Reign is a WordPress theme built by Wbcom Designs since 2013. It turns a standard WordPress install into an online community site - the kind of site where members have profiles, post to activity feeds, join groups, message each other, take courses, sell on a marketplace, or apply to jobs. Reign supplies the design system; a community engine supplies the social plumbing. Wbcom builds its own engine, BuddyNext, which is free to install, and Reign also styles BuddyPress, BuddyBoss Platform, and PeepSo for people already running those.
The Reign Theme is the design system - 5 header layouts, 30+ pre-built page templates, member directory styles, activity feed styling, group + profile templates, and dark mode. It ships with a free Reign Demo Installer that one-click imports any of 30+ demo sites. The theme is the only purchase required. The features are added with Wbcom plugins that install free: BuddyNext for the community engine, Learnomy for courses, Jetonomy for forums and Q&A, Eventonomy for events, WP Career Board for jobs, WP Sell Services for a services marketplace, Listora for directories, MediaVerse for member media, and WB Gamification for points and badges. Each of those has its own optional Pro plan. Separately, for people running third-party plugins such as LearnDash or Dokan, Reign sells 9 paid styling add-ons at $39/year and 10 bundled kits.
Reign is the theme, not the community engine. It does not, by itself, give you activity feeds, courses, or listings - it styles the pages that plugins create. Every one of those functions has a Wbcom plugin that installs free: the community engine is BuddyNext, courses are Learnomy, forums and Q&A are Jetonomy, events are Eventonomy, jobs are WP Career Board, a services marketplace is WP Sell Services, directories are Listora, member media is MediaVerse. If you would rather run third-party plugins, Reign also styles BuddyPress, BuddyBoss, PeepSo, LearnDash, LifterLMS, Tutor LMS, Sensei, Dokan, WC Vendors, WCFM, WP Job Manager, and GeoDirectory. Reign does not include a native mobile app.
BuddyBoss is two products: the BuddyBoss Platform (a community engine) and the BuddyBoss Theme (a design system for it), sold together from $228/year with the add-ons bundled into that subscription. Reign is the theme, $99/year or $249 lifetime, and it works with the free BuddyNext engine as well as with BuddyPress, BuddyBoss Platform, and PeepSo. The functional plugins around Reign - courses, forums, events, jobs, marketplace, directories - install free and are upgraded one at a time, rather than being unlocked by one large annual licence.
The Reign Theme is $99/year or $249 lifetime for one site, and it is the only thing you have to buy. The Wbcom plugins that add community features install free, so a working community costs $99 in the first year. Each plugin has its own Pro plan if you later want the paid features, from $59/year for WB Ad Manager and Product Roadmap, $69/year for Jetonomy, Eventonomy, Listora, MediaVerse, WP Career Board and WP Sell Services, and $149/year for BuddyNext and Learnomy. For third-party stacks, styling add-ons are $39/year or $79 lifetime each and bundled kits are $129/year or $249 lifetime. Site tiers run 1 site, 5 sites, unlimited. A flat $699 setup package installs everything in 5 business days. Real pricing comes from the EDD store at wbcomdesigns.com.
You need: (1) a WordPress site on any standard host (Bluehost, Cloudways, WP Engine, SiteGround, Kinsta all work), (2) a domain, (3) a community engine - BuddyNext is Wbcom's own and is free to download, and BuddyPress, BuddyBoss Platform, and PeepSo also work, (4) the Reign theme. The free Reign Demo Installer imports a full demo site in one click after the theme is activated.
Three buyer profiles. First, paid course community owners who want LearnDash or Tutor LMS courses + a community layer on the same site. Second, multi-vendor marketplace operators using Dokan, WC Vendors, or WCFM who want buyer + vendor profiles + community. Third, professional networks, alumni associations, and niche communities (real estate agents, dentists, coaches) where members need profiles, groups, and content discovery. Reign powers 20,000+ active WordPress installations and Wbcom Designs has shipped 2,000+ community projects on it since 2013.
Direct theme competitors: BuddyBoss Theme, BuddyX, Kleo, Boss.net. Hosted SaaS competitors: Mighty Networks, Circle.so, Skool, Bettermode, Hivebrite. Chat-based community alternatives: Slack, Discord. Reign on WordPress is the self-hosted option - the trade-off is more setup work in exchange for owning the URL, member data, payment relationship, and SEO equity.
