for professional networks, alumni associations, and nonprofits — overlapping Ning's industry associations and nonprofit customer segments.
• Mighty Networks: Mighty Networks is a direct peer offering a SaaS platform for creators and brands to build paid community, course, and membership sites — competing head-to-head with Ning in the no-code branded community builder category.
• Tribe Platform: Tribe is a direct peer offering a customizable community platform with APIs and embeddable widgets — competing for the same branded-community use case as Ning with a more developer-friendly modern stack.

Emerging players

• Bettermode: Bettermode (formerly Tribe) is an emerging player offering embeddable community experiences for SaaS companies — competing for Ning's enterprise and platform-customization customers with a more modern, API-first stack.

Broad incumbents

• Discord: Discord is a broad incumbent offering free real-time community servers with voice, video, and text — competing with Ning's chat, forums, and groups features and putting continuous free pricing pressure on subscription models.
• Reddit: Reddit is a broad incumbent offering topic-based free community forums at massive scale — providing an alternative to Ning for hobbyist and creator communities without requiring a subscription.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Ning
• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=ODrOCt2_xiA
• Facebookfacebook.com/NingNetworkPlatform
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ning

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ning Interactive