GitHub Issues Frontend Solutions Comparison

Overview

Comparison of four ways to create a simplified GitHub issues/discussions frontend for customer support: GitHub Discussions (native), Fider (open-source feedback), Canny (enterprise feedback), and Custom API Portal (DIY).

Quick Comparison Matrix

Feature	GitHub Discussions	Fider	Canny	Custom Portal
Setup Time	5 minutes	15 minutes	15 minutes	4-20 hours
Cost	Free	Free (self-host)	$99+/month	$5-50/mo hosting
Development	None	None	None	4-20 hours
Customization	Limited	Medium	Medium	Complete
GitHub Integration	Native	Via API	✅ Direct	Native API
Voting/Prioritization	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅✅ Advanced	DIY
Public Roadmap	⚠️ Limited	✅ Yes	✅✅ Full	DIY
Q&A Features	✅ Mark answers	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	DIY
Knowledge Base	⚠️ Discussion threads	⚠️ Limited	❌ No	DIY
Single Repo	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	⚠️ Not designed	✅ Yes
Multi-Language	❌ No	✅ 10+	❌ English only	Optional
Slack Integration	⚠️ Via webhook	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	DIY
No Login Required	❌ GitHub needed	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	Optional
AI Automation	❌ No	❌ No	✅✅ Autopilot	Optional
Customer Segmentation	❌ No	❌ No	✅ By MRR/plan	DIY
White-Label	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Community Voting	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅✅ Central	DIY

Detailed Comparison

Setup Effort

GitHub Discussions

• Time: 5 minutes
• Effort: Click → Enable → Done
• Tech Required: None
• Cost: Free

Fider

• Time: 15 minutes (cloud) or 30 min (self-host)
• Effort: Sign up → Customize → Invite users
• Tech Required: None (cloud) or Docker (self-host)
• Cost: Free cloud tier or free self-hosted

Custom Portal

• Time: 4-20 hours depending on features
• Effort: High (development + deployment)
• Tech Required: JavaScript/React knowledge
• Cost: ~$5-50/month hosting

Winner: GitHub Discussions (instant)

Feature Completeness

GitHub Discussions - Built for Q&A

• ✅ Mark answers
• ✅ Threaded comments
• ✅ Custom categories
• ✅ Discussion forms
• ⚠️ Limited voting
• ❌ No public roadmap
• ✅ Native integration

Fider - Built for Feedback

• ✅ Feature request submission
• ✅ Community voting (core feature)
• ✅ Public roadmap
• ✅ Status tracking (Planned/In Progress/Complete)
• ✅ Anonymous submissions
• ✅ Email notifications
• ⚠️ Limited Q&A

Custom Portal - Whatever You Build

• ✅ 100% customizable
• ⚠️ Only what you implement
• ⚠️ Ongoing maintenance
• ✅ Complete control
• ⚠️ No built-in features
• ⚠️ No built-in moderation

Winner: Fider (feature-complete for feedback)

User Experience

GitHub Discussions

• Pros: In-context, no separate login, familiar to devs
• Cons: GitHub interface still visible, complex for non-devs
• Best For: Developer communities

Fider

• Pros: Purpose-built, clean, simple, dedicated interface
• Cons: Separate platform, another login, requires adoption
• Best For: Product teams, feature management

Custom Portal

• Pros: Fully customized UX, brand-aligned, fast, optimized
• Cons: Requires development, ongoing maintenance
• Best For: Well-resourced teams, specific needs

Winner: Fider (best out-of-box UX)

Cost Analysis

GitHub Discussions

• Platform cost: $0
• Hosting cost: $0 (GitHub-hosted)
• Setup cost: $0
• Total Year 1: $0

Fider

• Cloud: Free tier to $25/month
• Self-Hosted: $0+infrastructure($5-20/month)
• Setup cost: $0
• Total Year 1: $0-60

Custom Portal

• Development cost: ~$2,000-5,000 (your time or contractor)
• Hosting cost: ~$5-50/month($60-600/year)
• Maintenance: ~$1,000-2,000/year
• Total Year 1: $3,000-8,000

Winner: GitHub Discussions & Fider (free)

Customization & Branding

GitHub Discussions

• Customization: None (you’re in GitHub)
• Branding: GitHub branding visible
• Domain: github.com domain
• Look & Feel: Fixed by GitHub

Fider

• Customization: CSS, colors, logos
• Branding: Custom domain, white-label
• Domain: Your domain
• Look & Feel: Brand-aligned

Custom Portal

• Customization: 100% custom
• Branding: Your logo, colors, fonts
• Domain: Your domain
• Look & Feel: Fully controlled

Winner: Custom Portal & Fider (brand control)

Integration with GitHub

GitHub Discussions

• Integration Level: Native, perfect
• Sync: Real-time (same system)
• Data Format: Native discussions
• Complexity: None

Fider

• Integration Level: API-based
• Sync: Manual or webhook
• Data Format: Via API → issues/discussions
• Complexity: Moderate

Custom Portal

• Integration Level: Direct API access
• Sync: Your control (real-time possible)
• Data Format: Your choice
• Complexity: DIY

Winner: GitHub Discussions (native)

Scalability

GitHub Discussions

• Scales infinitely (GitHub-hosted)
• No additional infrastructure
• Rate limits don’t affect display
• Performance never degrades

Fider

• Self-hosted: Scales with your infrastructure
• Cloud: Scales infinitely (no worries)
• Good for 100s-1000s of feedback items
• Performance remains good

Custom Portal

• Scales with your hosting
• Need to optimize for traffic
• Rate limiting (GitHub API)
• Caching essential at scale

Winner: GitHub Discussions (infinite scale)

Use Case Matrix

”I want a Q&A forum for my product”

→ GitHub Discussions

• Reason: Built for Q&A, mark answers, free
• Setup: 5 minutes
• Cost: $0
• Trade-off: Still looks like GitHub

”I want to collect feature requests with voting”

→ Fider

• Reason: Purpose-built for feedback, voting, roadmap
• Setup: 15 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Trade-off: Separate platform from GitHub

”I need a beautiful custom interface”

→ Custom Portal

• Reason: 100% control, brand-aligned, optimized
• Setup: 4-20 hours
• Cost: $3K-8K first year
• Trade-off: Development required, maintenance

”I want something simple, free, instant”

→ GitHub Discussions

• Reason: Zero setup, zero cost, zero complexity
• Effort: 5 minutes
• Cost: $0
• Trade-off: GitHub interface

”I need voting + roadmap, but no coding”

→ Fider

• Reason: Feature-complete for feedback
• Effort: 15 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Trade-off: Not GitHub-integrated

”I have resources and specific needs”

→ Custom Portal

• Reason: Exactly what you want
• Effort: High
• Cost: Investment
• Trade-off: Ongoing maintenance

Implementation Comparison

Minimal Implementation (Zero Code)

Winner: GitHub Discussions

• Enable in repo settings
• Create categories
• Promote to users
• Done

No-Code but Full-Featured

Winner: Fider

• Sign up
• Customize branding
• Invite users
• No coding required, everything works

Custom but Simple

Winner: GitHub API Portal (HTML + JS)

• Basic HTML list of issues
• Simple styling
• Deploy to GitHub Pages
• ~2-3 hours

Feature Comparison Details

Voting System

• GitHub Discussions: Reactions only (👍👎), not prioritization
• Fider: Full voting for prioritization ✅
• Custom: Build voting yourself

Roadmap Display

• GitHub Discussions: Manual roadmap, no built-in view
• Fider: Automatic roadmap with status ✅
• Custom: Build your own

Knowledge Base

• GitHub Discussions: Pinned messages as pseudo-KB
• Fider: No KB, feedback-only
• Custom: Build custom KB section

Notifications

• GitHub Discussions: GitHub notifications (noisy)
• Fider: Email notifications on updates ✅
• Custom: Custom email system (DIY)

Analytics

• GitHub Discussions: Built-in metrics
• Fider: Usage analytics built-in ✅
• Custom: Implement tracking yourself

Migration Path Strategy

Start Simple, Add Complexity

1. Month 1: GitHub Discussions (free, instant)
2. Month 3: Evaluate if voting needed
3. Month 6: Add Fider if feedback heavy
4. Year 2: Build custom portal if differentiation needed

Parallel Approach

• Discussions for Q&A support
• Fider for feature requests
• Use both without conflict

Decision Framework

Your Situation	Choose
Developer-heavy community	GitHub Discussions
Need community voting	Fider
Want zero setup	GitHub Discussions
Need beautiful UI	Custom Portal
Budget constrained	GitHub Discussions or Fider
Want roadmap	Fider
Non-technical users	Fider or Custom Portal
Inside GitHub workflow	GitHub Discussions
Multiple products	Fider
High customization	Custom Portal

Hybrid Strategies

”Best Free Approach”

1. GitHub Discussions (free Q&A)
2. Fider (free feedback/voting)
3. Use both in parallel

”Enterprise Approach”

1. Custom Portal as main interface
2. Pulls from GitHub Issues API
3. Branded and optimized

”Startup Approach”

1. GitHub Discussions (launch day)
2. Monitor usage for 2-3 months
3. Upgrade to Fider if voting needed
4. Migrate to custom portal only if proven ROI

Summary

Platform	Best For	Setup	Cost	Year 1
GitHub Discussions	Q&A, developer communities	5 min	Free	$0
Fider	Feature requests, cost-conscious	15 min	Free	$0-60
Canny	Enterprise feedback, AI, segmentation	15 min	$99-500+/mo	$1.2-6K
Custom Portal	Branded, single-repo, custom UX	4-20h	Dev	$3-8K

Recommendation by size:

0-100 customers (Bootstrapped)
→ GitHub Discussions (free, simple, perfect for early stage)

100-1K customers (Growth)
→ Fider (feedback + voting, budget-friendly)

1K+ customers (Series A+)
→ Canny (AI automation, segmentation, integrations)

Already funded or large team
→ Custom Portal (professional, fully differentiated)

Safe Default Path
→ Start with GitHub Discussions → Upgrade to Fider at 500 users → Move to Canny if needing AI/segmentation

Canny Deep Dive

Created separate Canny KB note with full feature details. Key strengths:

• AI Autopilot: Auto-captures, deduplicates, summarizes feedback
• Customer Segmentation: Prioritize by MRR, plan type, company size
• GitHub Integration: Direct link + auto-sync with issues/PRs
• Advanced Roadmap: Full roadmap management with status tracking
• Enterprise Ready: SOC2, compliance, dedicated support
• Cost: $99/month(Starter)to$500+/month (Growth/Business)

Vs Fider: Canny more powerful but expensive; Fider simpler and free

Getting Started Checklist

GitHub Discussions

• Go to repo Settings → Features
• Click “Set up discussions”
• Create categories (Q&A, Feature Requests, Announcements, General)
• Write welcome message
• Add Code of Conduct link
• Pin FAQ/docs in Q&A category
• Promote to users
• Assign moderator

Fider

• Visit fider.io
• Sign up (cloud) or self-host
• Customize logo, colors, domain
• Create feedback site
• Add 5-10 example features
• Generate invite link
• Promote to users
• Establish response SLA

Custom Portal

• Choose framework (Next.js)
• Create GitHub repo
• Build issue list component
• Add filtering/search
• Style with Tailwind CSS
• Add issue detail page
• Deploy to Vercel
• Set up custom domain
• Add analytics