Community platforms
Asked as “customer community platform”, and as “online community software for customers”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 27 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
30%
Contested · Discourse 26%
30Gainsight Customer Communities26Discourse22Higher Logic Vanilla22others
30% of first choices, contested.
The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
01
Gainsight Customer Communities30%12%24accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 30% now.
Gainsight Customer Communities30%12%24accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 30% now.03
Higher Logic Vanilla22%12%25accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 22% now.
Higher Logic Vanilla22%12%25accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 22% now.Show the three products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
07
Khoros Communities0%67%18criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.
Khoros Communities0%67%18criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.06
Salesforce Experience Cloud0%44%18criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.
Salesforce Experience Cloud0%44%18criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.The floor is 12 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one can't be told apart from repeat variation, and both are shown. Each index measures its own floor from its own repeat, over its own categories, so the floor differs from one index to the next. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Head to head
All six head-to-head pages: the top four products, each against each
Recommended versus criticized
Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.
Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
01
0203
04
050607Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%
Key
01Gainsight Customer Communities30%
Gainsight Customer Communities30%02Discourse26%
Discourse26%03Higher Logic Vanilla22%
Higher Logic Vanilla22%04Bettermode19%
Bettermode19%05Circle0%
Circle0%06Salesforce Experience Cloud0%
Salesforce Experience Cloud0%07Khoros Communities0%
Khoros Communities0%What they warned about
Two of six models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Opus 5, Claude Opus 4.8, Gemini 3.1 Pro and Perplexity Sonar Pro changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Khoros Communities67%
12 of 18 labels negative · 6 of 6 models · 2 hard negative
“Khoros for a new purchase unless its current roadmap, support model and migration terms survive unusually rigorous due diligence.” GPT-5.6 Sol, negative prompt
Slack100%
8 of 8 labels negative · 5 of 6 models · 4 hard negative
“Slack, Discord or social-media groups as your only permanent customer community” GPT-5.6 Sol, negative prompt
Facebook Groups83%
5 of 6 labels negative · 4 of 6 models · 4 hard negative
“The biggest “avoid” category is usually *consumer/social platforms used as a community home*—especially Facebook Groups” Perplexity Sonar Pro, negative prompt
Circle31%
8 of 26 labels negative · 4 of 6 models · 3 hard negative
“Two to rule out quickly: Circle leads the creator/membership category but has no real CRM story... the wrong lane for a B2B customer community.” Claude Opus 5, direct prompt
What they cite
Six of the six models returned a source list in this edition: six return the pages they cited.
Sites the answers cite
31 of 36 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 6 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 501 links across 149 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 36 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.
vendor site · Bettermode23 answers · 49 citations · 6 models
vendor site · Higher Logic19 answers · 22 citations · 6 models
vendor site · Gainsight14 answers · 21 citations · 5 models
vendor site · Circle14 answers · 16 citations · 5 models
vendor site · Discourse14 answers · 16 citations · 5 models
vendor site · Guideflow12 answers · 17 citations · 4 models
12 answers · 12 citations · 4 models
vendor site · Gartner11 answers · 16 citations · 3 models
10 answers · 13 citations · 3 models
10 answers · 10 citations · 4 models
9 answers · 21 citations · 4 models
7 answers · 7 citations · 3 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
12 answers · 4 models
11 answers · 3 models
11 answers · 4 models
10 answers · 3 models
10 answers · 3 models
9 answers · 3 models
9 answers · 3 models
8 answers · 3 models
7 answers · 3 models
7 answers · 3 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best customer community platform”, “customer community platform”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainsight Digital Hub gainsight.com Gainsight Customer Communities 30%, Gainsight Digital Hub 4% | 33% | 102 | 50 | 0 | 59,569 | 58 | 2 | |
| Discourse discourse.org | 26% | 122 | 49,500 | 3,505 | 134,346 | 3 | ||
| Higher Logic higherlogic.com Higher Logic Vanilla 22%, Higher Logic Thrive 0%, Higher Logic 0% | 22% | 119 | 1,900 | 79 | 12,921 | $10,173 | 23 | 4 |
| Bettermode bettermode.com | 19% | 130 | 880 | 16 | 13,780 | 7 | ||
| Circle circle.so | 0% | 138 | 301,000 | 242,528 | 215,494 | $1,570 | 55 | 8 |
| Facebook Group facebook.com | 0% | 3,412,145,496 | $39,318 | 30 | ||||
| Flarum flarum.org | 0% | 2 | ||||||
| Khoros Communities — Aurora khoros.com | 0% | 353 | ||||||
| Verint verint.com | 0% | 36 | 410,685 | 5 | ||||
| WorkRamp workramp.com | 0% | 54 | 3,600 | 34 | 8,841 | 0 |
Google's top ten for the two searches hold 16 sites; 4 of them are among the sites the models cited here (circle.so, gainsight.com, gartner.com, higherlogic.com). The first result for “best customer community platform” is uscreen.tv.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best customer community platform for a mid-market B2B software company?”Paraphrase“Which online community software for customers would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B software company?”Comparative“What are the top customer community platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best customer community platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a customer community platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which customer community platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanillaagainst: Circle, Discourse, Khoros CommunitiesGainsight Customer CommunitiesChangedagainst: Circleno first choiceagainst: Higher Logic Vanilla, Khoros CommunitiesDiscourseagainst: Bettermode, Skoolno first choiceagainst: Gainsight Customer Communities, Khoros Communitiesagainst: Circle, Discord, Facebook Groups, Khoros Communities, LinkedIn Groups, Mighty Networks, Skool, Slack, Zendesk Gather
Two alternatives
Bettermode, Salesforce Experience CloudThree alternatives
Bettermode, Discourse, Higher Logic VanillaThree alternatives
Circle, Discord, Facebook GroupClaude Opus 4.8Gainsight Customer Communitiesagainst: Khoros CommunitiesGainsight Digital Hub, Higher Logic VanillaChangedagainst: Khoros Communitiesno first choiceDiscourseagainst: Higher Logicno first choiceagainst: X Communities
Three alternatives
Bettermode, Discourse, Higher Logic VanillaThree alternatives
Bettermode, Discourse, Zendesk Gunbot/CommunityTwo alternatives
Bettermode, CircleGPT-6 AstraGainsight Customer CommunitiesGainsight Customer CommunitiesHeldDiscourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic VanillaDiscourseGainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanillaagainst: Circle, Khoros Communities, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Slack
Three alternatives
Bettermode, Discourse, Higher Logic VanillaTwo alternatives
Discourse, Higher Logic VanillaFour alternatives
Bettermode, Circle, Khoros Communities, Salesforce Experience CloudOne alternative
CircleThree alternatives
Bettermode, Circle, DiscourseGPT-5.6 SolBettermodeagainst: Circle, Discord, Facebook Groups, SlackBettermodeHeldagainst: Salesforce Experience CloudHigher Logic VanillaDiscourseBettermode, Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanillaagainst: Khoros Communitiesagainst: Bettermode, Circle, Discord, Discourse, Facebook Groups, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla, Khoros Communities, LinkedIn Groups, Mighty Networks, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Slack
Three alternatives
Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic VanillaThree alternatives
Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic VanillaSix alternatives
Bettermode, Circle, Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Khoros Communities — Aurora, Salesforce Experience CloudOne alternative
CircleTwo alternatives
Circle, Salesforce Experience CloudGemini 3.1 ProGainsight Customer Communitiesagainst: Salesforce Experience Cloud, Zendesk GatherBettermode, Higher Logic VanillaChangedagainst: Salesforce Experience Cloudno first choiceagainst: Khoros CommunitiesDiscourseagainst: Slackno first choiceagainst: Salesforce Experience Cloudagainst: Discord, Facebook Groups, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla, Jive Software, Khoros Communities, Patreon, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Slack
Three alternatives
Bettermode, Discourse, Higher Logic VanillaTwo alternatives
Discourse, Gainsight Customer CommunitiesSeven alternatives
Bettermode, Circle, Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla, Mighty Networks, Salesforce Experience CloudFive alternatives
Bettermode, Circle, Discord, Flarum, bbPress or BuddyPressFive alternatives
Bettermode, Circle, Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic VanillaPerplexity Sonar ProHigher Logic VanillaBettermodeChangedno first choiceagainst: Discord, SlackDiscourseagainst: Circleno first choiceagainst: Bettermode, Circle, Discord, Facebook Groups, Influitive, Khoros Communities, LinkedIn Groups, Mighty Networks, Reddit Communities, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Slack, SlapFive, Telegram
Four alternatives
Bettermode, Circle, Gainsight Customer Communities, WorkRampTwo alternatives
Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic VanillaNine alternatives
Bettermode, Circle, Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla, Khoros Communities, Mighty Networks, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Zendesk CommunityThree alternatives
Bettermode, Discord, Facebook GroupsBold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency.
Thirty-six rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct recommendation | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 19:29 | yes | 31 | 152 s |
| Direct recommendation | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 19:31 | no | 0 | 19 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 19:32 | yes | 5 | 27 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 19:34 | yes | 5 | 40 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:04 | no | 0 | 23 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 19:31 | yes | 20 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 19:36 | yes | 39 | 53 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 19:36 | no | 0 | 16 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 19:38 | yes | 5 | 28 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 19:39 | yes | 6 | 44 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:05 | yes | 7 | 32 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 19:37 | yes | 20 | 5 s |
| Comparative | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 19:42 | yes | 28 | 59 s |
| Comparative | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 19:44 | yes | 33 | 49 s |
| Comparative | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 19:47 | yes | 10 | 45 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 19:49 | yes | 7 | 51 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:06 | yes | 6 | 29 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 19:45 | yes | 20 | 10 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 19:52 | yes | 26 | 56 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 19:54 | yes | 38 | 45 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 19:55 | yes | 4 | 22 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 19:56 | yes | 3 | 21 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:08 | yes | 5 | 29 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 19:54 | yes | 20 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 19:59 | yes | 20 | 97 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 20:00 | no | 0 | 28 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 20:02 | yes | 5 | 38 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 20:04 | yes | 8 | 59 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:09 | no | 0 | 24 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 20:00 | yes | 20 | 7 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Opus 5 | claude-opus-5 | 2026-09-09 20:07 | yes | 33 | 75 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Opus 4.8 | claude-opus-4-8 | 2026-09-09 20:09 | yes | 35 | 48 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-6 Astra | gpt-6-astra | 2026-09-09 20:11 | yes | 4 | 30 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.6 Sol | gpt-5.6-sol | 2026-09-09 20:14 | yes | 9 | 59 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.1 Pro | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | 2026-09-10 17:10 | yes | 9 | 40 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar Pro | sonar-pro | 2026-09-09 20:10 | yes | 20 | 9 s |
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
Gainsight read as Gainsight Customer Communities
Gainsight (inSided) read as Gainsight Customer Communities
Gainsight CC (formerly inSided) read as Gainsight Customer Communities
Khoros read as Khoros Communities
Unresolved, counted raw
None awaiting human review.
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.