TBC Community App

The TBC Community App, from Two Birds Code, is a native iOS and Android app for communities that run on Fluent Community, plus the WordPress plugin and build dashboard that go with it. It is for community owners who want a branded app in the App Store and Google Play, and for developers and agencies who want a codebase they can white-label for clients. The company's tagline is "Your code, your App." The site names the company as Two Birds Code LLC and says payments are handled by a merchant of record.

What you build and how

This is not a drag-and-drop builder in the usual sense. You start from a finished app and shape it. The company describes what it made as "a native app for Fluent Community, with the WordPress plugin and the build dashboard we wished someone had made." The pieces are an app, a plugin and a dashboard.

The app. It is "a real React Native app" (the company's blog adds that it is built on Expo) with screens written in code, "a documented module system, a theme system that syncs to your Fluent colors, full multi-language support." It matches a Fluent Community site feature for feature: feed, messaging (direct and group), spaces, profiles, courses and push notifications, all native, "Not a webview wrapper." The rest of your site opens inside the app. Spaces, courses and the feed come from your own Fluent install, so what members see is your community, not a separate product.

The plugin. A WordPress plugin "that lets you reshape the app from WordPress while watching it change." That is the no-code part: you change how the app looks and behaves from the WordPress admin side rather than editing code.

The dashboard. "A dashboard to manage everything from the browser," plus "instant updates we could push without waiting on App Store review." The company also names "a way to add new features without breaking the core," which is the module system. Its pitch to developers is that you can add features without forking core, and even ship your own modules. The site says the add-on modules are listed in its shop.

Runtime and data. The app talks directly to your own WordPress and Fluent install. The company's blog says "There is no TBC server sitting in the middle at runtime," and that there is no license check phoning home and no domain lock from the running app.

Publishing. The app is published "in both stores under your own name, on your own accounts." The site describes the end result for members as a link on your site and on your cards that says "Download on the App Store."

Two ways to get it:

• Managed. The company builds the app and submits it under your accounts. The site words this as "monthly, cancel anytime."
• Dev bundle. You buy the source once, set it up with the dashboard, and ship it yourself. The company's comparison post says the dev bundle includes the source code, the companion plugins and the setup dashboard.

Switching is allowed: start on a managed setup, then move to the dev bundle, and the company says it is "the same app," with "No migration, no rebuild from scratch, no permission needed."

What the site states

Prices. "Managed for $33 / month plus a $100 setup" or "the full source for $399, once." Developers who resell get "a license per client," described as "a one-time cost per client site," and the home page adds that what you charge on top of that is up to you. The company's comparison post says the dev bundle includes updates while your plan is current, with "No per-domain license, no renewal required to keep your app," only to keep getting new versions. The same post is frank that the company won't claim to be the cheapest option on day one. Payments are processed by Paddle.com Market Limited, the site's merchant of record, and the footer links a refund policy, a privacy policy and terms of service.

Ownership. The whole pitch is "0 lock-in: stop paying and the app keeps working." You only stop getting updates, and the home page says "You pay to stay current, never to keep what you already have." If you cancel, the site says the app stays in the stores and keeps working for your members. The company contrasts this with what it calls renting: branded-app platforms that cost "thousands to set up, then hundreds a month," where your colors and logo sit on the platform's terms and stopping payment stops the app.

Customization. In the comparison post's own table, the TBC column says customization is unlimited because "it's source," covering any screen, any API and native modules, and that if the vendor disappeared you could hire any React Native developer to keep the code running. The post says the dev bundles ship the full code on purpose, so agencies and developers can create new modules the company would never think of.

Company and community. Two Birds Code LLC gives an address in Anna, Texas, in the site footer. The company says it ran its own online community for years, from BuddyPress to BuddyBoss, and built this app because the webview wrappers and generic white-label options it tried felt slow or locked down, and because the managed services it found for Fluent Community did not hand over source code or control of the builds. It says it uses the app, dashboard and plugin every day for its own community. The site itself runs as a community, with spaces for TBC app discussion and for plugins and modules, plus blogs and courses, and its blog carries release notes for the core app.

Who it suits and who it does not

It suits someone running a Fluent Community site who keeps hearing "where's the app?" and wants the listing under their own Apple and Google accounts. The managed route works for an owner with no developer: the company builds and submits, and the site says you can cancel anytime. The dev bundle suits an agency that wants one codebase to white-label per client, add modules to, and charge clients setup and maintenance on top of the license. The company's pitch to the "I build for clients" reader is every client app on one dashboard, each with its own build-service login. As the home page puts it, the app is the same for both buyers; what changes is who does the building and who pays for it.

It is narrow by design. The app is built for Fluent Community, so a community on a different platform has no use for it. It is a React Native codebase, so going beyond the plugin means working in code or hiring someone who can, and the managed plan is the route for owners who do not want that. The no-code part is the plugin and dashboard, not a canvas where you create arbitrary screens. And since you publish on your own store accounts, the listing, and the Apple and Google accounts behind it, are yours to hold.