The BuddyBoss Next Gen App: Complete Guide to What Shipped and What Is Coming
The BuddyBoss app has been rebuilt from the ground up on Flutter, replacing the React Native app it launched with in 2021.
BuddyBoss calls it Next Gen, puts the speed improvement at 3X, and it is now out of early access with more than 120 apps live in the app stores.
If you already hold a BuddyBoss app subscription, Next Gen is included. Nothing new to buy.
There are also two limitations that matter a great deal to specific groups of people, and BuddyBoss states both plainly. We cover them in full rather than burying them, because getting either wrong is expensive.
Quick Summary
- Rebuilt on Flutter, replacing React Native. BuddyBoss reports 3X faster with better stability.
- Out of early access. 120+ Next Gen apps already live in the App Store and Google Play.
- Included in your existing app subscription. No additional purchase for current customers.
- You keep your React Native app too. Fully supported, no migration deadline.
- Tutor LMS is not supported on Next Gen yet. React Native does support it.
- The Developer Toolkit does not work with Next Gen at all. This is permanent for anyone downgrading a licence.
- Migration keeps your store listing, reviews, ratings and download history.
Why BuddyBoss Rebuilt the App from Scratch
BuddyBoss launched its first app in 2021, after years of building one-off apps for agency clients. Work that used to cost $30,000 to $50,000 came down to around $2,000, and demand was immediate.
The problems came later. React Native library changes, device-specific bugs, and a steady flow of support work generated by custom development through the Developer Toolkit. Building on a framework that was still settling, while supporting custom code layered on top, made stability hard to hold.
So the rebuild inverted the priorities. Core experience first, features after. Fast and reliable every time someone opens the app, before anything else got added.
The claimed result is 3X faster with noticeably better stability. The number that actually validates it is 120+ apps already shipped and running in production for real communities.
The most useful proof point is not the speed claim. It is that 120 communities are already running Next Gen apps in the stores.
What Comes with the Next Gen App
The Events Calendar Integration, Available at Launch
Next Gen ships with The Events Calendar integration from day one.
The Events Calendar is made by Liquid Web and has over 800,000 active installs, making it the most-installed events plugin on WordPress. This is an integration with their plugin, not a BuddyBoss-built events system.
Inside the app, members browse what is on, sign up, and buy tickets without leaving the app or opening a browser. If you already run events on your site, they come across with you.
Courses and Memberships Delivered Natively
Your courses and memberships run inside your own branded app.
That covers the new BuddyBoss Memberships and Courses built into the platform, plus LearnDash and MemberPress setups you may already run.
Whichever way you teach and sell on the web, a member opens your app and takes the course there. Nothing gets exported, rebuilt, or moved into a separate learning app.
This is the part no hosted community platform can match. A hosted platform will not give you an app under your own name, and no other WordPress community plugin ships courses and memberships inside a native app at all.
App Blocks: Build Your Own App Screens
Next Gen includes layout App Blocks for carousels, custom post types, videos and images.
These matter more than the name suggests. App Blocks mean you lay out your own native app screens rather than accepting the layout BuddyBoss picked. Your app looks like your community instead of a template.
Recent additions to the block library include Image Carousel, Video Carousel, an Icons Block and a Profile Card.
For a founder without a developer, this is the difference between a generic app and one that reflects the brand.
Light Mode and Dark Mode
Next Gen supports both, so the app matches how members prefer to use their phone. Dark mode requires Next Gen to be enabled, so it is not available on the older React Native app.
Gamification, In-App Purchases and White Labelling
Gamification carries into the app through GamiPress, which works the same way it did before, or through the BuddyBoss Gamification Module on the Scale plan. Points, ranks, achievements and leaderboards all appear in the app. Our BuddyBoss gamification guide covers the setup.
In-app purchases let you sell directly inside the app itself.
Full white labelling means your name, icon and brand in the App Store and on Google Play, with no mention of BuddyBoss anywhere members can see.
Access controls let you decide who sees what inside the app.
Two Next Gen Limitations You Need to Know
These are not minor caveats. For the people they affect, they are decision-changing.
Tutor LMS Is Not Supported on Next Gen Yet
Next Gen supports BuddyBoss Memberships and Courses, LearnDash and MemberPress.
It does not support Tutor LMS. The older React Native app does.
If your community runs on Tutor, stay on React Native for now. BuddyBoss has said they will announce when this changes, and they flagged it themselves rather than letting people discover it after building.
Worth noting the web platform and the app differ here. On the Launch plan the web platform integrates LearnDash, MemberPress, Tutor and LifterLMS. The Next Gen app covers a narrower set. Do not assume web support means app support.
The Developer Toolkit Does Not Work with Next Gen
This one has a permanent consequence, so read it carefully.
The Developer Toolkit only works with React Native. It is the tool that connects to BuddyBoss servers for custom development work, and Next Gen is not compatible with it.
Two things follow:
New app purchases do not include Developer Toolkit access.
Moving an existing React Native licence down to a Next Gen-only plan ends that access permanently.
If you run custom development on your app, talk to BuddyBoss before changing anything about your plan. BuddyBoss says they may open custom development up more widely later, and explicitly declines to promise it, which is the honest position but also means you should not plan around it.
Who Gets Next Gen, and What It Costs
If You Already Have a BuddyBoss App
Next Gen is included in the subscription you already hold. There is nothing new to buy.
You also keep your React Native app. Existing React Native apps remain fully supported with no migration deadline. For as long as your subscription runs, you have both.
If You Are New to BuddyBoss
You get Next Gen. It is the app BuddyBoss builds and ships now, and what any new app is built on.
App Plan Pricing
| Plan | First year | Renews at | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $499 | $999 | One platform. You choose iOS or Android and get that one app |
| Launch | $999 | $1,999 | Both iOS and Android, two store listings maintained |
| Managed | $2,999 | $3,999 | BuddyBoss builds, brands, publishes and maintains it monthly. Year one includes the app subscription |
Solo is one platform, not one store. Pick iOS or Android.
Full plan comparison in our BuddyBoss pricing guide.
You also need your own developer accounts on top of these figures. Apple Developer costs $99 per year and Google Play is a one-time $25 fee. Those are platform costs paid directly to Apple and Google, not BuddyBoss charges.
Build your branded community app
How to Move Your Existing App to Next Gen
BuddyBoss describes this as a toggle rather than a project, and that is broadly accurate.
Step 1: Update Your Plugins First
Before touching anything, make sure you are on current versions of BuddyBoss Platform, BuddyBoss Platform Pro and the BuddyBoss App plugin.
You apply these updates yourself in the WordPress dashboard. They do not happen automatically, and Next Gen will not appear until they are done.
Step 2: Enable the Next Gen Toggle
Go to BuddyBoss App then App Next Gen and enable the toggle.
Work through the installation and upgrade checklist shown on that page. BuddyBoss surfaces it there rather than expecting you to find it in documentation.
Step 3: Reapply Your Branding
Review your settings so they match your brand: logos and images, brand colours, typography, navigation and layout.
This is where App Blocks come in. Build your screens rather than accepting defaults.
Step 4: Create a Build and Submit
Create a build and submit it to the app stores under a higher version number than your current app.
It replaces your existing app in the same listing.
What You Do Not Lose
This is the reassuring part, and it is worth being specific:
- Your App Store and Google Play listings stay where they are
- Your store URL is unchanged
- Your reviews and ratings carry over
- Your download history is intact
- Members receive it as a normal app update, with no reinstall
Nobody has to find you in the store again.
What Is Coming Next for the BuddyBoss App
BuddyBoss has named two things in development and deliberately not dated either.
Guided App Onboarding
A first-run experience that shows new members around the app, introduces what the community offers, and points them at what is worth doing first.
BuddyBoss also flags it as a natural place to present memberships, so someone arriving curious can convert without being chased. For anyone running paid tiers, that is the more commercially interesting half.
In-App Purchase Improvements
More ways to monetise inside the app. Specifically named: purchase triggers so you control when an offer appears, and the option to show annual and monthly plans together so members can compare.
BuddyBoss says both are in active development and that they will show them when ready rather than committing to a date they might move. We would rather see that than a roadmap date that slips.
The In-App Purchase Reality Nobody Mentions
Worth understanding before you build a business model around selling in the app.
In-app purchases on iOS and Android run through Apple’s and Google’s payment systems, not your Stripe account. Apple takes 15% to 30% of those transactions depending on your developer status and revenue.
This is standard platform policy across every iOS app and has nothing to do with BuddyBoss. But it means your margin on in-app sales is meaningfully lower than on web sales.
Many communities handle this by using the app for engagement and content access, while keeping payment and subscription management on the web. Members subscribe on your site, then log into the app with that account.
Worth modelling both routes before deciding.
Do You Actually Need the App?
Honest answer: not to start.
The app is a significant additional cost. Solo at $499 first year and $999 on renewal, before Apple and Google developer fees.
Many successful BuddyBoss communities run web-only indefinitely. The web platform is mobile-responsive and works fine on a phone browser.
The app earns its cost when you have an active community where daily engagement matters, push notifications would meaningfully lift return visits, your members are mobile-first, or being on a home screen rather than in a bookmark changes behaviour.
Wait on the app if you are still validating the concept, your member count is low, or your content is consumed in long sessions at a desk rather than in short mobile bursts.
For context on how this compares to hosted alternatives that charge enterprise rates for white-label apps, see our BuddyBoss vs Mighty Networks comparison.
The Market Picture
Mobile now accounts for the majority of web traffic globally, and app-based communities consistently show higher daily engagement than browser-based ones. Push notification access to a member’s home screen is a genuinely different relationship than hoping they remember a URL.
The competitive position here is unusual. Circle and Mighty Networks both restrict white-label mobile apps to enterprise tiers, with Mighty Pro historically running into five figures annually.
Kajabi does not offer a branded app at all on standard plans.
A BuddyBoss Solo app at $499 for the first year sits in a different category entirely. The trade-off is that you own the delivery: your developer accounts, your store submissions, your updates, unless you take the Managed plan.
That last point is worth weighing seriously. BuddyBoss says it plainly themselves: the most common way an app dies is being published once and never updated again.
If ongoing maintenance is not something you will realistically own, the Managed plan exists for that reason.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Next Gen app included in my current BuddyBoss app subscription?
Yes. If you already hold a BuddyBoss app subscription, Next Gen is included with nothing new to buy. You also keep your existing React Native app, which remains fully supported with no migration deadline.
Will I lose my app reviews, ratings or store listing when I move to Next Gen?
No. You submit the Next Gen build under a higher version number and it replaces your old app in the same listing. Your store URL, reviews, ratings and download history all stay intact. Members get it as a normal update with no reinstall.
Does the Next Gen app support Tutor LMS?
Not yet. Next Gen supports BuddyBoss Courses and Memberships, LearnDash and MemberPress. The older React Native app does support Tutor LMS, so stay there if your community runs on Tutor.
Can I use the Developer Toolkit with Next Gen?
No. The Developer Toolkit only works with React Native. New app purchases do not include Developer Toolkit access, and moving a React Native licence down to a Next Gen-only plan ends that access permanently. Talk to BuddyBoss before changing plans if you run custom development.
Do I need my own Apple and Google developer accounts?
Yes, always. Every BuddyBoss app publishes under your own accounts, which is what makes it genuinely white-labelled. Apple Developer is $99 per year and Google Play is a one-time $25 fee.
What is the difference between Solo, Launch and Managed?
Solo covers one platform, so you choose iOS or Android. Launch covers both. Managed means BuddyBoss builds, brands, publishes and maintains it for you monthly, and includes your app subscription in year one.
How much faster is Next Gen really?
BuddyBoss reports 3X faster than the React Native app it replaces, with better stability. The more useful validation is that 120+ Next Gen apps are already live in production.
Our Take on BuddyBoss Next Gen App
The Next Gen rebuild addresses the complaint that dogged the original app for years, which was performance and stability. Prioritising the core experience before features was the right call, and 120 live apps is meaningful evidence it worked.
Two groups should hold off. If you run Tutor LMS, Next Gen cannot serve you yet. If you depend on the Developer Toolkit for custom work, moving is not just inadvisable, it is potentially irreversible depending on how you change your plan.
For everyone else, particularly anyone with an existing subscription, this is a free upgrade to a materially better app that keeps your store listing and reviews. That is an easy decision.
Whether you need an app at all is the harder question, and it depends on whether your community lives on phones. Answer that before looking at the plans.
Verified against BuddyBoss official announcements and documentation, August 2026. App plan pricing and feature support change between releases, so confirm current details on the BuddyBoss pricing page before purchasing.