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Social Media · head to head

Khoros vs Loomly

Khoros logo

Khoros

Social Media

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Loomly logo

Loomly

Social Media

Brand success platform for social media collaboration

From
$49/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Loomly starter plan limited to 12 social accounts and 3 users
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Khoros and Loomly actually diverge.

Attributes where Khoros and Loomly differ
AttributeKhorosLoomly
Starting priceOn request$49/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, APIWeb

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Social Media).

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 Khoros

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

Only in Loomly

Nothing recorded that Khoros does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Khoros

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

Loomly

  • Social media scheduling and managementnot Khoros
  • Multi-channel social content planningnot Khoros

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Loomly

  • Starter plan limited to 12 social accounts and 3 users
  • Starter plan lacks custom branding and calendar 2FA enforcement
  • Monthly billing has higher per-month cost than yearly; yearly requires 12-month commitment
  • No free trial or free version available

Pricing, plan by plan

Khoros

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

Loomly

$49/month
  • Starter$65/month
    • 12 social accounts
    • 3 users
    • Unlimited calendars
  • Beyond$332/month
    • 60 social accounts
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited calendars

Which should you pick?

Choose Khoros if

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

Choose Loomly if

Nothing in the data separates Loomly from Khoros on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Loomly review

Questions people ask

Is Khoros or Loomly better?
Neither clearly leads. Khoros starts at On request and Loomly at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Khoros or Loomly?
Khoros starts at On request and Loomly at $49/month.
Does Khoros or Loomly run on more platforms?
Khoros runs on Web, iOS, Android, API. Loomly runs on Web.
What is Khoros best used for?
Khoros is most often used for a telecommunications operator that wants a public support community whose accepted answers measurably deflect contact centre volume, a consumer brand consolidating a dozen regional social accounts under one publishing approval workflow with regional role permissions, a games publisher running player forums where moderation load and volunteer moderator tooling matter more than publishing features, a bank that needs social service messages tracked against the same sla framework as its email and chat queues. Of those, a telecommunications operator that wants a public support community whose accepted answers measurably deflect contact centre volume and a consumer brand consolidating a dozen regional social accounts under one publishing approval workflow with regional role permissions are not what Loomly is typically brought in for.
What can Khoros do that Loomly cannot?
Khoros covers Branded communities, Community gamification, Social publishing, Social customer care.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Loomly: How much does Loomly cost?

Loomly costs $65 per month on Starter plan or $332 per month on Beyond plan. Yearly billing saves 25% ($49 per month for Starter, $249 per month for Beyond). There is no free version.

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.

Loomly: What is the difference between Loomly's Starter and Beyond plans?

Starter includes 12 social accounts and 3 users. Beyond includes 60 social accounts, unlimited users, custom branding, custom roles, hashtag manager, and calendar 2FA enforcement. Beyond also doubles the AI monthly usage cap and social listening queries from 2 to 5 per month.

Source
Khoros: Is pricing published?

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

Loomly: Does Loomly offer an Enterprise plan?

Yes, Loomly offers an Enterprise plan with 61+ social accounts, unlimited users, and unlimited calendars. Enterprise pricing is custom and based on business needs.

Source
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.

Loomly: Can I cancel Loomly at any time?

Monthly plan subscribers can cancel anytime with no penalty. Yearly plans are locked in for 12 months without early termination options.

Source
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