Interact vs Unily: which enterprise intranet platform is the better fit?

TL;DR 

Interact and Unily are intranet software platforms that centralize employee communications, knowledge sharing, and work tools, but they differ in depth of functionality, governance, integrations, and how well they support enterprise complexity.

• Choose Unily if you need an enterprise intranet solution that goes beyond a traditional intranet to unify internal communications, knowledge management, content management, governance, and integrations at scale. 
• Choose Interact if you want a simple intranet solution where price is a primary driver, offering fast rollout, but focused on core use cases like internal communications with little room for broader digital employee experience expansion. 
• If your requirements might expand (more solutions, more systems, more audiences, more regions), evaluate with a 5-year lens to avoid disruptive re-platforming. 

This guide is especially useful if you’re: 

• An enterprise with 1,000+ employees scaling internal comms across regions or business units
• An enterprise organization modernizing a traditional intranet
• Supporting a mixed workforce, including frontline workers 
• Working to validate and simplify your DEX tech stack and deliver unified access
• Standardizing and driving adoption of either Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tools

Key takeaway 

Before you compare features, define the outcomes you need (messaging reach, findability, and workflow efficiency), then run a scripted demo and pilot that tests desktop, the mobile app, and frontline adoption before you decide. 

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Comparing Interact vs Unily is about choosing between two approaches to employee experience: 

• A quick-to-implement intranet solution optimized for internal communications and employee engagement.
• A comprehensive employee experience platform designed to unify internal communications, knowledge management, content management, and integrations across the digital workplace. 

Both platforms aim to improve employee engagement by giving employees a single digital destination for news, resources, and everyday communication tools. The difference shows up when you factor in enterprise requirements like permissions, multi-region targeting, system integrations, and the expectation of real-time measurement and optimization.

If you’re also evaluating other intranet software options like Staffbase, LumApps, Workvivo, Simpplr, Axero, or comms tools like Firstup, it helps to anchor the comparison on outcomes, not feature checklists. 

How it works 

Use this outcomes-led process to evaluate Interact Software vs Unily without getting stuck in feature checklists. 

1) Define your outcomes 

• Internal communications: reach, targeting, acknowledgement, and trust
• Employee communications: speed, consistency, and message governance
• Knowledge management: time-to-answer, findability, and quality control
• Employee engagement: participation, feedback loops, and social-style interaction
• Efficiency: what gets automated vs what stays manual 

2) Map audiences and moments that matter 

• Desk-based, frontline, hybrid, contractors
• The moments that matter across the employee lifecycle: onboarding, operational updates, policy changes, promotions, incident comms, campaign launches, offboarding

3) Run a scripted demo (same script for both vendors) 

• Publish an internal comms post and target it using permissions and audience rules
• Trigger multi-channel messaging (email, push, Teams, mobile app)
• Find a policy in enterprise search and validate knowledge sharing flows
• Show how the platform supports social networking and engagement actions
• Prove measurement with dashboards and actionable insights 

4) Validate integration reality 

• Confirm Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace depth including key tools like SharePoint and Teams
• Validate integrations for Slack and other collaboration tools if those matter to your stack
• Ask to see the API documentation and the integration framework (native vs custom) 

5) Pilot and measure 

• Pilot with at least one frontline-heavy group and one desk-based group
• Track adoption and content performance in real-time dashboards
• Use results to shape your rollout plan and governance model

Interact vs Unily: Features Comparison

Pitfalls and misconceptions 

Misconception 1: “We use Teams, so we already have an intranet.”  

Teams is a collaboration hub, but it does not automatically solve for governed internal communications, knowledge management, or enterprise-wide experience targeting. If your foundation is Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, validate whether you need an intranet solution to improve reach, findability, and user experience.

Misconception 2: “AI-powered means the same thing everywhere.” 

 “AI-powered” can range from simple plugins like article summarization to deeper content management, governance, and automation. Ask what is automated, what data it uses, how it respects permissions, and how humans stay in control.

Misconception 3: “Multi-channel is just reposting content.” 

 True multi-channel employee communications means consistent targeting, measurement, and follow-through across channels like email, mobile app push, Teams, Slack, and even digital signage.

Misconception 4: “Social features are optional.”

If employees rely on consumer-style social media patterns, social networking features (feeds, reactions, comments) can boost employee engagement, but only if governance and content quality are managed.

Evidence: what to validate with data and sources 

For internal buy-in, build an evidence pack during evaluation. Ask both vendors to provide: 

• Analyst research: Ask vendors to provide their latest references from Gartner and other analyst reports where applicable, and confirm the scope and criteria.
• Comparable customer proof: Request examples from organizations similar to yours (industry, employee count, frontline ratio).
• Performance metrics: adoption, comms reach, acknowledgement rates, search success, and time-to-answer improvements.
• Governance proof: show how permissions working end-to-end (content, search, integrated systems, mobile app)
• Total cost clarity: pricing, implementation, integrations, ongoing admin effort, and what is included in rollout support. 
• Analytics and dashboards: screenshots or walkthroughs of dashboards, segmentation, and export options for in-depth reporting and how they translate into actionable insights.
• AI maturity model: ask vendors how they define AI maturity over time (some publish roadmaps like Unily Futures). Then validate governance, permissions, integrations, and measurement, not just feature claims. 

Next steps 

If you’re actively evaluating Interact vs Unily, here’s a simple path to a confident decision: 

• Build a one-page scorecard covering internal communications, knowledge management, permissions, mobile app experience, integrations (Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Slack, Google Workspace), dashboards, and total pricing.
• Run a scripted demo with the same messaging and multi-channel scenarios for both platforms.
• Pilot with frontline workers and desk teams, then choose based on real-world user experience and measurable outcomes.
• If your requirements might expand (common in fast-growing organizations with 1,000+ employees), decide with a 5-year roadmap so your intranet solution can grow with your employee experience strategy
• If you want to see what an enterprise employee experience platform looks like in practice, request a Unily demo and bring your scorecard so the session stays outcomes-led.  

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