Curated Connections vs. Donut

Donut is the OG. It's simple and straight forward. That's why everyone used it - in 2018.

But it screwed up it's pricing in 2023. Slack groups using it were suddenly left with a >2000% increase in their donut bills!

Not to mention that it has stopped innovating on the intros product. It still works exactly the same way it did back when it was launched - except they now charge $200/month for every 100 users in your program.

So you need to put yourself in your member’s shoes to decide if it is still the best choice for your Slack group.

Random matching vs. thoughtful matching

Donut randomly pairs members who join the Donut channel and invites them to talk. That can feel, well, random and impersonal.

Come on, your members deserve a more human touch!

Curated Connections , on the other hand, gives each member full context along with a reason for why they were matched. So, they feel like they are being introduced by a mutual friend who's looking for their interest.

Email notifications

When a new match is made, Donut starts a group DM with the 2 people and send them a message.

This can work fine for members who are active on Slack. But what about the ones who feel overwhelmed by it?

Curated Connections on the other hand, sends an email along with the starting a group DM on Slack. Thus engaging even the members who may be less active on your Slack.

Member insights and analytics

Donut gives you limited insights into how your members are enjoying the networking program.

Curated Connections, on the other hand:

• sends NPS-style survey to your members seeking their regular feedback and shares that with you
• and tells you exactly how many matches were made each week

Other features

• Custom matching logic - Unlike Donut, Curated Connections gives you complete control over the matching logic. So you can match people based on their interests, skills, or any other criteria you want.
• Works on all platforms - If you decide to migrate your group to a different platform, you can continue using Curated Connections.
• Pricing - Finally, Curated Connections is proud of offering all of these features for an easy to justify price of $29/month, which gives you access to unlimited members. Donut on the other hand, costs $200/month for every 100 members.