Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Slack
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Slack is a group messaging or team collaboration app that aims to simplify communication for businesses. Features include open discussions, private groups, and direct messaging, as well as deep contextual search and message archiving, and file sharing. Slack integrates with a number of other tools, such as MailChimp, Dropbox, and Google Drive. Slack was acquired by Salesforce in December 2020. The product is free to use, and also has paid plans with more features and greater controls. The…
$0
per month per user
Higher Logic Vanilla
Score 6.0 out of 10
N/A
Higher Logic Vanilla is a customizable and themable forum software. It can be used for support communities, Q&A Communities and more. There are numerous integrations, including SSO, and connectors to popular software such as Mailchimp, WordPress, Zendesk and Salesforce.N/A
Pricing
SlackHigher Logic Vanilla
Editions & Modules
Free
$0
Pro
$7.25*
per month per user
Business+
$12.50*
per month per user
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Essential
Contact sales team
Corporate
Contact sales team
Enterprise
Contact sales team
Enterprise Plus
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
SlackHigher Logic Vanilla
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details*Per active user, per month, when paying once a year. Pro is $8.75 USD per active user when paying month to month. Business+ is $15.00 USD per active user when paying month to month.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
SlackHigher Logic Vanilla
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
SlackHigher Logic Vanilla
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Slack
8.1
509 Ratings
5% above category average
Higher Logic Vanilla
-
Ratings
Task Management8.1336 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts6.961 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling8.0282 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation8.4311 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access9.4490 Ratings00 Ratings
Search8.4492 Ratings00 Ratings
Visual planning tools7.8205 Ratings00 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
Slack
8.8
518 Ratings
10% above category average
Higher Logic Vanilla
-
Ratings
Chat9.7518 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications9.1514 Ratings00 Ratings
Discussions9.4503 Ratings00 Ratings
Surveys8.1326 Ratings00 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase7.8323 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with GoToMeeting8.9110 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts8.7182 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook8.8120 Ratings00 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Slack
8.6
490 Ratings
8% above category average
Higher Logic Vanilla
-
Ratings
Versioning8.2251 Ratings00 Ratings
Video files8.7439 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio files8.8430 Ratings00 Ratings
Document collaboration8.2341 Ratings00 Ratings
Access control8.3331 Ratings00 Ratings
Advanced security features8.4285 Ratings00 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive9.0211 Ratings00 Ratings
Device sync9.1362 Ratings00 Ratings
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SlackHigher Logic Vanilla
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Medium-sized Companies
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
PowerDMS by NEOGOV
PowerDMS by NEOGOV
Score 7.5 out of 10
Enterprises
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
Verint Community
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Score 8.8 out of 10
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User Ratings
SlackHigher Logic Vanilla
Likelihood to Recommend
9.3
(519 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(24 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(133 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.8
(67 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
SlackHigher Logic Vanilla
Likelihood to Recommend
Salesforce
Slack is definitely well suited according to my experience of using it for over 6 years to be the best platform to have short quick huddles and catch up sessions with your team, More especially if your work environment is a WFH set up. you can easily direct message a colleague regarding something that needs quick attention. making calls is easy and you can basically present a presentation to your team quickly and easy by sharing your screen with them easily. its basically the future
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Higher Logic
For companies that want to customize almost anything and make the forum look like your site, Vanilla Forums is the one for you. Customization and automation of the data via the API with other systems is more than possible and they serve to be great as a hosting provider, dealing with all the upgrades, deployments and maintenance and threat management well. I would say they might be less turn key for a small application but the fact they have an open source community, the ability to find help and information can lower the barrier of entry for most.
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Pros
Salesforce
  • Slack workflows which helps to automate day to day or weekly tasks
  • Slack Huddle which helps to communicate within the app and also the chat is saved in thread
  • Slack To Do Lists which helps to manage small projects
  • Slack Canvas to keep the whole team on the same page
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Higher Logic
  • Gamification: The ability to incentivise community members to get involved with ranks and badges is one of the main reasons that we purchased the tool.
  • Support: The Vanilla support team are incredible, often responding to issues very late at night and proactively fixing issues as soon as they occur.
  • Customisation: Vanilla can be completely styled with css allowing us to match it to the branding of the rest of our website.
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Cons
Salesforce
  • Wish I could organize my "save for later" items into folders. It would be nice to store all of the golden nuggets of information I learn. Even better if we could export it out into a word doc to turn into a real article or resource!
  • Use AI to help us find themes around topics and prepare a summary every week/end of day/month so that the entire team can absorb all conversations into one clean space
Read full review
Higher Logic
  • There are some features I wish Vanilla would implement that could improve ease of use in our specific community, but some of the ideas we have are not necessarily something that would benefit all of the forums that Vanilla works with.
  • In the past, we've had issues with releases breaking some of our specific site features they built for us, but this has improved drastically recently.
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Likelihood to Renew
Salesforce
To be more transparent, I give 10 because Slack serves our collaboration needs. It provide us a good platform for team communication relaying important update within the company, it has even mobile app where you can install in your phone to monitor any updates within that team that needs your immediate attention and intervention.
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Higher Logic
No answers on this topic
Usability
Salesforce
At the basic surface, Slack does deliver everything we need - easy to handle, easy to understand. But, as I said earlier, there are the more complex parts which demand more of us and some of them even lack information about how to be used, which is frustrating. If we could have maybe a section with instructions, or maybe if you make the features easier to use, it would be awesome.
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Higher Logic
It is very intuitive and simple to operate. Our customers immediately came up with the curve and began contributing content.
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Reliability and Availability
Salesforce
Yes, the app works 24/7. I don't even recall having any period that we could not use since the implementation. Even the maintenance periods are barely noticeable and our work is not impacted by it when it happens.
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Higher Logic
No answers on this topic
Performance
Salesforce
Slack is a soft app, we don't have many issues with it. I recall one or two people complaining about something during our usage period, but I didn't have a bad experience. When the app is slow, usually the problem is with my computer or my internet. The app works just fine.
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Higher Logic
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Salesforce
I've never had to contact support for Slack which is a great testament to its ease and use. Adding people outside of the organization takes a little getting used to, but ultimately allows for greater collaboration between FTE and contractors. There is no clear alternative to this software, so it's the best we can do for now.
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Higher Logic
They did an amazing job transferring our content from GetSatisfaction. We had almost 100% success in the transfer of 8 years worth of content.
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Implementation Rating
Salesforce
I was not part of the implementation team, but I recall being 100% happy and excited to learn and use a new tool. I'm still am to be honest.
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Higher Logic
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Salesforce
Slack: It's easy to strike up a chat right away with one-click calls or huddles. By simply pressing the call button, both users are involved without the need to arrange a meeting. Microsoft Teams: With calendar invites, time slot choices, and numerous confirmation processes, scheduling even a basic one-on-one meeting can feel laborious.
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Higher Logic
From a footprint standpoint, Vanilla has less technical bloat than vbulletin or InVision, and it outdoes Lithium as far as features and service go. The bloat of other services and ability to use new ways of engaging communities such as through Reactions are part of the reason Vanilla was selected. However, the features are better on a couple more seasoned platforms and more equipped to deal with issues and technical problems.
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Return on Investment
Salesforce
  • Slack has significantly improved communication within the organization by providing a platform for quick and instant messaging.
  • Teams can easily collaborate on different projects with Slack’s channels.
  • We have to use Google Drive to send large videos. Would have been good if it could be spent through Slack.
Read full review
Higher Logic
  • Increased uptime and overall speed in the forum (compared to our previous phpbb solution)
  • Increased usage by users which resulted in a higher pages/session in a short amount of time
Read full review
ScreenShots

Higher Logic Vanilla Screenshots

Screenshot of Looks great on any device, including desktop, tablet or mobile device.Screenshot of We offer over 60 plugins that can add functionality to your community.Screenshot of Many different themes to choose from, which you can further customize as you like.Screenshot of You have full access to edit HTML and CSS of your theme, to make any changes you need.