The potential for innovation and value creation through the collaboration of stakeholders in the ecosystem goes beyond the closed-loop value retention models often emphasized in the circular economy (CE). We argue that how to design and implement an effective stakeholder governance mode that can adapt to changes and drive transformations in the CE ecosystem is central for firms to achieve the sustainability goal that simultaneously incorporate the economic, environmental, and social aspects. Drawing on Ostrom’s design principles for stakeholder governance and strategy concepts of platform ecosystems, this study uses the abductive method to identify three archetypes of collaborative platform governance modes. The findings advance the ecosystem strategy and stakeholder governance research on the mechanisms of encourage stakeholder participation, collaboration and joint value creation in CE ecosystems.