Yahoo Groups is going through a rough time, users were unable to post new messages for most of last week and even though the service appears to have been restored there’s still lingering problems.
Even before Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo, Yahoo Groups was in maintenance mode with no new development being done in years – but now they’re struggling to keep the lights on.
So if you’re currently running a group on Yahoo Groups and looking to move on, here’s a few suggestions:
- Gaggle Mail – A modern take on the traditional Listserv. You get all the benefits of your own group email address with the ability to configure and customise how your group behaves all wrapped up in an easy to use, modern web interface that anyone can use. As well as being much cheaper that having you own hosted Listserv there’s also none of the limitations about having to have a certain account to participate.
- Google Groups – This is an obvious choice, its Google’s equivalent of Yahoo Groups with much the same functionality. You have to bear in mind Google’s main business is advertising and they will be scanning your group’s messages in order the show ads. There emailing into and out of the group isn’t as good as Yahoo’s and you and your members will need Google accounts to participate.
- Facebook Groups – Given Facebook’s ubiquity it’s a popular choice. If you’re happy living in Facebook’s closed platform and their advertising based model then there’s lots of functionality. Photo sharing, file storage and event planning are all mature and user friendly features.
- OnlineGroups.net – Think of this as a paid for Yahoo Groups replacement. It has lots of the features of the free service but it comes with a substantial cost. If you really need everything that Yahoo Groups does and don’t mind paying then this is one to look at.
- LSoft Listserv – If you currently take advantage of Yahoo Group’s ability to post by email and receive posts via email then a Listserv could be what you need. It’s a group email platform with no advertising that gives you the ability it run as you see fit. You can either use a hosted service or host your own. Hosting your own Listserv does require some technical knowledge but it is cheaper than using a hosted service.
- Mail-list.com – For over 20 years Mail-list.com has been providing a group email discussion solution. It has lots of features including message moderation and a searchable archive (at a price) but it is starting to show its age and can be expensive for larger groups.
- FreeLists – For a completely free group email option there is FreeLists. It’s been around for over 15 years and allows completely free group email discussions. It has quite basic functionality with quite a rudimentary interface but you can do the basics – and it’s free!
There you have it, lots to choose from. Yahoo Groups has had a good run but it looks like it’s time is coming to an end. Group email has been around for many years and is a well proven solution for electronic group discussions.
There’s many different providers of Listserv or Listserv like solutions that are a good fit if you’re moving from Yahoo Groups.
If we’ve missed anything out or you have some feedback we’d love to hear it.