Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Higher Logic VS Discourse

Compare Higher Logic VS Discourse and see what are their differences

Higher Logic logo Higher Logic

Private, secure online communities that stimulate conversation and ignite engagement.

Discourse logo Discourse

Discourse is an open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.
  • Higher Logic Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-22
  • Discourse Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-13

Higher Logic

$ Details
-
Release Date
2007 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
Virginia
City
Arlington
Founder(s)
Andy Steggles
Employees
250 - 499

Higher Logic features and specs

  • Comprehensive Community Management
    Higher Logic offers a robust set of tools for managing online communities, including engagement tracking, member segmentation, and personalized communication.
  • Automation Capabilities
    The platform enables automation of many community management tasks such as sending welcome messages and nudges, saving time and maintaining consistent communication.
  • Analytics and Reporting
    Higher Logic provides powerful analytics and reporting features to monitor community engagement, understand user behavior, and track key performance metrics.
  • Integration Options
    Higher Logic integrates with a wide range of third-party applications, including CRM, AMS, and email marketing platforms, enhancing its utility and flexibility.
  • Customizable User Experience
    The platform offers extensive customization options, allowing organizations to tailor the user experience and interface to fit their branding and community needs.

Possible disadvantages of Higher Logic

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its comprehensive feature set, new users may find Higher Logic challenging to learn and fully utilize without extensive training.
  • Cost Considerations
    Higher Logic can be relatively expensive compared to other community management software, which might be prohibitive for small organizations or those with limited budgets.
  • Complex Setup Process
    The initial setup and implementation can be complex and time-consuming, requiring significant investment in terms of time and resources.
  • Support Quality
    Some users have reported issues with the quality and responsiveness of Higher Logic’s customer support, which can be frustrating when dealing with technical problems.
  • Limited Mobile App Functionality
    The mobile app experience may not be as robust or user-friendly as the desktop version, potentially hindering engagement for mobile users.

Discourse features and specs

  • Modern Interface
    Discourse provides a clean, intuitive, and responsive user interface that works well on both desktops and mobile devices.
  • Open Source
    Discourse is open source software, allowing for customization, self-hosting, and community contributions, which can reduce costs and increase flexibility.
  • Rich Features
    The platform includes a variety of built-in features such as threaded replies, real-time notifications, and community moderation tools.
  • Scalability
    Discourse is designed to handle small communities as well as large, active forums, making it suitable for a variety of use cases.
  • Security
    Regular updates and a dedicated security team help keep the software secure against vulnerabilities.
  • Integration and APIs
    Discourse offers extensive APIs and integrates well with various other services and plugins, facilitating seamless extensions and automation.

Possible disadvantages of Discourse

  • Resource Intensive
    Discourse can be resource-heavy, which may require significant server capacity and maintenance, especially for large communities.
  • Hosting Costs
    While you can self-host Discourse, the server and maintenance costs can be high. Managed hosting plans provided by Discourse can also be expensive.
  • Complex Setup
    Installing and configuring Discourse can be complex, particularly for those without technical expertise in server management and Ruby on Rails.
  • Learning Curve
    Users and administrators might face a steeper learning curve compared to more traditional forum software due to its modern interface and extensive features.
  • Limited Built-in Themes
    The default theme options are somewhat limited, and extensive customization requires knowledge of front-end development.
  • Dependency on PostgreSQL and Redis
    Discourse relies on PostgreSQL for its database and Redis for caching, which might complicate setup and maintenance compared to solutions that use simpler database architectures.

Analysis of Higher Logic

Overall verdict

  • Higher Logic is considered a good platform for organizations seeking to build vibrant communities and enhance engagement through strategic communication and automation. It is well-suited for associations, non-profits, and businesses looking to foster deeper relationships with their audiences.

Why this product is good

  • Higher Logic is regarded as a strong platform due to its robust suite of community engagement, communication, and marketing automation tools designed to enhance customer and member interactions. It offers customizable solutions that cater to the specific needs of various organizations, particularly those that need to engage audiences or build communities. The platform's integration capabilities with other software systems and its comprehensive analytics features are additional reasons for its positive reception.

Recommended for

    Organizations aiming to create strong customer or member communities, associations looking for ways to engage with their members effectively, non-profits seeking to enhance donor communication and involvement, and businesses interested in leveraging community-driven marketing and engagement strategies.

Higher Logic videos

Higher Logic Product Overview

More videos:

  • Review - Higher Logic's New Admin Experience

Discourse videos

Why We Chose The Discourse Platform For Our Forums

More videos:

  • Review - Why Discourse is the Best Forum Software Out There (No, Really) | Location Rebel
  • Review - A Grammar Review for Discourse Analysis

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Higher Logic and Discourse)
Project Management
100 100%
0% 0
Forums And Forum Software
Forums
0 0%
100% 100
Community Platform
15 15%
85% 85

User comments

Share your experience with using Higher Logic and Discourse. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Higher Logic and Discourse

Higher Logic Reviews

We have no reviews of Higher Logic yet.
Be the first one to post

Discourse Reviews

20 Telegram Alternatives to Chat With in 2024
Discourse is a basic forum function that could be an alternative to Telegram if you want to stick to text discussions. It's pretty analog, missing both video and livestreaming tools. Instead, Discourse is a basic community that lets you organize discussions--it feels a bit like having your own reddit or Quora.
18 Best Discord Alternatives 2020 | Expert Reviews
Discourse comes in a couple of flavours. You can self-host it yourself in which case the software is free, and you simply need to sign up for server space, or you can pay Discourse for a hosted-for-you option, though self-hosting is a lot cheaper the premium option takes care of the technical side.
IndieHackers: Best forum software
I used Flarum when trying to get a community set up for my product (ended up abandoning it to revisit when we have a larger customer base). It worked fairly well and I enjoyed it but it's definitely beta and unless you're fairly tech savvy it's not quite worth the setup / maintenance. Lots of config changes, crashes, huge issues with plugins, and some features missing. I'd...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Discourse seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 23 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Higher Logic mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Higher Logic yet. Tracking of Higher Logic recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Discourse mentions (23)

  • Qilin: A Starter Project Template For Every Open Source Project
    GitHub Discussions can also be a great place for support as long as these are regularly monitored. Another option along the same lines is Discourse and the Open Source Matrix which is used by quite a few Open Source and community-based projects. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: How to run an old-school mailing list?
    A lot of communities use [Discourse ](https://discourse.org). [LPSF](https://forum lpsf.org) migrated to it when Yahoo Groups was discontinued. Some of the advantages are that it's open source, self-hostable, and can be configured to work as both a traditional mailing list and modern forum. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • My Fediverse use – I'm hosting everything myself – PeerTube, Mastodon and Lemmy
    More like https://discourse.org/. You can run it yourself, but I can also just have them ding a credit card every month and not think about it again (I do this for a community). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Reddit faces content quality concerns after its Great Mod Purge
    Discourse perhaps? I've seen it in use in a few places; it has a modern look and feel to it at least. https://discourse.org/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • So Long, Twitter and Reddit
    I fully agree with you see my comment here[0] -- I think you may have misread my comment, it says "Discourse" (as in the forum software[1]), not Discord. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37245220. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Higher Logic and Discourse, you can also consider the following products

Telegram - Telegram is a messaging app with a focus on speed and security. It’s superfast, simple and free.

Flarum - Flarum is the next-generation forum software that makes online discussion fun. It's simple, fast, and free.

Trello - Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It's free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.

phpBB - Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is a cheap, credit-card sized computer. The official website uses phpBB for their discussion forums. phpBB is not affiliated with nor responsible for any of the sites listed on the showcase.

Slack - A messaging app for teams who see through the Earth!

Vanilla Forums - Build an engaging community forum using Vanilla's modern cloud forum software.