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Arc Publishing vs Khoros

Arc Publishing logo

Arc Publishing

News

The enterprise publishing platform for news organizations

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Khoros logo

Khoros

Social Media

Enterprise social media management and branded community platform, now owned by IgniteTech

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Arc Publishing now sold as Arc XP, and arcpublishing.com redirects there; Khoros igniteTech, part of ESW Capital, acquired Khoros in May 2025 and around 116 staff were made redundant within weeks, and ESW has a documented pattern of running acquired software on minimal cost bases, so support responsiveness and roadmap delivery are legitimate contract-negotiation issues rather than theoretical risks.
  • They diverge on capability: Arc Publishing covers Modular CMS, Khoros covers Branded communities.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arc Publishing and Khoros actually diverge.

Attributes where Arc Publishing and Khoros differ
AttributeArc PublishingKhoros
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, iOS, Android, API
CategoryNewsSocial Media
Founded2016Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Arc Publishing

  • Modular CMS
  • Content creation
  • Publishing workflow
  • Paywall management
  • Subscription billing
  • Analytics dashboard
  • API framework
  • Commerce integration

Only in Khoros

  • Branded communities
  • Community gamification
  • Social publishing
  • Social customer care
  • Moderation tooling
  • Listening and analytics
  • Aurora and Iris AI
  • Knowledge deflection

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Arc Publishing

  • Content management for news and digital publishersnot Khoros
  • Subscription and paywall managementnot Khoros
  • Video publishing alongside articlesnot Khoros
  • Multi-site delivery for broadcast and B2B publishersnot Khoros

Khoros

  • A telecommunications operator that wants a public support community whose accepted answers measurably deflect contact centre volumenot Arc Publishing
  • A consumer brand consolidating a dozen regional social accounts under one publishing approval workflow with regional role permissionsnot Arc Publishing
  • A games publisher running player forums where moderation load and volunteer moderator tooling matter more than publishing featuresnot Arc Publishing
  • A bank that needs social service messages tracked against the same SLA framework as its email and chat queuesnot Arc Publishing

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Arc Publishing

  • Now sold as Arc XP, and arcpublishing.com redirects there
  • Pricing is not published
  • Built for media companies, so the editorial workflow assumptions do not suit a general business site

Khoros

  • IgniteTech, part of ESW Capital, acquired Khoros in May 2025 and around 116 staff were made redundant within weeks, and ESW has a documented pattern of running acquired software on minimal cost bases, so support responsiveness and roadmap delivery are legitimate contract-negotiation issues rather than theoretical risks.
  • Community migration is genuinely hard: moving years of threads, accepted solutions, member reputation and SEO-bearing URLs off Khoros later is a project measured in quarters, which makes the switching cost far higher than the annual licence suggests.
  • Pricing is not published and the platform is sold on annual enterprise contracts with substantial implementation and design services, so the first-year cost is materially higher than the recurring licence and hard to benchmark.
  • The publishing and listening side inherited from Spredfast has been outpaced by dedicated social suites, so social-first teams frequently find themselves keeping a second tool for scheduling and analytics and paying for overlapping capability.
  • The product is the result of merging two large codebases and has now changed private-equity owner twice, and reviewers consistently report that community administration and social management still feel like separate systems sharing a login rather than one product.
  • Khoros Community Classic is being sunset in favour of the new Aurora AI community platform, so existing customers face a forced migration of an already hard-to-move asset, on the acquirer timetable rather than their own.

Pricing, plan by plan

Arc Publishing

On request
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Custom CMS
    • Paywall integration
    • Advanced analytics

Khoros

On request
  • Khoros$undefined/year
    • Branded communities
    • Social publishing and governance
    • Social customer care queue

Which should you pick?

Choose Arc Publishing if

  • You need modular cms.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want content creation.
Arc Publishing review

Choose Khoros if

  • You need branded communities.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want community gamification.
Khoros review

Questions people ask

Is Arc Publishing or Khoros better?
Neither clearly leads. Arc Publishing starts at On request and Khoros at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arc Publishing or Khoros?
Arc Publishing starts at On request and Khoros at On request.
Does Arc Publishing or Khoros run on more platforms?
Arc Publishing runs on Web, Mobile. Khoros runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
What is Arc Publishing best used for?
Arc Publishing is most often used for content management for news and digital publishers, subscription and paywall management, video publishing alongside articles, multi-site delivery for broadcast and b2b publishers. Of those, content management for news and digital publishers and subscription and paywall management are not what Khoros is typically brought in for.
What can Arc Publishing do that Khoros cannot?
Arc Publishing covers Modular CMS, Content creation, Publishing workflow, Paywall management. Khoros covers Branded communities, Community gamification, Social publishing, Social customer care.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Arc Publishing: Does Arc XP publish pricing online?

No. Arc XP does not publish pricing on their website. Interested customers are directed to schedule a chat with a local account manager or request a demo to discuss pricing.

Source
Khoros: Who owns Khoros now?

IgniteTech, an ESW Capital company, acquired Khoros on 27 May 2025. Vista Equity Partners, which created Khoros by merging Lithium and Spredfast, is no longer the owner.

Arc Publishing: How do I get a pricing quote from Arc XP?

You must contact Arc XP's sales team directly. The company offers options to schedule a chat with your local account manager or submit a demo request form.

Source
Khoros: Why does the website say khoros.ai?

The company moved its corporate domain from khoros.com to khoros.ai as part of an AI-first relaunch under IgniteTech, centred on its Aurora and Iris AI capabilities.

Khoros: Is pricing published?

No. Khoros quotes privately on annual enterprise contracts, and implementation services are a significant separate cost.

Khoros: Should the ownership change affect my decision?

It should affect your contract. Ask for written roadmap commitments, named support staffing and exit or data-export terms before signing a multi-year community deal.

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