The PLG vs. community debate framed two things as competitors that are actually sequentially complementary. The question isn't which one to use — it's which one to lead with and when to layer the other.
Product-led growth as a lead motion makes sense when: your product delivers standalone value in a short time (under 7 days to first value), the product is intuitive enough for self-serve adoption, and the acquisition motion can be purely digital.
Community-led growth as a lead motion makes sense when: the value of your product is partly realized through peer learning and benchmarking, your category is emerging and buyers need education before they're ready to evaluate, or your product requires organizational change that benefits from social proof.
The compound motion: use PLG to get individuals into the product, then use community to expand within organizations and across organizations.
The individual who discovers your product through a free tier or trial is an entry point. The community is what converts that individual into an organizational champion and what creates the peer pressure that drives expansion to other teams and other companies.
What you need for the compound motion to work:
Product analytics that identify your most engaged free users and route them into community onboarding. Users with high product engagement who aren't in community are an underserved cohort.
Community content that's valuable to free users but makes paid features obviously necessary. The community isn't a support forum. It's where your best customers share how they do their best work.
A clear handoff from community engagement to sales engagement. When a free user becomes highly active in community — asking product questions, sharing workflows, requesting integrations — that's a buying signal. Your sales or CS team should be notified.
The either/or framing misses the compounding effect. Build both.