Gather vs WorkAdventure

Basic virtual office vs unlimited digital world

Gather proposes a software piece capable of emulating real offices into a 16-bit video game-like digital environment where every user has an avatar. In these virtual headquarters, members can interact with each other spontaneously and host online meetings.

WorkAdventure’s app improves the same experience by exploring a different philosophy, thanks to which we not only create virtual offices but extensive and customizable digital worlds with numerous features, where real-life places and experiences are emulated and boosted: Digital classrooms, virtual events, and online HR are a few examples of WorkAdventure’s potential.

Furthermore, WorkAdventure is both a virtual world platform and a complete toolbox with 

powerful extensions like Microsoft Teams, Discord, Element, and many other digital tools that are preferred and useful in this era.

Let’s dive into the reasons why you should consider WorkAdventure instead of Gather.

Proximity chat vs discussion bubbles

In Gather Town, the closer you are to someone’s avatar, the louder you hear this person, just like in the real world.

In WorkAdventure, we opt for a bubble system to materialize spontaneous conversations because it enables users to establish clear boundaries between participants and non-participants. Only those inside a discussion bubble can hear and participate in the interaction, and it’s also possible to lock the bubble so nobody else joins the conversation, reinforcing your privacy.

WorkAdventure offers all your favorite digital tools

Gather has a limited and basic pack of tool integrations within their software piece, including apps like Google Docs, Google Calendar, Outlook, Eraser, etc.

WorkAdventure takes it one step further by integrating additional apps, such as Microsoft Teams, Discord, and Element. These extensions allow you to have a completely synchronized Discord and Microsoft Teams with your WorkAdventure’s interface, making it possible to sync status, meetings, messages, events, etc. Moreover, thanks to our compatibility with the Matrix protocol, all your messages from your WorkAdventure team can be viewed and responded to through any compatible app, such as the excellent Element app, which is also available on smartphones.

Additionally, if you need a particular app integrated into your digital world, we can always make it happen! Native integrations are our specialty.

WorkAdventure is AI-friendly

OpenAI-powered bots can be found in WorkAdventure. You can spontaneously talk to these bots, as if they were another friend, and you can ask them to execute tasks for you: send emails, summarize meetings, make analyses and evaluations, guide people around your map, etc. OpenAI bots are just like another person trying to help you.

Decoration in Gather vs Unlimited map customization in WorkAdventure

Gather’s digital workplaces are customizable through an extensive but limited set of assets (and there are generic office templates available); they offer a powerful in-map editor.

In WorkAdventure, we offer the possibility to build your maps as you wish with all the assets you want, which are completely unrestricted. You get to do everything you need.

Map’s customer support for everybody

Gather offers a limited office design consultation and dedicated customer attention only to a reduced number of its clients.

WorkAdventure’s team is always online to help and satisfy your needs. Hence, we can design personalized maps adapted to the preferences of our clients who request this service. We believe that crafting your space is one of the most important tasks because it’s impossible to feel comfortable in a place you don’t like.

Your brand identity, but everywhere

The white label mode allows us to go far beyond the world’s basic customization. Thanks to this exclusive WorkAdventure feature, we can install all the elements of your brand identity, but everywhere. Adapted logo, customized loading screen, brand colors, and you can even have your domain name. The WorkAdventure brand can completely disappear in favor of yours, to make your world your own.

Celebrate every type of event in WorkAdventure

Do you want to host a virtual event for a few days? Unfortunately, Gather only offers monthly subscriptions.

However, WorkAdventure has special subscriptions of 1 to 5 days long, the perfect option for short virtual events and for the organizers who don’t want to pay for a full month when they only need a virtual room just for a weekend.

Furthermore, our scripting API makes it possible to easily code special events on a map, improving the event’s customization experience according to the needs of users.

WorkAdventure’s powerful technical infrastructure

WorkAdventure’s system and core were thoroughly designed to get strong results and high performance. As an illustration, 3000 people and more can enter a single map and interact with each other simultaneously, and the interface won’t show a single bug.

In addition, WorkAdventure’s eco-friendly engine was precisely developed to consume the least amount of electricity. When nothing happens on your screen, you barely spend energy. You can leave WorkAdventure open in the background and will barely notice (apart from your colleagues coming to say “hi!” of course)

Going beyond virtual offices with scriptable maps

Are you a developer? Good news! WorkAdventure offers several extremely powerful APIs that you can use to customize your worlds. You can easily add different features and games, such as a treasure hunt or a complete escape game, throughout your map!

Although Gather also features an API, the one they offer is mainly server-side (requiring you to deploy a server for any script), whereas our APIs are client-oriented. Both APIs from Gather and WorkAdventure are philosophically different; however, Gather’s former clients and developers have stated that our approach is way easier and more powerful.

Furthermore, our APIs are stable. We haven’t had a single breaking change in 4 years, which is not the case for Gather, where nobody assures that the code you wrote today will work the day after that. 

GDPR x WorkAdventure

In WorkAdventure, you spend your days talking & interacting with your colleagues, partners, and customers. This is why it’s important to know that we are a European company that advocates for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) policy implemented in Europe. 

Additionally, thanks to our Matrix integration, all sensitive data, like chats, is end-to-end encrypted. This means that not even WorkAdventure’s admins can read through your data.

WorkAdventure is open core and self-hostable

You can host all your data (especially sensitive) on your server if you wish. Our code is available for anyone on GitHub, and users can download and manipulate it to create their self-hosted virtual world. 

By doing this, you can host your own digital space within your server. Therefore, all the information and data from your self-hosted world will be in your own hands, so you will no longer have to worry about who has your data.

 A large number of improvements and new features are coming from our community, thanks to the availability of the code on GitHub.

Do you still have questions about WorkAdventure? Come to our virtual office! Test the product and ask any questions you may have.