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Waterhole

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Overview

Waterhole is a Laravel-powered discussion platform for creating online communities. It enables discussions, idea suggestions and voting, questions, and long-form content publishing under a user's own brand and domain. Designed for brands, creators, and teams, it integrates as a Composer package into Laravel 10.x, 11.x, or 12.x applications, supporting existing user bases.135

Key Features

  • Discussions - Spaces for community discussions and interactions.
  • Idea Voting - Users suggest and vote on ideas.
  • Q&A - Question and answer functionality.
  • Long-form Content - Publishing capabilities for articles and posts.
  • Laravel Integration - Installable via Composer into existing Laravel apps with shared authentication.
  • Custom Designs - Bespoke designs using Blade components.
  • Extension API - Custom features via Models, Service Providers, and Middleware.
  • SSO Support - Single sign-on with external providers.

Pricing

PlanPriceIncludes
Standard$99/yearCore community features for small teams.
Professional$299/yearAdvanced moderation, SEO tools, and integrations.
EnterpriseCustomFull customization, SSO, and priority support.

Platforms & Requirements

Waterhole runs as a web application on servers supporting PHP and Laravel 10.x, 11.x, or 12.x. It requires Composer for installation and a database for operation. No native mobile or desktop apps; access via web browsers.13

Integrations & Ecosystem

  • Laravel authentication
  • Google OAuth SSO
  • External SSO providers
  • Composer packages
  • Blade components
  • PHP SSO package

Alternatives

AppDifference
DiscourseSelf-hosted Ruby on Rails forum with broader plugin ecosystem but less Laravel focus.
FlarumLightweight PHP forum emphasizing speed and simplicity over full community platform features.
phpBBTraditional free PHP bulletin board without modern Laravel integration or idea voting.
DiscuzChinese-origin forum software with extensive features but dated interface.

Reputation

Waterhole is recognized for its developer-friendly Laravel integration and extensible architecture, appealing to PHP developers building custom communities. Users appreciate the modern design and features like idea voting and SSO. Some note it's relatively new since 2022 with ongoing releases like 0.6 adding moderation tools.146

Sources (9)
  1. https://waterhole.dev
  2. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.subsplashconsulting.s_74TH8F&hl=en_US
  3. https://waterhole.dev/docs/main/laravel
  4. https://waterhole.dev/community/channels/blog
  5. https://github.com/waterholeforum
  6. https://waterhole.dev/community/users/1/posts?filter=top
  7. https://waterhole.dev/community/posts/33-using-waterhole-for-our-community-feature-request-forum
  8. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-water-hole/id1167792323
  9. https://waterhole.dev/docs/0.6/distribution