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Social Media · head to head

Khoros vs Planoly

Khoros logo

Khoros

Social Media

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Planoly logo

Planoly

Social Media

Visual social media planning, scheduling, and link-in-bio platform

From
$14/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.; Planoly the free mobile app tier is limited to 10 uploads per month, too low for active accounts.
  • They diverge on capability: Khoros covers Branded communities, Planoly covers Visual grid planning.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Khoros and Planoly actually diverge.

Attributes where Khoros and Planoly differ
AttributeKhorosPlanoly
Starting priceOn request$14/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, APIweb, ios, android

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 Planoly

  • Visual grid planning
  • Auto-posting
  • AI content ideas
  • Link in bio
  • DM and comment automation
  • Media library
  • Analytics

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 Planoly
  • A consumer brand consolidating a dozen regional social accounts under one publishing approval workflow with regional role permissionsnot Planoly
  • A games publisher running player forums where moderation load and volunteer moderator tooling matter more than publishing featuresnot Planoly
  • A bank that needs social service messages tracked against the same SLA framework as its email and chat queuesnot Planoly

Planoly

  • Planning an Instagram feed grid before postingnot Khoros
  • Scheduling and auto-publishing across multiple social networksnot Khoros
  • Selling digital products or merch via a link-in-bio pagenot Khoros
  • Automating Instagram DM replies for lead capturenot Khoros
  • Managing content for multiple clients as an agencynot 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.

Planoly

  • The free mobile app tier is limited to 10 uploads per month, too low for active accounts.
  • Additional social sets and team seats require paid add-ons rather than being included at higher volumes.
  • Auto-posting to some platforms requires a push notification and manual tap to finish publishing rather than being fully automatic.
  • Advanced monetization and automation features are gated behind paid plans with no lower-cost equivalent.

Pricing, plan by plan

Khoros

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

Planoly

$14/month
  • Starter$14/month
    • 1 social set
    • Unlimited uploads
    • 1 user
  • Growth$24/month
    • 2 social sets
    • Unlimited uploads
    • 2 users
  • Pro$47/month
    • 6 social sets
    • Unlimited uploads
    • 6 users

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 Planoly if

  • You need visual grid planning.
  • You work on web, ios, android.
  • You also want auto-posting.
Planoly review

Questions people ask

Is Khoros or Planoly better?
Neither clearly leads. Khoros starts at On request and Planoly at $14/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Khoros or Planoly?
Khoros starts at On request and Planoly at $14/month.
Does Khoros or Planoly run on more platforms?
Khoros runs on Web, iOS, Android, API. Planoly runs on web, ios, android.
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 Planoly is typically brought in for.
What can Khoros do that Planoly cannot?
Khoros covers Branded communities, Community gamification, Social publishing, Social customer care. Planoly covers Visual grid planning, Auto-posting, AI content ideas, Link in bio.

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.

Planoly: Does Planoly offer a free trial?

All paid plans include a 14-day free trial before users are charged, letting new users test scheduling and link-in-bio features first.

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.

Planoly: What are Planoly's pricing tiers?

Planoly offers Starter ($14/mo), Growth ($24/mo), and Pro ($47/mo) monthly plans, with lower per-month rates if billed annually; each tier increases the number of social sets and users included.

Source
Khoros: Is pricing published?

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

Planoly: Can I cancel or change my Planoly plan anytime?

Plans can be upgraded, downgraded, or canceled at any time according to Planoly's pricing page.

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.

Planoly: Is there a free version of Planoly?

A free mobile app tier exists with a limit of 10 uploads per month; full scheduling features require a paid plan.

Source
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