Turf

Why we picked it This is the cleanest short explainer we found on the exact fork in your question: a community tied to your brand and customers versus one built around a practice or topic bigger than you. It does not pick a winner for you, it lays out what each is actually for (retention and support versus reach and acquisition) so you can match the choice to where your company is. Treat it as a starting point for deciding which job you need the community to do first.

Customer Community vs Community of Practice: What Is the Difference?

From Turf by Hannah Rafter ~8 min read

• A brand or customer community is aimed at people who already use you, and mostly pays off in retention, support, and advocacy.
• A community of practice is aimed at your whole niche, including non-customers, and mostly pays off in reach and pulling new people toward you.
• The two are not mutually exclusive: a topic-led community can quietly feed your product, but you should be honest about which goal is primary right now.