How fast can we be live?
Answer
About five minutes. Sign in, name your portal, and it is online at yourcompany.myforumcat.com. Nothing to install.
Compare
Vanilla Forums pricing, and the simple alternative
Vanilla Forums is a hosted enterprise community, now part of Higher Logic. We are the small, flat-price version: a customer Q&A portal on your own domain.
Free for 7 days. No credit card. Live in about five minutes.
5 minfrom sign-up to a live portal
0servers to run or patch
$9one time for a working portal
7 daysfree, no card needed
About Vanilla Forums
What Vanilla Forums is, and who buys it
Higher Logic now owns Vanilla Forums, a hosted community platform with the customer support use case front and center. The wider Higher Logic suite sits around it.
It has been in the market a long time. It has the pieces an enterprise community team expects: categories, roles, moderation, and reporting.
It fits best where a community manager wants one platform for members, events, and discussion. Having a vendor to call helps too.
Pricing
Vanilla Forums pricing, in plain words
Vanilla is quote based, so we will not print a number. One reviewer weighing platforms said Higher Logic Vanilla "has everything we need. But the most expensive." (Reddit, as of Jul 2026).
That is the shape behind a vanilla forums pricing or higher logic alternative search. People are usually checking whether they can spend less and still have a public forum.
Ours is $9 one time, or $99 a month, the same in month twelve as in month one, whatever the traffic does.
What your customers see
The portal, in your brand
Clean pages that load fast on a phone, with no theme project.
What buyers say
Public reviews, quoted as written
Public reviews of Higher Logic Vanilla, quoted as written, as of Jul 2026.
has everything we need. But the most expensive. I've used Higher Logic Thrive before and found it very confusing to setup and admin.
Higher logic acquired them because they have a very clunky user experience, so the engagement wasn't there.
The main drawback is the limited theming and CSS options.
Side by side
Vanilla Forums and Forumcat, line by line
Our column is what we ship today. Their column is sourced or plainly descriptive, and says so when we cannot source it.
| Vanilla Forums, part of Higher Logic | Forumcat | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Reviewers call setup and admin confusing | About five minutes |
| Price shape | Enterprise, quote based. Called "the most expensive" by one reviewer. | $9 one time, or $99 a month |
| Who hosts it | The vendor | We do |
| Your own domain | Check with the vendor | Yes, on Pro, with SSL set up for you |
| REST API and MCP on every plan | Check with the vendor | |
| Private questions and categories | Check with the vendor | |
| Roles for the support team | Check with the vendor | Five: owner, admin, agent, finance, member |
Sources as of Jul 2026. We only print a competitor number when a public source gives one. Otherwise the cell says "check with the vendor". Unlimited seats and questions on Pro carry a quiet fair-use backstop, lifted for any real portal that reaches it. Page views are fair-use limits, not a meter.
Fair to them
When Vanilla Forums is the right pick
Stay when you need the rest of the suite. Member records, events, and association-style community work are jobs a focused Q&A portal does not do.
If the forum is already running and your members like it, that is worth more than a cheaper line item.
Why teams move
When teams pick Forumcat instead
Teams come to us for the opposite reason. They want a forum their customers can use today, on a domain they own. No setup that reviewers call confusing.
We would rather show you than argue about it. The demo portal is public and a trial takes minutes. You can delete the whole forum yourself if it is not right.
- Set it up yourself, with no vendor call
- Your logo, favicon, accent color, and a Light, Dim or Dark theme
- Search, votes, and one accepted solution per question
- 7 days free to try it, with no card
A closer look
See it before you decide
A solved thread: the question, the accepted answer under it, and related questions beside it.
Pricing
Two plans. Both flat.
The bill does not grow with traffic, questions, or seats. Pick a plan, and that is the price.
| Basic | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9 one time | $99 a month, or $990 a year |
| Portal address | yourcompany.myforumcat.com | Your own domain, SSL included |
| Team seats | 2 | Unlimited |
| Registered members | 1,000 | 10,000 |
| Questions | 10,000 | Unlimited |
| Media storage | 1 GB (≈2,000 images) | 50 GB (≈100,000 images) |
| Page views a month (fair use) | 100,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Search, votes, accepted solutions | ||
| Structured data, sitemap, markdown view | ||
| REST API and MCP server | ||
| Google sign-in under your brand | ||
| Analytics and search log | ||
| Free trial | 7 days, no card | 7 days, no card |
Unlimited seats and questions on Pro carry a quiet fair-use backstop, lifted for any real portal that reaches it. Page views are fair-use limits, not a meter.
FAQ
Questions buyers ask at this stage
What does it cost in month twelve?
Answer
The same as month one. $9 one time for a portal on a Forumcat subdomain, or $99 a month for your own domain. The bill never grows with traffic or questions.
How far can we change how it looks?
Answer
You set a logo, a favicon, an accent color, and a Light, Dim or Dark theme. On Pro it runs on your own domain. There is no CSS editor, and the small "Powered by" badge stays on every plan.
Can we import our old forum or help docs?
Answer
Not today. There is no importer. Most teams start fresh and let the new questions build the archive, which is live in minutes.
What happens to our answers if we leave?
Answer
They are yours. Every question and answer is readable through the REST API, so you can pull it all out any time.
Does it replace our help desk?
Answer
No. Keep your help desk for one-to-one work. Forumcat is the public place beside it where the answers many customers share get written once.
A forum without the enterprise price
Create a portal in about five minutes and judge it against the quote in your inbox.
Create your portalFree for 7 days. No credit card. Live in about five minutes.
