COMPARED
Eight tools people weigh against each other, in one table. Each row is a feature at least one of them lists. A tick means the tool lists it; a dash means we did not find it listed; a few words say how it is done where that matters. Each tool's name links to the longer comparison with True Causes.
| True Causes | Pol.is | Stanford | Frankly | Kialo | Loomio | Decidim | Miro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WHAT COMES OUT | ||||||||
| A map of what causes what | ✓ | – | – | – | – | – | – | drawn by hand on a template |
| An argument map | claims and reasons, every link voted | – | – | – | pro and con tree | – | – | drawn by hand |
| Opinion groups in a crowd | – | ✓ | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Opinion before and after deliberating | private stance before and after | – | surveys | – | – | – | – | – |
| A recorded decision | – | – | – | – | – | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Priorities ranked | pair by pair | – | – | prioritisation setting | – | ranking polls | supports and votes | dot voting |
| A plan in order | steps in order, voted | – | – | – | – | – | – | drawn by hand |
| Participatory budgets | – | – | – | – | – | allocation polls | ✓ | – |
| HOW PEOPLE TAKE PART | ||||||||
| In writing, at their own pace | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live video | optional, per group (Jitsi) | – | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | online meetings | through meeting apps |
| Many small groups at once | ✓ | – | ✓ | breakout groups | – | – | – | – |
| How groups are formed | by lot, mixed by perspective | – | assigned to groups | algorithmic matching | – | by membership | sortition component | – |
| Turn-taking | round robin, one card per round | – | speaking queue | – | – | – | – | – |
| First answers written before seeing others’ | ✓ | – | – | – | – | – | – | private mode |
| Read before writing again | ✓ | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Timed agenda | stages, shared clock | – | ✓ | embedded prompts | – | poll closing times | process phases | timer |
| Anonymous | always | ✓ | – | – | optional (Kialo Edu) | optional anonymous polls | – | anonymous voting |
| Discussion | beside each card, pair and action | none: votes only | on video | on video | chat per debate | threads | comments, debates | comments |
| Voting | stickers, then pairs at 75% | agree, disagree, pass | surveys | votes, polls | impact ratings | many poll and proposal types | supports, votes | dot voting |
| Disagreement kept on the record | splits referred, then published as contested | as opinion groups | – | – | pro and con side by side | vote counts shown | vote counts shown | – |
| Surveys | – | – | ✓ | ✓ | – | polls | ✓ | – |
| Sources on claims | cards backed by a source can take reserved shortlist places | – | – | – | claims can link sources | – | – | – |
| Facilitation | stages run by the rules; a course for stewards | – | automated moderator | embedded prompts; hostless options | – | – | – | – |
| MODERATION AND SAFETY | ||||||||
| Moderation | AI reading before posting, author decides | moderators approve or remove | automated moderator | moderated discussion | moderators | group admins | reported content reviewed | board owners |
| Who can join | link, invite, code, email domain, confirmed address, vouching, approval | open or by link | a random, representative sample | events and registration | private debates (Kialo Edu) | group membership | several verification methods | board sharing |
| Private spaces | private, unlisted or public rooms | – | – | – | private debates (Kialo Edu) | ✓ | private spaces | ✓ |
| Results held until a date | ✓ | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Notifications | email invitations and reminders | – | – | – | – | in-app and email | in-app and newsletters | – |
| SCALE | ||||||||
| Largest single conversation | 100 free per room; more on paid plans | tens of thousands | small groups | small groups | one growing debate | a group | a whole city | a team board |
| Many groups, one combined result | maps fold into one at 75% | – | surveys pooled | – | – | – | – | – |
| Across questions | the Atlas joins every question | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Languages | English interface; cards translated between rooms | several | 40+ | Spanish, Chinese; translation | – | several | many | many |
| RESULTS AND DATA | ||||||||
| Export and analytics | pairs with votes (CSV), claims (JSON); live tallies | ✓ | real-time analytics | ✓ | class-level statistics (Kialo Edu) | ✓ | open data | ✓ |
| Embed in other sites | live map | ✓ | – | – | – | – | – | ✓ |
| API | ✓ | – | – | – | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrations | – | – | – | – | Moodle (Kialo Edu) | Slack, Teams, Discord, Matrix | – | Slack, Teams and others |
| Open source | results open; code not | yes (AGPLv3) | no | ✓ | – | ✓ | yes (AGPLv3) | – |
| Self-hosting | dedicated server on Enterprise | ✓ | – | – | – | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Cost | free up to 100 per room | free software | through the Lab | – | free | paid plans; free to self-host | free software | free and paid plans |
Find out why a problem keeps coming back: True Causes. Know where a large public stands: Pol.is. Measure what a representative sample thinks after deliberating: the Stanford platform. Hold facilitated conversations on video: Frankly. Lay out the pros and cons of one thesis, or teach argument: Kialo. Make and record a group’s decisions: Loomio. Run a city’s participation programme, budgets included: Decidim. Work freely on a shared board: Miro.
They also fit together: Pol.is can show what a population cares about, True Causes which of those problems drive the others, and Loomio or Decidim can carry the decision that follows.
Checked in October 2026, from each tool’s own pages and documentation. Product names belong to their owners. If anything here about another product is out of date or unfair, write to hello@mg.truecauses.org and we will correct it.
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