Khoros has long been a top platform in the digital customer engagement space, supporting over 2,000 global brands and powering more than 300 online communities. Known for its suite of tools that span community management, digital care, social media marketing, and analytics, the platform helps organizations achieve significant outcomes.
However, in May 2025, Khoros was acquired by IgniteTech, an enterprise software firm focused on AI innovation. The deal introduces a new roadmap centred around AI-first capabilities, including automated community engagement, multilingual response engines, and content visibility optimization for AI search systems. While the acquisition brings exciting opportunities, it also raises practical questions for existing customers around product stability, long-term direction, and whether the platform will continue to meet their business needs.
In this article, we’ll explore top alternatives to Khoros, what you need to consider before migrating, and how Social Edge Consulting can help your organization assess alternatives and navigate this transition with confidence. Whether you're evaluating your options or ready to move, this guide will help you make informed decisions about the future of your online community.
Key takeaways
- Khoros acquisition: Khoros was acquired by IgniteTech in May 2025, marking a strategic pivot toward AI-enhanced engagement. While this introduces promising AI features, it also raises questions for organizations that need platform predictability, control, and alignment with existing systems.
- Emerging Khoros alternatives: Platforms like Verint Community, Higher Logic Vanilla, Gainsight, Salesforce Experience Cloud, and Bettermode offer mature, flexible solutions that fit a range of customer engagement needs.
- Migration considerations: Leaving Khoros requires expert handling of data transfer, system integrations, and user experience continuity. Social Edge Consulting works directly with organizations to manage the entire process—identifying the right platform, ensuring a smooth transition, and minimizing risk to community health and performance.
- Consider expert community guidance: Online community consulting firms like Social Edge Consulting can help you identify the best online community platform for your business.
What exactly is Khoros?
Khoros is a digital customer engagement platform used by enterprise organizations to manage online communities, digital support, and social media engagement. It helps brands deliver consistent, scalable experiences across customer touchpoints—from self-service to agent-assisted interactions.
The platform is built around four core offerings:
- Khoros Communities: Enables peer-to-peer support, product education, and collaboration through branded online communities that reduce support costs and boost customer engagement.
- Khoros Service: Equips support teams with tools for agent efficiency, automation, and performance insights—helping manage high volumes of digital inquiries across messaging and social channels.
- Khoros Social Media Management: Centralizes content planning, publishing, and governance across social platforms, supporting marketing and brand teams with streamlined workflows and compliance controls.
- AI & Automation: Powers every component of the platform with AI-driven features—enabling smarter conversations, predictive engagement, and automated moderation at scale.
Originally formed in 2019 from the merger of Lithium Technologies and Spredfast, Khoros brings together deep community-building capabilities and social media expertise in a single platform tailored for enterprise use.
Why organizations are considering alternatives to Khoros
The IgniteTech acquisition of Khoros
On May 27, 2025, IgniteTech announced its acquisition of Khoros, positioning the move as a transformation of the platform into an “AI Answer Engine.” New features promised across the Khoros Communities and Khoros Service (formerly Khoros Care) suites include:
- AI Expert Help for instant multilingual community responses
- AI Discovery Defender to keep community content visible to AI crawlers
- AI Brand Defender to monitor and correct misinformation
- AI Community Orchestration to aid moderation and engagement insights
IgniteTech, which also owns Jive, is signaling a clear shift toward AI-driven platforms. While this direction has potential, it’s also a significant departure from traditional community management. Khoros users now need to evaluate whether this new vision aligns with their core needs.
Rollout of the new features begins in Q3 2025, with broader changes expected through Q4. For brands that prioritize stability, transparency, and long-term control over community strategy, this shift may be a signal that it’s time to explore other options.
Practical concerns with the Khoros platform
Even before the acquisition, Khoros users reported challenges such as:
- Complex UI and high training overhead
- Limited admin control over certain system components
- High total cost of ownership
- Slower development cycles for long-requested features
Combined with a rapidly changing product roadmap, these factors are pushing more teams to explore better-aligned community platforms.
7 best alternatives to Khoros in 2025
If you're thinking of moving away from Khoros, you're not short on options. Below are seven leading community software platforms that serve a range of use cases—whether you're prioritizing support, engagement, customer success, or flexible design. Each offers distinct advantages depending on your goals, technical capabilities, and budget.
1. Verint Community
Verint Community is a robust, enterprise-grade platform known for its deep customizability and security, making it ideal for highly regulated industries. It offers cloud and on-premise deployment and excels in flexibility for complex organizations.
- Key strengths: Deep configurability, enterprise-grade security, knowledge-driven engagement
- Ideal for: Enterprises needing tight control over data, custom workflows, and secure environments
- Notable features:
- Knowledge base and CRM integrations
- Multilingual support
- Role-based moderation and segmentation
- Pros: Secure, flexible, enterprise-ready
- Cons: Requires technical expertise
- Pricing: Custom enterprise pricing
2. Higher Logic Vanilla
Higher Logic Vanilla is designed for organizations that want to build active product and support communities with engagement tools like Q&A, gamification, and ideation. It’s known for being user-friendly but has some limitations in user notification features.
- Key strengths: Built-in engagement tools, strong analytics, clean UI
- Ideal for: Mid-sized to large orgs building support or product communities
- Notable features:
- Gamification and reputation systems
- Zapier integration for automation
- SEO-friendly content structure
- Integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk
- Pros: Easy setup, customizable themes
- Cons: Clunky notifications, dated design in some areas
- Pricing: Not publicly disclosed
3. Gainsight Digital Customer Success (Gainsight CS)
Gainsight’s Digital Customer Success platform, formerly known as Gainsight Digital Hub or inSided, is a comprehensive platform designed to support all stages of the customer journey—from onboarding and engagement to retention—through scalable, tech-enabled touchpoints. It blends community, automation, analytics, and in-product experiences to reduce CSM load while increasing customer value.
- Key strengths: Unified digital strategy for CS, automation, community integration
- Ideal for: SaaS and subscription companies scaling customer success without increasing headcount
- Notable features:
- Community-driven support and engagement
- In-app onboarding, surveys, and content
- Segmented communications and pooled CS models
- AI-powered insights and journey orchestration
- Pros: Full-funnel customer success coverage, purpose-built for digital-first teams
- Cons: Higher price point, requires strong CS strategy to implement effectively
- Pricing: Starts around $100,000/year (varies by features and scale)
4. Salesforce Experience Cloud
Salesforce Experience Cloud extends the Salesforce ecosystem to include branded community spaces. It offers tight integration with your CRM, advanced permissions, and full customization using Salesforce’s Lightning platform.
- Key strengths: Deep Salesforce integration, high configurability
- Ideal for: Enterprises already using Salesforce CRM
- Notable features:
- Drag-and-drop Lightning Builder
- Case escalation from community posts
- Access to AppExchange extensions
- Segmentation via CRM data
- Pros: Unified data, CRM workflows
- Cons: High cost, requires Salesforce expertise
- Pricing: ~$5/user/month (approx. $5,000/month for 1,000 users)
5. Bettermode (formerly Tribe)
Bettermode is a modern, modular platform with a strong focus on design flexibility and ease of use. It’s ideal for startups and digital brands that want to launch quickly and adapt without heavy developer involvement.
- Key strengths: Low-code customization, fast setup, modern UX
- Ideal for: Startups and growth-stage brands needing flexibility
- Notable features:
- Widget-based layout builder
- App marketplace for plug-and-play functionality
- SSO and API integrations
- Custom domains and branding options
- Pros: Affordable, beautiful UI
- Cons: No white-label mobile app
- Pricing: Free trial available and starts at $59/month for 20 spaces. Enterprise pricing available.
6. Hivebrite
Hivebrite is an all-in-one platform designed primarily for private communities such as non-profits, associations, and educational networks. It offers robust member management tools, donation features, and event modules.
- Key strengths: Membership management, all-in-one community suite
- Ideal for: Associations, non-profits, and alumni networks
- Notable features:
- Event scheduling and ticketing
- Directory and member CRM
- Monetization options (dues, donations, jobs)
- Email campaigns and analytics
- Pros: Feature-rich, good for private communities
- Cons: Can be complex to configure
- Pricing: Contact sales for custom pricing
7. Discourse
Discourse is a popular open-source community platform built around clean design and member-driven moderation. It’s well suited for technical audiences and organizations that prefer hosting their own solution.
- Key strengths: Open-source, self-hostable, developer-friendly
- Ideal for: Teams with technical resources and hands-on control
- Notable features:
- Trust-level moderation
- Email-based thread participation
- Plugin support and customization
- Responsive design
- Pros: Affordable, modern UX, strong open-source support
- Cons: Requires sysadmin skills if self-hosted
- Pricing: Business Plan at $500/mo includes Migration Services. Contact Sales for Enterprise.
What to consider when migrating from Khoros
Migrating away from Khoros requires more than just moving data. It’s a strategic shift that involves selecting the right platform, protecting user experience, and preserving the value your community has built over time. A well-executed migration reduces disruption, maintains engagement, and positions your new platform for long-term success.
Wondering when's the best time to start a community migration? The answer is usually sooner than later—especially if you're facing contract renewals, internal roadmap planning, or platform limitations that are holding back engagement. Starting early allows time for proper evaluation, testing, and rollout without putting community health or customer satisfaction at risk.
Key elements of a successful Khoros migration
1. Define goals and requirements
Start with a clear understanding of why you're migrating. Are you looking for more flexibility, lower costs, or better integration? Even though you manage an active community, identify your primary use cases (e.g. support, product feedback, advocacy) and assess what the next platform needs to do better than Khoros.
2. Select the right community platform
Not all customer community software is created equal. If you're thinking about how to evaluate community platforms, it’s important to consider how each option supports your engagement model, content structure, scalability needs, and integration requirements. Factors like customization flexibility, analytics depth, administrative usability, and long-term cost should be part of your assessment.
For many organizations, this process includes developing a formal RFP to compare vendors objectively. A community consulting firm like Social Edge Consulting can help guide this process—clarifying your requirements, shortlisting vendors, and ensuring your evaluation leads to a platform that supports your long-term goals. Learn how Social Edge Consulting can help you with how to evaluate community platforms.
3. Plan your data migration
Carefully map out all content you'll need to migrate, including discussions, user profiles, media assets, community gamification features, and SEO metadata. Establish a clear transfer method, and thoroughly test the migration in a staging environment before going live. Consider using professional community platform migration services for expert guidance.
Tip: Download our FREE community platform migration guide for a step-by-step playbook.
4. Maintain user experience
Ensure brand consistency, keep logins working (via SSO or identity provider), and plan redirects to avoid broken links and SEO loss. Communicate clearly with members before, during, and after the move.
5. Audit integrations and workflows
Rebuild key integrations with CRMs, support tools, and analytics platforms. Confirm that all user flows, case escalations, and reporting systems still function post-migration.
6. Test, validate, and optimize
Conduct thorough pre-launch testing. After launch, monitor performance, fix issues quickly, and gather feedback from users to fine-tune the experience.
Read more about the most common pitfalls of a community migration
How Social Edge Consulting can help you move to a Khoros alternative or get more from the platform
If you're considering a switch from Khoros or simply unsure whether it’s still the right fit, Social Edge Consulting can help you evaluate your options and take action with clarity.
We’ve supported hundreds of organizations in selecting the right platform and managing complex community migrations with minimal disruption. Our Online Community Consulting Services team brings both strategic insight and hands-on execution to ensure your community keeps growing, regardless of the platform you choose.
- Platform evaluation: We’ll review your current setup, goals, and technical environment to help you identify whether an alternative platform is a better long-term fit.
- Migration execution: From data mapping and SEO preservation to SSO configuration and user onboarding, we manage the full migration process end to end.
- Post-launch support: After launch, we stay engaged—helping you fine-tune integrations, train internal teams, and ensure your new platform performs as expected.
Whether you’re looking to move away from Khoros or maximize your investment, we’ll help you make the most of your community strategy.
Ready to explore your options? Book a free discovery call with Social Edge Consulting.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Khoros
Who bought Khoros?
Khoros was acquired by IgniteTech in May 2025. The acquisition marked a shift toward AI-enhanced features across the Khoros platform.
What is the previous name of Khoros?
Khoros was formed in 2019 through the merger of Lithium Technologies and Spredfast, two well-established platforms in community and social media software.
What type of company is Khoros?
Khoros is a customer engagement software company offering tools for online communities, digital customer care, and social media management, primarily serving enterprise clients.
What is the difference between Khoros and Sprout Social?
Khoros focuses on customer communities, digital support, and social media engagement at the enterprise level, while Sprout Social is primarily a social media management platform geared toward publishing, analytics, and social listening for marketing teams.
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