I am writing this article to position Jatra as an alternative to Scenes community software by Graphy - an Unacademy owned company. If existing customers of Scenes (aka Build On Scenes) are looking to migrate their existing communities to Jatra platform, we’ll be happy to talk. Feel free to book a demo with us.

I’ve been an admirer of the founders of Scenes - Varun Mayya, Abhinav Arora and Shashank Udupa. Unlike most of the popular community platforms, the Scenes founders had actual community building experience.

In my career of 18 years as an entrepreneur and community builder, I felt that Scenes fell into a classic trap: Building too many features, too quickly.

When you have access to lot of money and engineering talent, it’s easy to fall into the trap. I was surprised when Unacademy’s Graphy acquired Scenes.

Graphy’s main focus is on their own platform which enables creators to sell their courses. Community was an add-on. I knew that Scenes did not have a bright future; because a community platform cannot thrive under a leadership that has never built a community.

It’s now evident that Scenes community platform is not actively managed and existing customers are looking to migrate their communities.

We, at Jatra, position ourselves as an alternative to Graphy Scenes community platform. I sincerely believe that Jatra offers a better community experience to community owners, managers and members.

Graphy Scenes Vs. Jatra

Frankly speaking, Scenes is a features-mess. You name a feature, and Scenes already has it. But ain’t that a good thing?

Well, as someone who’s built communities with lot of sophisticated platforms from phpBB, vBulletin, Invision Power Boards, Circle and others - I want to tell you a secret:

People prefer simplicity over complexity

What a bummer, Kaustubh; you may say. Yeah, not a new thing. But you know what? Implementing simplicity is incredibly complex!

Simply adding new features because customers demand it is never a good product strategy.

Screenshot of Jatra Community Platform

There is a reason why WhatsApp is so popular even when its competition has 10x more features. That reason is: Simplicity. WhatsApp is simple to use and it just does what it promises to do.

We at Jatra have taken a similar approach. Simplicity and ease of use are our prime focus. If you wish to consider Jatra, let me give you a few reasons:

Consider Jatra community platform if you:

1. Value simplicity over complexity

2. Want free, organic traffic through SEO

3. Want to engage users with multiple content-types

4. Need one:one community building support until you take-off

I, as a creator of Jatra, would love to talk to you about your community needs and if possible - guide you with your community building strategy.

I understand that Jatra may not be a good fit for every community. If you do not wish to consider Jatra and want to explore alternatives, here are some of our competitors -

1. xenForo: Amazing platform with great SEO; but old and boring UI

2. Flarum: Open-sourced. If you wish to self-host; do consider them

3. Circle: Consider only if you are selling courses. Else look for others in this list

4. Mighty Networks: I don’t like their UI; but many people do. Good community software

5. Better Mode: I liked them when they were called ‘Tribe’. Good platform

6. Build in-house: Probably the better option; if you have the resources

I thank you for considering Jatra to host your community. I always like to talk about community building, community growth strategies and answer community building problems.

I look forward to welcoming you on Jatra Community. Thank you!