FluentCommunity vs SureDash
I am moving from BB and I am considering FluentCommunity as replacement, but I am worried about integrations with 3rd party plugins. I was watching WPCrafter's new community plugin review (SureDash - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7syWO6epxnE&ab_channel=WPCrafter.comWordPressForNon-Techies) and they answered a user that said "I believe Fluent Community built something like this. Use case looks similar."
They said that:
"Good question. This is a tough one to answer because it’s hard to answer without the other product company getting their feelings hurt.
So let me answer it objectively, you can draw your own conclusions.
Personally, I think the 2 products are trying to solve different problems, but I understand that people will want to compare the two.
The main differences are that we are sticking close to core WordPress to ensure all the WordPress capabilities, benefits, 3rd party plugins, etc are fully supported.
They have built a standalone side-loading vue.js app. This means it loads along side your website, doesn’t use custom post types, can’t render elements from your 3rd party plugins. For example, if you wanted to add a form built with any form builder, maybe for a quiz or a poll, it can’t render. You can bring things into their app from your plugins.
With SureDash we retain all the benefits of what WordPress has to offer, your 3rd party plugins, native WordPress features. For example, you can schedule posts, automate posts, etc. Hooks, filters, custom fields etc. You can bring things into SureDash from your plugins.
There are many simple things like this that we can take for granted, but since we are sticking close to WordPress, you get all the benefits.
They have built a standalone side-loading vue.js app with custom database tables. Many WordPress functionality won’t not work and many 3rd party plugins will work with it either. It sits alongside your website, vs being a part of it. However they have stated they are going to try to let you take discussions out of their app and into your website.
This may be people's preference, but we are building something different.
Core Differences:
Integration: SureDash is a fully customizable WordPress plugin, seamlessly integrating with your existing site and leveraging its features (plugins, custom fields, hooks, filters, scheduling tools, core WordPress functionality, etc.). Fluent Community, on the other hand, operates as a separate side-loading application alongside your website, which is not compatible with most plugins that may be in your WordPress tech stack and many basic WordPress core capabilities.
Scope and Functionality: SureDash aims to provide a comprehensive solution for delivering value via content, courses, community, events, and a resource library, all within a single unified user interface. Fluent Community primarily focuses on discussions, with courses to go along with it. The overall functionality of SureDash is broader today, but that could change.
Customization: SureDash's close to core WordPress-based architecture allows for extensive customization to match your branding and specific requirements. Fluent Community, being a standalone side-loading application, offers less flexibility and integration.
Performance: SureDash will leverage the Interactivity API for performance within the WordPress environment and we are working on custom database tables. Fluent Community, as a custom vue.js application (which is why most 3rd party plugins don’t work in it), may offer speed advantages in isolation, but this comes at the cost of integration with your existing WordPress setup and plugins.
Pricing: SureDash plans will be at a different price point—we're aiming for $399 for 100 sites with a split payment option—compared to Fluent Community's $999 for 50 sites.
The best choice depends on your priorities."
I would like to integrate FC with some multivendor marketplace and/or directory plugin. Do you guys plan to add 3rd party plugin integrations?
Wow, I just found SureDash. The FC and SD racing looks interesting. Let's wait for more updates.
Olmo j you can find some answers in this post: "The Technical Design of FluentCommunity Plugin & Some Confusions Cleared" - it's not too hard to find it.
+IMHO if you want to compare these two products today (not in a 6 or 12 months from now) there is only one Winner.
If you want to talk about Dreams aka Future you need to believe in something or someone and wait.
As of today SD is an early stage aka "wanna be a community" plugin (no offence) - it is not possible to use it easily with any other then dev users (unless your users are on a diet and they like to eat bugs haha).
Talking doesn't make SD product better. Once they will have a Public version you can compare it to what we have now with Fluent Community.
Just wait for the fCommunity Theme Compability feature so you will see if you can incorporate the super fast plugin with your website and what else is needed.
I am not saying that SD won't be better but it is just crazy to even say that someone is using SD today - there is a long way for them to catch up with current Fluent Community features.
For us end-users it is good that there are more new players on the community market so we can choose what's better.
Let's wait and see who else will announce a WordPress community plugin or any other interesting offer and who will take the biggest piece of cake.
To sum up... As of today the fCommunity is the Leader not a Follower when you compare these two solutions. In 6 months the answer might be different. Who knows..
PS. I hope it is not any kind of ad (they have a good pricing no doubt) for SD to buy users attention and I hope you asked or will ask them also questions about Fluent Community on their FB aka SD Community so you will get more two sides opinions and users feelings/feedback.
BTW: I believe when SD will be a ready product they use it and it will replace their current community.
Wilco Wietsma to be honest I am awaiting for the Mobile app since it might be a huge difference and the Winner.
Mat hmm I think that really depends on geographics aswell as how Extended the rest of your site is. For me personally I don't really care for it, since all my other site element wouldn't be available in the app either way.
But this shows perfectly everybody has it's own preferences and use cases.
Mat thanks for sharing your thoughts and the link to the post about FluentCommunity’s technical design. But for me, the question is whether FluentCommunity will have real support for 3rd party plugin integrations in the near future as this is key for my use case.
Unfortunately my previous attempts to get a straight answer from their team have been unsuccessful. That’s why I’m exploring all options including SureDash to make an informed decision. I think comparing solutions is a natural part of the decision making process and shouldn’t be seen as negative towards any product.
If FluentCommunity is as good as described I don’t think there should be any problem with users asking questions or even mentioning alternative options. This doesn’t take away from the product’s value – on the contrary it shows there is interest and users are looking for the best solution for their needs.
Finally I understand the technical post you shared will be helpful for those who are familiar with such details but for someone without advanced knowledge in this area it’s not very accessible. I think it would also be good to offer clearer and more user friendly explanations to appeal to a wider audience.
Olmo j for me you have good understanding of WP and some technical aspects so I hope you found some answers in the post I have shared.
Also I am not saying that SD will be a bad solution but for me it is too early to compare it and make some noise now etc. And Yes.. its good to compare Products but these two product might be solve customer needs differently. It doesnt mean that your and my thoughts about both products should be the same - I am happy to hear different opinion so I can open my eyes. Thanks!
Anyway.. If there are any features missing for fCommunity just share your suggestions (if you have time or you need any specific feature) instead of focusing on things that "don't exist on a market yet".
You are a new user here so I am happy for the new positive energy for making this product great.
I'm all in with FluentCommunity. I don't think SureDash is ready for production yet, but it might be great in the future. We will see. I'm amazed at what the Fluent Community team built and their future plans. You can integrate anything to FluentCommunity with another wonderful plugin, Flowmattic.
Sella Yoffe currently you can't use other plugins within fluentcommunity. So that is definitely a downside for me.
I have the paid fluentcommunity. But i have to say the way suredash offers to easily built out your account / profile page with all existing wordpress functionality is something I really miss with fluentcommunity.
They say they are busy with it. But I have to see. And no I don't want to need yet another plugin like flowmattic to get basic stuff done.
Wilco Wietsma, as I mentioned, using Flowmattic solves it and makes FluentCommunity a beast community machine.
Other automation plugins (Uncanny Automator, WP Fusion, etc.) will soon add FluentCommunity integration. I'm sure the Suredash will need SureTriggers for integration.
Sella Yoffe so you say I can built one profile page for my user showing posts, comments, wordpress comments, metabox favorite posts, saved cpt posts and All their other data by using flowmattic? Cause reading the documentation I don't think so.
And again, should not be needing a different plugin for this stuff. I should just be able to use my wordpress data and plugins just as I can with any other wp tool.
Wilco Wietsma im not sure that at the moment you can add WordPress comments, metabox favorite posts, saved cpt posts, all their other data etc. I don't see the use case. Happy to hear your thoughts here.
I'm not sure if SureDash can do that.
Sella Yoffe The use case is I already have a website with user accounts and a whole amount of user interaction and data. I don't want people to have to switch to multiple place to see all their account data and settings. It makes for a bad and confusing user experience. As well I have tooling built in WSform's which should be able to work within my community.
So I'm going to keep an eye on Suredash aswell, since the out of the box Wordpress integration seems better. But like I said I already have the license for FC, so maybe if they get the theme compatibility etc done right, it can handle all my problems.
I like this quote by Shahjahan Jewel "spreading misinformation harms the market. It not only damages the company’s reputation but also confuses customers. Let customers choose what they want. Build a good product, and people will love it. Spread misinformation, and people won’t trust you."
Debo Ogunrinde and let's hope we can eat whatever we want on a pizza (example: WP .org) for a long time otherwise some companies will need to start from the beginning haha
FC and SD have different approaches, but that doesn’t mean one is better than the other, or one approach is right and the other has to be wrong. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages.
Both plugins are in their early stages, and both can be amazing after a few more years of development. Let them compete (in a healthy way), and we’ll all benefit from it.
So is there any update to His question? Do you guys plan to add 3rd party plugin integrations?
It seems like Fluent doesn't integrate will with third party plugins and is keeping things inside the eco system, especially now with fluent affiliate and fluentcart coming out
Jonathan Perez How integrated? They released theme compatibility which lets you wrap the fluent menus around normal wordpress pages, allowing you to use standard plugins in the community.
Ross FCA OoO Nice, I don't think I saw that yet. I was thinking more like WooCommerce integration to sell courses and access, automation integration with like funnel kit or other automation plugins, with the theme compatibility it looks like Element or might work for inside pages or any other page builder which is awesome. But along the lines of that is what I'm thinking, me personally I would like to sell memberships and subscribers but I already have my plugins and I don't want to learn a whole new ecosystem and I'm sure there's a lot of people like that
Jonathan Perez I’m using woocommerce subscriptions and it works great integrated with FC.
They don't even use the plugin themselves for their own community... instead use facebook.
🤯
Tyler Gebhard thats a red flag right there.
6 months later, and suredash seems to be a failed product.. Just check the user complaints on their FB page..
has there been any comparison updates on this? I own both, but not sure which way to invest time and effort in.
I don't think SureDash will live up to expectations.