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The best Gather.Town alternative in 2024

HyHyve is the German 🇩🇪, GDPR-compliant, and professionally-looking alternative to Gather.Town.

The best GDPR-compliant Gather.Town alternative is HyHyve, which offers a more professional look. It includes a powerful customization option, an easy-to-use interface, and an affordable self-hosting option on Microsoft Teams. 

Try HyHyve yourself!

💳 No credit card required | Unlimited time on Free plan

Shows a features of Gather Town in comparison to HyHyve

GDPR-Compliant

HyHyve is a GDPR-compliant alternative to Gather.Town from Germany 🇩🇪. As a German company, HyHyve is subject to the strict regulations of the German DSGVO and European GDPR.

Professionally Looking

Gather.Town’s 8-bit pixelated view is excellent for leisure use cases but not business gatherings. HyHyve is a professionally looking alternative to Gather.Town for academic, educative, and business use cases.

Self-Hosting

HyHyve is a Gather.Town alternative with a video self-hosting option on Microsoft Teams.

HyHyve is an affordable Gather.Town alternative: You can cut license costs by up to 50% using your existing Microsoft Teams licenses.

TL;DR

Quick Comparison: HyHyve vs. Gather.Town - Professional alternatives unveiled

Are you looking for a GDPR-compliant and professional alternative to Gather.Town? HyHyve is your answer. As a German platform, HyHyve ensures strict GDPR compliance, offers powerful customization, and has a user-friendly interface. It also supports affordable self-hosting on Microsoft Teams, making it perfect for academic, educational, and business use. HyHyve is a professional solution to your virtual meeting needs with a zero-commitment trial period. 

Try HyHyve yourself!

💳 No credit card required | Unlimited time on Free plan

Compare Now: Important questions to evaluate Gather.Town alternatives

Market analysis to evaluate alternatives of Gather.Town

In this showdown of online events and networking tools, we compare Gather.Town vs. HyHyve to help you choose the right platform. This market analysis compares the following factors:

  • User experience and ease of use for younger and older users
  • Features (e.g., access policies, recording capability, maximum participants) necessary for virtual events and remote offices
  • Scalability and stability for larger events and offices
  • Security and compliance, particularly concerning European and German regulations
  • Pricing options and agreements for small, middle, and large companies
  • Integration options with tools like Miro, Microsoft Teams, or Google G-Suite
This Gather.Town service comparison aims to deliver a comprehensive overview to avoid long-lasting product comparison processes.

HyHyve vs. Gather.Town feature comparison

This overview table aggregates the most selected criteria to find alternatives to Gather.Town. The chosen criteria are optimized to find an alternative product to Gather.Town for online event and virtual office usage and cover topics like Pricing, GDPR compliance, platform support, scalability, usability, and feature richness. 

Pricing

Gather.Town Pricing Plans

Gather.Town 😢

Gather.Town pricing starts at $70 per month for 10 users.  Additional users are $7 monthly.

You can save 15% in an annual commitment to reduce the minimum Gather.Town pricing to $59.50 per month.

Conference pricing starts at $3 per user for one-day events and $7 per user for 3+ event days.

Gather offers a 30-Day Trial period and a Free Plan with limited features for up to 10 users.

HyHyve 😍

HyHyve pricing focuses on maximum flexibility for organizers and virtual office hosts: HyHyve counts the meeting minutes without limitation for users or spaces.

The 2,000 meeting minutes plan starts at 29,90€ per month. If you have pricing questions, you can always contact  support@hyhyve.com. 

HyHyve Virtual Office for Microsoft Teams starts at 8€ per user per month.

The Free Plan offers 200 complimentary meeting minutes per month.

GDPR / DSGVO

Gather.Town GDPR/DSGVO Compliance

Gather.Town 😢

Gather.Town is a US company, and most of its processing of personal data does not fall directly within the territorial scope of the UK or EU GDPR/DSGVO.

You should always discuss the usage of Gather.Town with your legal department, as Gather does not process personal data in the UK or EU but in the US. Therefore, It’s most likely that Gather.Town is not GDPR/DSGVO compliant. [1]

HyHyve 😍

HyHyve is a German company based in Berlin and is GDPR compliant. 

HyHyve strongly focuses on data privacy and allows the downloading and signing of a DPA/AVV: HyHyve DPA/AVV template

Browsers and Platforms

Gather.Town Support of Browsers and Platforms

Gather.Town 😢

Gather.Town has been designed to work best with Google Chrome or other Chromium-based browsers like Microsoft Edge on Mac or Windows. 

For the best possible experience, Gather.Town recommends using the Gather Desktop App for Mac or Windows.

It’s not recommended to use Apple’s Safari Browser [2].

HyHyve 😍

HyHyve is designed to work on every platform and browser: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsft Edge, and Safari on Windows and Mac. 

Of course, we recommend using a Chromium-based browser (like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge) as we think its user experience is best in class.

You never have to download an app. HyHyve always works in a browser or directly in Microsoft Teams: HyHyve Features

Participant limit

Gather.Town participant and user limit per space

Gather.Town 😢

Gather.Town has a limit of 500 concurrent participants per space. 

If you want to host more than 500 people, you have to connect at least two spaces.

HyHyve 😍

HyHyve has a standard limit of 200 concurrent participants per space. You can increase this limit via the HyHyve support support@hyhyve.com.

To host more than 200 people, you must connect at least two HyHyve spaces, and you can connect up to 20 spaces.

Meeting limit

Gather.Town user limit per call/meeting

Gather.Town 😢

Unfortunately, we found no official information about the maximum number of participants/users per call/meeting room.

HyHyve 😍

HyHyve has a limit of 200 participants per ad-hoc conversation (“bubble”) and meeting room. 

Broadcast / Spotlight / Webinar limit

Gather.Town participant limit per Spotlight / Broadcast / Webinar

Gather.Town 😢

Unfortunately, we found no official information about the maximum number of participants per Gather.Town spotlight (also called Broadcast or Webinar mode).

HyHyve 😍

The HyHyve broadcast can simultaneously host up to 400 viewers and 200 speakers. You can use the broadcast to speak over multiple HyHyve spaces.

Access restrictions

Gather.Town access restrictions (link, password, and allow-listing)

Gather.Town 😢

Gather.Town offers different access restrictions:

  • Password (available in any plan)
  • Domain white-listing (only paid plans)
  • Guest check-in (only in virtual office plans)
  • Guest-list check-in via email allow-listing (only in conference plans)

HyHyve 😍

HyHyve offers different access restrictions in every plan:

  • Anonymous access via Space-Link (only user name necessary)
  • Registered (every user needs a valid email address)
  • E-Mail allow-list
  • Domain allow-list
  • Password
  • Single-Sign-On (SSO) via SAML2 or Microsoft Entra

Space customization

Gather.Town office / space / world customization

Gather.Town 😢

Gather.Town offers a comprehensive and complex world editor to customize your office and space.

You can rebuild your office building, create a race track, or simply put your logo on the wall. You can also include interactive elements (games, whiteboards, documents, etc.) in your Gather office.

The only limitation is the 8-bit pixelated design.

 

HyHyve 😍

HyHyve spaces can be flexibly customized by uploading your own background image (PNG or JPEG). Whether you love a photorealistic or isometric style, the HyHyve avatar fits any occasion.

HyHyve also has 3D avatars in Asia. So contact the HyHyve Support team at support@hyhyve.com to learn more or discuss your needs.

Recording

Gather.Town meeting recording

Gather.Town 😢

Gather.Town offers recording only in meeting areas under the following conditions:

  • You can record up to 2 hours per user per month
  • Maximum length is 3 hours
  • The recording expires after 5 days
  • It’s not possible to record a spotlight/broadcast

HyHyve 😍

HyHyve allows the recording of ad-hoc conversations (bubbles), meeting rooms, and broadcasts (you can record everything).

You can define if every user or only admins can start and stop recordings. 

HyHyve recordings never expire; there’s no maximum duration, and recording takes place on our servers (you can also leave a space after starting a recording; recordings stop after everybody leaves the meeting).

Languages

Gather.Town language support

Gather.Town 😢

Gather.Town supports three languages in the app and web: English, Japanese, and Portuguese

HyHyve 😍

HyHyve supports two languages: English and German

If you want to add another language contact the support team via support@hyhyve.com

[1] According to the statement of Meetingland (German Gather.Town reseller), Gather.Town is not fully GDPR/DSGVO compliant: Empfehlung zu DSGVO bei Gather.Town
[2] Gather.Town prerequesites: Gather.Town prerequisites from Meetingland

Try HyHyve yourself!

💳 No credit card required | Unlimited time on Free plan

HyHyve is the secure and compliant Gather.Town competitor with a professional look

If you’re looking for a professional, enterprise-ready solution, you need high-security measures, GDPR compliance, and a professional look that will amaze your business partners.

  • Customizable and professionally looking virtual office
  • Microsoft Teams Status and availability
  • Microsoft Teams Meetings integration
  • Easy-to-use for non-development users
  • Meeting recording for Bubble conversations, Broadcast and Meeting areas
  • YouTube Live-Stream embedding
  • Unlimited guest invites without email sign-up
  • Enterprise-ready customizing to comply with internal regulations
  • GDPR compliant from Germany 🇩🇪

And so much more! To learn more about every feature we’ve got, check out our features page!

EnBW
allianz
hubert-burda-media
kununu
university-sydney
db

FAQ - Frequently asked questions

Is Gather.Town for free?

Gather is free for up to 10 users.

Which are the top 10 alternatives and competitors of Gather.Town?

  1. HyHyve: Fully customizable and engaging networking and online event platform that supports different devices and browsers.
  2. Wonder: A networking platform that wants people to discuss like real-life.
  3. Spatial: A wonderful app to hold networking events with groups of different sizes.
  4. Remo: The simple way to interact with people in smaller or larger groups with a strong event focus.
  5. Workadventure: This app provides an online campus, virtual office, and digital events simultaneously.
  6. Topia: A playful world-building platform that offers the possibility of video chats.
  7. Trember: An app for people interested in having small business meetings online.
  8. SaySom: This app brings a real-life conversation vibe into the world of online networking.
  9. Virtuali: In this online world, you can build in-person connections as you would do in reality.
  10. VRChat: You can discover this virtual reality space created by people from all over the world.

What browsers and devices does Gather.town support?

Gather.Town supports Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox the best. Safari is still available in a beta version, and Microsoft Edge is not officially supported. Gather works best on desktops and laptops. Mobile devices are supported, but their access to the platform is restricted and still a work in progress. Therefore performance-related issues can be expected.

Does Gather.town work on mobile?

Gather.town does not support mobiles devices (e.g. phones and tablets). [8]

Does Gather.town works on iPads?

iPads and tablets have access to Gather.town but the usage of the platform is restricted and still a work in progress.

Is Gather.town Metaverse?

Gather.town is part of the Metaverse. According to Gather, they are trying their best to build a Metaverse for mankind. 

What is Gather.Town?

Unlike other apps like Zoom Gather.town provides an online networking experience in a virtual space. Participants can go into and leave a conversation by moving their avatar as they would do in real life.

Gather.Town is an all-in-one communication, event, and networking tool. The event organizer designs the natural spaces in an 8-bit pixelized world that looks like a video game.  Each participant can move their avatar freely by using the computer keyboard arrows. According to this Gather.Town is a better alternative to Zoom because it offers a feeling of having a real-life conversation. In the mapmaker mode, you can create an interactive world where your attendees can play games like “one-night werewolf” or “Sudoku” together, exchange ideas on a whiteboard or share files. The clue is that you can do all these things within the Gather.town space.

What can Gather.Town do?

In your Gather.town space, you can upload documents, stream videos, and exchange data. The Gather “space” participants can also talk spontaneously via video chat with each other. People can interact, celebrate, or work together in public and private spaces. Up to 500 people can be in one space simultaneously, and they can join the so-called Gather “spotlight” (particular areas where a limited number of people can receive a broadcast).[7] Within a space, admins can share their screen, stream a video, play music, announce the event plan, or have a podium discussion. A private and group chat helps to exchange contact details and get in touch with each other.

Gather combines the wonderful ability to network quickly in groups because of its flexible and interactive space where external contents like music, videos, links, Q&As, or websites can be integrated.

Is Gather.Town easy to use?

Gather Town spaces are simple and bring real interactions into virtual spaces. As always, a new tool needs some onboarding activities to make sure that even not tech-affine users feel comfortable with the platform.

What should I be aware of when using Gather.Town?

Gather started as an open-source project, but it can’t be self-hosted anymore. Technically, Gather works very well, but there are some areas you should consider even though not all of them are related to the Gather. town itself but to the overall event organization and preparation. Gather can be downloaded as an app or used in a browser-based version. The best performance is guaranteed by using Chrome or Mozilla and a device such as a desktop or a laptop. If you consider holding professional events or creating a virtual workspace on Gather, you have to be aware of the effect of the playful design of Gather. Some people might not find it professional-looking. 

The Gather space and tool design

Gather offers a very structured onboarding experience, and the space editor is easy to use but offers a large variety of integrations and possibilities. Therefore you have to plan some time to get comfortable with the mapmaker and to create your customized space. Gather.town offers near-endless features and customization options to produce the best space for your attendees. If you plan to integrate other tools like Zoom meetings, whiteboards, games, websites, or documents, the interaction can be confusing at first. Therefore the participants need a little more time to feel comfortable with the app. By starting with a template, it’s easier to build a space from that foundation.

Via email, you can assign specific roles like admin, builder, or mod to different people. By placing signs, attendees won’t get lost so easily. Logos and a virtual background can personalize the space even more. The communication of shortcuts can enhance the participants’ experience, e.g., pressing the z-button, which leads to dancing of the avatars. Also, the customization can be fun for attendees when they are joining the space for the first time.

The space’s minimap helps the user move in the right direction, and a public announcement will allow him to find the right spots. The tool offers an engaging experience when it’s explained in every detail to the attendees, and the usage cases differ as much as the customization options of the map.

Advice:
How to prepare your participants for the Gather.town usage

As the mechanism of “bumping together in a virtual venue” and interacting with content by clicking the “X” key is currently not known to everyone, it’s helpful to have “practice sessions” with your participants in advance (e.g., online networking and after-work session a couple of days earlier).

Limited mobile and browser support

Unfortunately, Gather.Town tool doesn’t support mobile devices and tablets like iPads or similar devices. Furthermore, it would be best to keep in mind that Safari is only available in a beta version, and Microsoft Edge isn’t supported. The Gather app officially supports Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, and the platform performs the best on desktops and laptops. [8]

Advice:
How to deal with the limited mobile and browser support

Although most users are already using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, you should consider recommending using one of the supported browsers. [9] As “clicking on links” leads to the start of the user’s standard browser, you have to ensure that the browser recommendation is communicated often and clearly. As selecting the right browser and joining the Gather space can sometimes be tricky, you can implement a support hotline or a team during your event to guarantee a seamless experience.

GDPR compliance of Gather.town

Gather.Town is a platform of an American Company, and Gather’s servers are located outside the EU. Gather clearly states that they are currently not fully GDPR compliant, and by signing an agreement, the usage under GDPR is supposed to be possible. [10]

Advice:
How to deal with GDPR compliance

Before using Gather.town, you should discuss the GDPR compliance with your data protection supervisor. 

[7] According to their Pricing, Gather offers up to 500 participants per Space (on request are more possible). Gather doesn’t specify how many people can interact in an ad-hoc conversation.
[8] Supported devices and browsers on the Gather Town help website: Browser Settings and Permissions
[9] Market shares of the most used browser versions worldwide in February 2022: Statistics from February 2022
[10] According to their statement, Gather.Town is not fully GDPR compliant but it’s possible with an agreement: Are you GDPR Compliant?

This section was updated on 21.03.2022. 

What HyHyve clients have to say

"Our online annual meeting with participants from all over the world was a great success. With about 130 participants, the plenary meeting went well, and the HyHyve team provided quick and professional support when needed. With the spontaneous interactions, the participants had a great experience and told us that it was the nearest we could get to an actual meeting on-site; better, friendlier than a standard videoconference."
Mont Terri Project - Annual Technical ConferenceRomain Nicol - Social Media Manager
Mont Terri Project - Annual Technical Conference
"Our event with HyHyve was a fresh online experience! The interaction is intuitive and innovative. HyHyve's maps can be customized and created a buzz with their attention to detail! The HyHyve team was very helpful and supported us with any questions."
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AGJoachim Haydecker - Customer Experience Manager
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG
"Our guests were thrilled! HyHyve is innovative, encourages interaction, and motivates with the surprises on the map. The HyHyve team is very supportive, professional, and a pleasure to work with. I can recommend HyHyve anytime."
BVMW Mittelstandsnetzwerk Hans-Peter Neeb
BVMW Mittelstandsnetzwerk
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