Apache Answer vs Gainsight Customer Communities
Apache Answer
answer.apache.orgGainsight Customer Communities
gainsight.comSide by side
| Figure | Apache Answer | Gainsight Customer Communities |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $83.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Customer Community Software | 9.1 (#1) | 8.4 (#9) |
| Customization | Themes and layouts can be customized, and the interface supports dark mode and responsive layouts. | Customers can create and customize a community without code, shaping experiences around product, role, or region. |
| Founded | 2022 | 2009 |
| Integrations | Official plugins connect services including Google, DingTalk, Slack, WeCom, Redis, Algolia, Elasticsearch, Meilisearch, S3, and Tencent COS. | Native connections include Gainsight Customer Success, Skilljar, Product Experience, Salesforce, Zendesk, Jira, and other marketplace integrations. |
| Purpose | Apache Answer is a Q&A platform for building communities between users and teams, including community forums, help centers, and knowledge management platforms. | Gainsight Customer Communities gives customers one place to ask, answer, learn, and share knowledge. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.3 out of 5 from 21 reviews | 4.4 out of 5 from 276 reviews |
| Security controls | The docs describe login access controls for registration, login methods, and allowed email domains, plus content access controls for community members. | Gainsight lists role-based access control, encryption, ISO 27001 certification, SOC 2 compliance, HIPAA coverage, and Data Privacy Framework participation. |
| Support | Support is offered through community discussions, documentation, issues, mailing lists, and Discord, with no guarantee of an instant Discord response. | The listed plans include Self-Service Support for Professional, CSM Support for Business, and Enterprise CSM Support for Enterprise. |
| What it does | Apache Answer is software for running community forums, help centers, or knowledge-management Q&A sites. | Gainsight Customer Communities provides branded online spaces where customers ask questions, exchange knowledge, access resources, and influence product direction. |
Plans
Gainsight Customer Communities
- Customer Communities listing$1,000 a year
- BusinessPriced on request
- EnterprisePriced on request
- ProfessionalPriced on request
In their own words
Apache Answer
Apache Answer is a free, open-source Q&A platform for community forums, help centers, and knowledge management. Members can ask and answer questions, comment, vote, and earn reputation and badges. Tags, advanced search filters, and live suggestions help organize discussions and find relevant questions. Administrators can manage admin, moderator, and user roles, add users in bulk, and inspect edits in revision history. Themes and layouts can be customized, and plugins can add capabilities such as Google or generic OAuth2 login, Slack notifications, Redis caching, Algolia or Elasticsearch search, and S3 storage. Deployment options include Docker Compose, Docker, binaries, and aaPanel. The project lists binaries for Darwin ARM64, Linux AMD64 and ARM64, and Windows AMD64, and supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. Documentation describes controls for registration, login methods, allowed email domains, and member access to content. Apache Answer is licensed under Apache License, Version 2.0. Its security guarantee covers official repository plugins only, not third-party plugins.
Gainsight Customer Communities
Gainsight Customer Communities provides web and API tools for giving customers one place to ask, answer, learn, and share knowledge. Community features include knowledge bases, discussion boards, messaging, and event management. Businesses can create and customize communities without code, tailoring experiences around a product, role, or region. The service also supports customer discussions about what works, what is missing, and what should come next, with feature requests, a feedback portal, and a product roadmap. Described AI capabilities include AI Answers, a Moderation AI Agent, AI Translations, and a CC MCP Server. Listed integrations include Gainsight CS, Skilljar, Zendesk, Jira, Salesforce, Mixpanel, Google Analytics, and Miro. Native Skilljar integration provides course access, Academy search, and Unified Login. Gainsight lists SOC, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and Data Privacy Framework credentials, plus role-based access controls and encryption for transport, data at rest, PGP, and email APIs. Plans are paid and priced on request: Professional has three admin seats, Business five, and Enterprise ten.