The Public Community vs Vanilla Forums

Struggling to choose between The Public Community and Vanilla Forums? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

The Public Community is a Social & Communications solution with tags like open-source, privacy, security, messaging, file-sharing, team-collaboration.

It boasts features such as Open source code, Encrypted messaging, File sharing, Searchable message history, Polls and surveys, Audio/video calls, Screen sharing, Third-party app integrations, Custom theming, Access controls and permissions, Guest accounts, Mobile apps, Bots and automation and pros including Free and open source, Strong encryption and privacy, Active development community, Self-hostable, Customizable and extensible, Open API for integrations, Lightweight and fast, Available on multiple platforms.

On the other hand, Vanilla Forums is a Social & Communications product tagged with open-source, forum-software, community-forum, customizable, plugins, themes.

Its standout features include Open source, Highly customizable, Plugins and themes, User management, Forum management, Conversations, Notifications, and it shines with pros like Free and open source, Active community support, Highly extensible and customizable, Feature rich out of the box, Good documentation, Multi-lingual support.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

The Public Community

The Public Community

The Public Community is an open source alternative to Slack and Microsoft Teams. It is a team communication and collaboration platform focused on privacy and security, allowing teams to have conversations, share files, and collaborate on projects.

Categories:
open-source privacy security messaging file-sharing team-collaboration

The Public Community Features

  1. Open source code
  2. Encrypted messaging
  3. File sharing
  4. Searchable message history
  5. Polls and surveys
  6. Audio/video calls
  7. Screen sharing
  8. Third-party app integrations
  9. Custom theming
  10. Access controls and permissions
  11. Guest accounts
  12. Mobile apps
  13. Bots and automation

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Strong encryption and privacy

Active development community

Self-hostable

Customizable and extensible

Open API for integrations

Lightweight and fast

Available on multiple platforms

Cons

Limited native integrations

Less user-friendly than Slack

Smaller user community

Fewer support options

Video calling can be buggy

Mobile apps lack some features


Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums is an open source forum software that allows you to set up and run a full-featured community forum. It is highly customizable with plugins and themes.

Categories:
open-source forum-software community-forum customizable plugins themes

Vanilla Forums Features

  1. Open source
  2. Highly customizable
  3. Plugins and themes
  4. User management
  5. Forum management
  6. Conversations
  7. Notifications

Pricing

  • Open Source
  • Free

Pros

Free and open source

Active community support

Highly extensible and customizable

Feature rich out of the box

Good documentation

Multi-lingual support

Cons

Steep learning curve

Requires technical expertise to set up and manage

Limited native mobile support

Not as user friendly as proprietary options