Yammer and Socialcast are two business social networking sites. Both the websites provide very good business social networking features and are a good choice for any organization who wants to setup an enterprise social network.
We have earlier done review of Yammer as well as review of SocialCast. So, we thought why not do a showdown between them to see which one offers more bang for the buck. This comparison of Yammer vs. SocialCast is only for their free vesions, and not paid versions.
Here is the comparison of Yammer and Socialcast:
1. Signup:
- Yammer: Yammer offers a free signup only with your domain email (company email id like [email protected]). You cannot use it with Gmail, Ymail, Hotmail, etc. After signup you will be sent a mail to your domain email for confirmation.
- Socialcast: Socialcast also offers a free signup with your company email id only. Socialcast also sends a mail to your domain email for confirmation.
2. Free Version:
- Yammer: A free version is available in yammer for unlimited members.
- Socialcast: Socialcast also offers free version. However, it is limited to 50 users only.
3. Admin Rights
- Yammer: In free version, you can’t claim for admin rights which has many advanced features. In paid version you can have the admin rights.
- Socialcast: In Socialcast you can be an admin and many options are available.
4. Customizations:
- Yammer: You can’t customize anything, except for the email notifications.
- Socialcast: In Socialcast after claiming the admin rights you can keep a logo, change the theme, and many other options can be modified.
5. Analytics:
- Yammer: In Yammer you can’t analyze or monitor who is participating more and the groups progress.
- Socialcast: In Socialcast if you are an admin you can see the analytics report of each issues and individual members.
6. Groups:
- Yammer: You can create or join groups created by others in Yammer.
- Socialcast: In Socialcast also you can create groups and join others groups.
7. Sharing:
- Yammer: Yammer gives the option to share updates, files, and documents with all the employees or only certain employees.
- Socialcast: In Socialcast also you can share updates, files, and documents with the members of your community.
8. Thanks or Praise
- Yammer: In Yammer you can praise anyone for their good deeds and any number of times.
- Socialcast: In Socialcast you can send thanks only three times per week. This limit can be modified by the admin, though; up to 10 thanks per week.
9. Polls and Events:
- Yammer: You can post polls and schedule events also in Yammer.
- Socialcast: In Socialcast you can only post polls. You don’t have the option to schedule events in Socialcast.
10. Private Chat:
- Yammer: In Yammer there is a private chat option available like instant messenger. You can also send offline private messages.
- Socialcast: Socialcast doesn’t have the option for instant chat. But you can send offline private messages.
11. Desktop App:
- Yammer: Desktop application is available in Yammer; which is easy to install and use.
- Socialcast: Socialcast also has desktop application.
12. Mobile App:
- Yammer: Platforms like iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows, and Blackberry has Yammer apps to be downloaded and installed.
- Socialcast: Socialcast apps are available for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry mobile.
13. Paid Version:
- Yammer: Yammer offers a paid version for advanced features at 5$ per user per month for business level; and 15$ per user per month for enterprise level
- Socialcast: Socialcast offers a paid version at 5$ per user per month and minimum of 100 users should register. Also annual contract should be signed for paid version.
So, Yammer vs. SocialCast; which one is Better:
I spent quite some time in testing both these enterprise social networks, and doing a neutral comparison of both. Both these networks score above one another on some features, and there is definitely no clear winner.
If you would like to have more than 50 members in your business social network without a need to pay, then Yammer is definitely the way to go. Apart from that, if your social network definitely needs to have instant chat feature, then again you go with Yammer.
However, if you would like to have admin control over your network, customization options, and analytics, then you need to go with SocialCast.
For us, we are using Yammer in our office because it provides chat, so we don’t have to separately install another software just for intranet chat.
For you, I suggest you carefully analyze the features and shortcomings I have mentioned above for each of these business social networks, and see which one works for you.
