inSided Alternatives: Top Community Platforms for Customer Engagement

Building an online community has significant benefits—boosting collaboration, sharing knowledge, and increasing engagement, loyalty, and sales. But success depends on choosing the right platform.

You might have heard of inSided (now Gainsight Digital Hub)—it's one of the popular community building platforms. When evaluating any solution, it's worth comparing different options. Whether it comes down to cost, customization, or features built for your specific needs, there are several excellent alternatives to consider.

This guide covers the top inSided alternatives, diving into features, use cases, and pricing for each.

What Is inSided and Why Consider Alternatives?

inSided (now part of Gainsight as Digital Hub) is an online community platform that enables brands to create and manage customer communities. Businesses use it to engage members, provide support, and foster community around their brand.

While inSided is popular, there are reasons to explore alternatives:

• Your specific niche needs may not be well-served
• You need more advanced features or customization
• Pricing doesn't fit your budget
• Integration requirements with your existing tech stack
• You want a platform focused specifically on B2B SaaS use cases

Criteria for Choosing an Alternative

When evaluating community platforms, consider these factors:

Community Management Features

Look for user management, registration and authentication options (including SSO), moderation tools, gamification, and analytics.

Integration Capabilities

Consider how well the platform integrates with your existing stack—customer success tools, CRM, support software, and other systems your team uses.

Customization Options

Depending on your needs, you may want custom themes, professional templates, or the ability to add your own branding throughout the community.

Scalability

If you're planning to grow, choose a platform with flexible plans that can handle large volumes of users and content.

User-Friendliness

The platform must be intuitive and easy to use. Features like drag-and-drop and ready-made templates help with this.

Comparison Overview

Top inSided Alternatives

1. Bettermode

Bettermode is an all-in-one community platform offering forums, ideation, Q&A, knowledge base, and more. Flexible and highly customizable, Bettermode can be tailored to fit B2B SaaS community needs.

Key Features:- User-friendly templates for common use cases- Powerful Design Studio to customize layouts without coding- Integration with Salesforce, Zendesk, Jira, HubSpot, Intercom- Extensive embedding options for websites and products- Multi-language support- Gamification tools for engagement- Built-in analytics to track community health

Best for: Mid-market B2B SaaS companies that want to engage and educate customers through a customized community.

Pros:- Easy-to-use interface with content categorization and tags- Flexible customization—change every part in real-time- Powerful analytics to measure business impact- Rich ecosystem of integrations

Cons:- No white-label mobile app currently

Pricing: Self-Service at $399/month, Mid-Market at $18,000/year, Enterprise with custom pricing. Free trial available.

2. Higher Logic Vanilla

Higher Logic Vanilla (formerly Vanilla Forums) is community software offering forums and Q&A. Designed to help businesses build online communities with a focus on user-generated content.

Key Features:- Good moderation tools- Built-in gamification engine- User-generated and exclusive content features

Best for: Engagement management with user-generated content.

Pros:- Easy to set up without deep technical knowledge- Includes basic analytics and reporting

Cons:- Limited customization and personalization- Limited embedding options

Pricing: Contact for custom pricing.

3. Discourse

Discourse is an open-source community platform built using Ruby-on-Rails, offering forums, Q&A, and polls. Supports threading, categorization, and member-driven moderation.

Key Features:- Categorization and tagging of forums- Configurable access control- Powerful moderation capabilities

Best for: Member-driven moderation forums, developer communities.

Pros:- Easy to manage discussions with member-driven moderation- Basic metrics and community health insights- Ability to define groups and private categories

Cons:- Requires sysadmin skills to host, complex setup- Limited integrations- Customization requires engineering resources

Pricing: Free trial, then starting at $50/month.

4. Khoros

Khoros (formerly Lithium) is a cloud-based platform offering forums, blogs, and social media integration. Manages customer interactions across multiple digital channels.

Key Features:- Extensive customization options- Built-in analytics and game mechanics- SSO supported

Best for: Enterprise businesses needing advanced customer case management.

Pros:- Good customization options- Numerous integrations via APIs- Good data and reporting options

Cons:- Expensive in both technology and services- Limited platform development since acquisition- Focus on new paid features over improving existing ones

Pricing: Starting around $100,000/year.

5. Salesforce Experience Cloud

Part of the larger Salesforce ecosystem, Experience Cloud syncs with sales, marketing, and service applications. Best for existing Salesforce customers.

Key Features:- Easy-to-use plugins for customization- Advanced security with report access controls- Pre-built templates

Best for: Companies already invested in Salesforce wanting an add-on community solution.

Pros:- Easy to connect with Salesforce CRM- Flexible security and sharing settings- Excellent customer support

Cons:- Learning curve and practice required- Expensive with overwhelming initial configuration- Setup can take weeks to implement

Pricing: Starting at $5 per community member per month.

6. Forj (formerly Mobilize)

Forj is a mobile-first community platform offering forums, live chat, and polls. Designed for organizations that need mobile-friendly engagement.

Key Features:- Flexible moderation controls- Personalized onboarding options- Smart segmentation

Best for: Nonprofits and associations looking for mobile-first engagement.

Pros:- Great customer service- Easy to set up and configure- Constantly adding new features

Cons:- No desktop app- Navigation issues reported by users- Limited admin features for member accounts

Pricing: Free plan for up to 5 users; paid plans from $100 to $2,000/month.

7. Hivebrite

Hivebrite is an all-in-one platform aimed at nonprofits, education, and alumni organizations. Offers forums, Q&A, and events.

Key Features:- Membership management capabilities- Fundraising management- Social media management

Best for: Education, alumni, and nonprofit sectors for membership management.

Pros:- Centralized platform connecting email, social, and websites- Fully customizable and branded- Turn on/off features to pay only for what you need

Cons:- Can be difficult to set up (may need IT help)- Limited third-party integrations

Pricing: Free trial; paid plans starting from $5,000/year.

Why Consider Bettermode

When comparing inSided alternatives, Bettermode stands out for several reasons:

Highly customizable. Tailor your community to specific needs and create unique brand experiences without custom coding.

Apps and integrations. Beyond built-in apps, create custom apps based on your needs through the developer platform.

Robust embedding options. Embed the entire community, specific spaces, or individual posts into your apps and websites.

Engagement features. Badges, rewards, and social sharing tools keep members active and engaged.

Data analytics and reporting. Track performance and make data-driven decisions to improve your community.

Ready to explore? Book a demo with Bettermode.

FAQs

What is the alternative to inSided?

Top inSided (Gainsight Digital Hub) alternatives include Bettermode, Higher Logic Vanilla, Discourse, Khoros, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Forj (Mobilize), and Hivebrite. Each offers different strengths depending on your use case.

What is the free alternative to inSided?

Most robust platforms include tiered pricing. Discourse offers an open-source option that's free to self-host. Bettermode offers a free trial to explore the platform before committing.

How do I choose an online community platform?

Consider what your members need—easy navigation, engaging features like forums and Q&A, and integration with your existing tools. Think about customization requirements, scalability, and budget. Test platforms through trials and demos before deciding.

What's the best platform for B2B SaaS customer communities?

For mid-market B2B SaaS companies, platforms like Bettermode offer the right balance of customization, business integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk), and features designed for customer engagement, support deflection, and product feedback.