5 | The main implication of our study is that online studies should strive to create a need-supportive environment that facilitates academic community while acknowledging many online students’ necessity for flexibility.

4 | We discuss the results in the light of self-determination theory, showing how flexibility in online studies can become both a facilitator and a barrier for basic need satisfaction in online higher education.

3 | Our thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with online students attending a highly flexible study programme resulted in four themes: 1) Expectations of being self-sufficient; 2) Collaboration if valuable and flexible; 3) Study groups as important but fragile communities; 4) Digital distance.

2 | Interaction and collaboration has been shown to be beneficial for online students’ learning and well-being, but can be challenging to facilitate in the online context. Therefore, in this study, we investigated barriers and facilitators for online students’ participation in such communities.