Updated August 1, 2026
Google Plus alternatives were a hot topic in 2019, when Google shut its social network down, and millions of community members needed a new home.
Years later, people still land on this page hunting for Google Plus alternatives. Some miss the Communities. Some are confused about whether Google+ still exists. Some just want to know where everyone went.
So this guide got a full rebuild. The first version listed 13 sites in 2018. Several of those recommendations aged badly, and this update says so openly. Below you will find a short history of what happened to Google+, an honest scoreboard of the old picks, and 11 current Google Plus alternatives sorted by what you actually miss about the platform.
Key Takeaways
- Google+ shut down for consumers in April 2019 after data exposure incidents and years of low engagement.
- Google never launched a true replacement. Its enterprise successor, Currents, was also retired.
- The real heirs to Google+ Communities are Reddit, Discord, and Facebook Groups.
- Several sites this post once recommended, like Steemit and Clubhouse, faded. This update corrects the record.
- For bloggers, the best alternative is not one platform. It is one community platform plus one distribution platform.
What Happened to Google Plus?
Google+ was Google’s social network. Its best feature was Communities, niche groups where photographers, bloggers, and hobbyists gathered around shared interests. For many users, that community feeling was the whole point.
The end came quickly. In October 2018, Google announced it would sunset Google+ after disclosing a bug that exposed user profile data, alongside an admission that most user sessions lasted only seconds. A second data exposure moved the shutdown date earlier. The consumer version closed in April 2019.
The table below sums up the full timeline, including the quiet endings that came after the headlines stopped.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2011 | Google+ launches as Google’s answer to Facebook |
| 2018 | Two data exposure incidents become public; shutdown announced |
| April 2019 | Consumer Google+ closes permanently |
| 2020 | Shoelace, Google’s experimental community app, is shut down |
| 2023 | Google Currents, the enterprise successor, is retired in favor of Google Chat spaces |
The short version: Google+ is gone, it is not coming back, and Google has shown no sign of building another general social network. That is why the useful question is no longer what happened, but which Google Plus alternatives deserve your limited time.
What the Old Version of This Post Got Right and Wrong
The 2018 version of this article recommended 13 sites. In the spirit of honesty, here is how those picks aged. Still standing and still recommended: Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Medium, and Facebook. Faded or gone: Steemit collapsed along with its earning hype, Scoop.it pivoted away from casual users, Viral Content Bee lost relevance, and Clubhouse declined sharply after its 2021 peak. StumbleUpon’s successor Mix also quietly wound down.
The lesson from that scoreboard shaped this update. Lists of Google Plus alternatives that chased whichever platform was newest aged the worst. The Google Plus alternatives below earned their spots by surviving.
11 Google Plus Alternatives Worth Using in 2026
The list is grouped by what you miss most. Pick from the first group if you miss Communities, the second if you miss the open feed feeling, and the third if you mainly used Google+ to promote your content.
If You Miss the Communities
Communities were the soul of Google+, so these Google Plus alternatives lead the list. Each one recreates the niche-group feeling in its own way.
1. Reddit
Reddit is the closest thing to Google+ Communities that exists at scale. Whatever your niche, there is a subreddit for it, and niche subreddits often have the same helpful, on-topic culture the old Communities had. For bloggers, Reddit rewards genuine participation and punishes drive-by promotion, so help first and share your links rarely.
2. Discord
Discord grew from gaming chat into general community infrastructure. Thousands of topic servers now function like real-time Google+ Communities, with channels for questions, feedback, and off-topic chat. Many bloggers also run their own servers as a home base for loyal readers.
3. Facebook Groups
Facebook’s feed may not appeal to former Google+ users, but Facebook groups remain the easiest place to find large, active niche communities. Blogging groups in particular are useful for feedback, collaboration, and traffic threads.
4. MeWe
MeWe positioned itself as the privacy-focused pick among Google Plus alternatives when the shutdown hit, and it even offered migration for Google+ content at the time. It remains a smaller network, which cuts both ways: less noise, but also less reach. This MeWe review covers the details.
If You Miss the Open Feed
The next three Google Plus alternatives suit people who liked the public feed and the Circles-style control over what they saw.
5. Mastodon
Mastodon is a decentralized network of servers, each with its own topic and culture. Joining a niche server feels surprisingly close to joining a Google+ Community. There is a learning curve, but no algorithm decides what you see, which former Google+ users tend to appreciate.
6. Bluesky
Bluesky offers a familiar short-post feed with user-controlled custom feeds. It grew quickly as people left X, and its feed-building features reward niche content creators who want to reach specific audiences.
7. Threads
Threads is Meta’s short-post network, connected to Instagram. It is the easiest of the newer feeds to grow on if you already have any Instagram presence, and its conversational culture suits bloggers who like discussing ideas in public.
If You Used Google+ to Promote Your Blog
The final group of Google Plus alternatives is for bloggers who mainly used the platform as a traffic source. These four have outlasted every promotion fad since the shutdown.
8. Pinterest
Pinterest is not social in the traditional sense. It behaves more like a visual discovery engine, and that is exactly why it still sends bloggers meaningful traffic long after a pin is published. Food, home, craft, travel, and lifestyle niches do especially well.
9. LinkedIn
LinkedIn works best for business, marketing, and career content. Publishing posts on LinkedIn and staying active in the comments builds an audience that email and B2B bloggers can convert.
10. Medium
Medium lets you republish your posts in front of a built-in readership. Use it as a discovery channel that points readers back to your own blog and email list, not as a replacement for owning your site.
11. Quora
Quora remains a steady source of targeted visitors. Answer questions in your niche with genuine depth, and link to your relevant posts only when they truly extend the answer. Old answers keep working for years.
How to Choose Among These Google Plus Alternatives
Do not try to adopt all 11 Google Plus alternatives at once. That path leads to burnout and thin presence everywhere.
A simple rule works better. Choose one community platform from the first group for relationships and feedback. Add one distribution platform from the last group that fits your niche. Give the pair 90 days of consistent effort before judging results.
And whichever you choose, remember the deeper lesson of the Google+ shutdown. Platforms close, feeds change, and reach gets taken away. Your blog and your email list are the only assets you control, so treat every social platform as rented ground for growing your own followers.
If you want a broader list focused purely on promotion channels, this roundup of free social networking sites goes wider than the community-focused picks here.
Wrapping Up: Life After Google Plus
Google+ taught a generation of bloggers how valuable niche communities are, and its shutdown taught the same group not to build on rented land.
The good news is that everything people loved about it still exists, just spread across more places. The 11 Google Plus alternatives above cover every version of what you might miss, from Communities to the feed to the traffic. Pick two, show up consistently, and keep your blog at the center.
FAQs
Why did Google Plus shut down?
Google cited very low usage and the engineering cost of maintaining the network after a bug exposed profile data for up to 500,000 accounts. A second data exposure accelerated the timeline, and the consumer product closed in April 2019.
Is Google Plus coming back?
There is no indication it will. Google retired its enterprise successor, Currents, in 2023 and folded that use case into Google Chat. Google has not announced any new general social network since.
What replaced Google Plus?
Nothing from Google replaced it directly. The real Google Plus alternatives emerged elsewhere: former users spread across Reddit, Discord, Facebook Groups, and Mastodon for communities, and platforms like Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Medium for content promotion.
Are Google Plus and Gmail the same?
No. Google+ was a social network that no longer exists. Gmail is Google’s email service and was never affected by the shutdown. Your Google account works fine without Google+.
What is the best Google Plus alternative for bloggers?
It depends on your goal. Among all Google Plus alternatives, Reddit and Discord come closest to the community feeling. For blog traffic, Pinterest and Quora tend to deliver the most durable results. Most bloggers do best combining one of each.
Which platform ended up becoming your Google+ replacement? I would love to hear in the comments, especially from readers who were part of the original Communities.
