Foleon vs Readz
Readz is a powerful alternative to Foleon. With Readz you can control every aspect of your design.
Hi! Thinking about moving away from Foleon? Trying to decide which platform would be a better fit for you? Or maybe you're evaluating Foleon?
To help you, we thought we’d put together an overview to show the difference between a Foleon publication or doc, and a Readz publication
What's the overall summary?
Limited design options
On Foleon, rather than designing, you select or choose from their pre-made template blocks and color in the lines. It’s very much like a template from a web-builder such as Squarespace (no disrespect for Squarespace, their templates' design does shine). But Foleon is simply not a designers’ tool.
You don’t control the design, and you just might feel pretty limited after working with the tool for a bit. Some users describe the drag and drop as iffy, and the whole user experience as clunky.
Here is an example of the limited design settings available to you. No multiple background layers, no opacity, no gradients...
For your navigation, you have one single option, the Foleon one. The design options are very limited. And unfortunately, its UX effectiveness is questionable.
While you do have images and video, you will find having no shared media library one of those rather basic features of a design tool which is lacking. And don’t look for a grid or table element.
Rigid content size limits
Limitations are everywhere - Foleon itself advises to limit the maximum number of blocks on a page to 20 (we are not making this up - screenshot is below), and advises not make a publication with more than 20 pages!
Also design-wise you will run into silly limitations, like not being able to create 5 columns with an equal width or having no more than 7 columns in a block.
'Buyer beware': Foleon does warn you in its user documentation about these limits.
Lenghty publishing times
Foleon users have complained about the lengthy publishing time despite the above-mentioned stringent content limitations. A future update promises to reduce the publishing time to 'several minutes'.
But that’s not the end of it. Some deep, fundamentally wrong coding issues await those who publish their content on Foleon.
Foleon does not use its own product for its core online content
Have you ever wondered why Foleon, as owners of a content creation platform that promises immersive experiences, does not use its own product for its marketing except in non-critical areas?
Foleon does not use its own product for its web pages (they use Hubspot for that). Foleon does not use its own product for its help, academy, and documentation pages (they use Intercom for that). If you look really hard, you will find that Foleon went out of their way and finally used their own product to create and publish their roadmap document.
Consequently, their roadmap publication is served on an HTTP, not an HTTPS protocol (the extra S indeed stands for SECURITY). But more on that later.
One would think that with a bit of imagination, Foleon's web content could be placed in Foleon docs or publications. It is after all sold to you as an 'immersive' platform.
The reason why: Dated, insecure, and slow back-end technology
But why does Foleon not use its own product except on super rare occasions? Maybe Foleon finds the design restrictions on its platform too restrictive themselves, or maybe (and probably) it is because the back-end tech is not up to par and would tank aspects that are pretty important for content and marketing like SEO performance.
Here are some of the dirty secrets that running standard tests (GTmetrix, or Google Web Vitals, and others) on Foleon content will reveal.
Try it for yourselves - even with a limit of 20 content blocks (that is a short page!) GTmetrix awarded Foleon content with an F grade.
These results might vary - so we included some links at the bottom to test sites in case you would want to run some tests yourself. Google’s Web Vitals shows a rather scary-looking list of best practices which Foleon ignores content including do text compression, lossless image compression and several others.
This rather long list of issues on Google Web Vitals shows some of the issues Foleon content has. And if you are on Foleon, you likely have these issues as well.
Bloated pages with +1MB of unused Javascript
If you thought the above mentioned items are rather basic things in terms of performance optimization, you would be right. But it does not stop there. Checking Foleon pages reveals unused JavaScript on the pages, which is pretty common on the web.
But the size of unused Javascript on Foleon pages is frankly unlike anything we have ever seen before. Unused JavaScript with a size of 1.2MB, 1.8 MB, or even 2.4 MB is more standard than the exception for Foleon. And in case you might be wondering, yes, that means mobile users will have to download all this extra weight to get access to your Foleon pages.
This KeyCDN test reveals unused JavaScript with a size of 1.2MB on a Foleon page.
Security issues
Security-wise, you will find all kind of re-assurances on Foleon’s website. But running simple checkers reveal important security issues. For example the fact that HTTP/2 is not supported. HTTP/2 is a major revision of the older HTTP protocol and adds a lot of support for security and protection from hacking. It was also published as a standard already a while back, in 2015.
Together with HTTP/2, another cryptographic standard, ALPN (Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation) is also not supported. Is your inner nerd on high alert by now? Good, because it does not end there.
This test for HTTP/2 reveals Foleon's lack of support for standards in use on the WWW since 2015.
Here is a list of possible missing headers. All have major or minor impact on your security. If you are a current Foleon user, just run your Foleon URL through the checker listed at the end of the page and see if you were lucky or not.
Checking the headers (find the test below) shows even more security issues for Foleon pages.
What is it with Foleon and SSL support?
With regards to SSL (httpS:// support), Foleon will tell you that 'for security reasons' they cannot help you. If you ever created a website with any of the popular editors, you know this is at a minimum bizarre. All the popular platforms, including Readz will happily help you with a certificate. And with Readz you can choose to have your own certificate as well by the way.
To make it slightly more confusing, it seems that Foleon also cannot implement SSL on their own domain as their roadmap published on Foleon, shows. Probably for 'security reasons.'
So...
Look, we want to be real here, it is not all bad. Foleon has a nice editor, and it is not that hard to use. The issue is of course that Foleon has taken in a good chunk of VC money and they need to deliver hard returns and growth. That might translate in harder business models, higher prices and attempts to lock-in users .
If you are satisfied with limited design options and are not too worried about performance or security, the product can be a good option for you. But if you care about design, have a brand to take care of, and a business to run, you can probably do better.
So what does Readz do better?
A true design platform
At its core, Readz is a design tool. It feels like a design tool, looks like a design tool and acts like one. If you have ever worked with Adobe’s InDesign or Figma and feel at home in it, then Readz will feel like a digital home to you.
With Readz, every single aspect of your content can be designed and adapted. It is you who controls the design, not our programming team.
In Readz, you will discover a platform with a designer-oriented interface and tools.
Styling panels, indexes, animation settings, and many other features,
Instant Publishing
Publishing takes seconds, not minutes - and your content is automatically available on the most performant global CDN.
We DO use our own platform
Unlike Foleon, we do use our own platform at Readz to create all our content, even the page you are currently looking at. Readz is flexible enough in terms of design options to allow for that. As a result, performance is something we live ourselves. We are in the same boat as our customers...
Fast loading speed
Talking about performance: we are continuously implementing optimizations to make our content lightning fast.
You want a nice A on your content, like this score for Readz's content pages.
Have a look at the comparison below. We took a Readz page and a Foleon page. We made sure we weren't biased and selected a Readz page that was significantly longer and had more images than the Foleon page. In other words, we went well beyond Foleon's 20 blocks limit on the Readz page.
Here is the comparison of how the pages performed using GTmetrix' testing tools. Foleon's shorter page took 7.7 seconds to load vs Readz's page with 0.997 seconds. And you can count on us to reduce that time even further soon!
Adhering to security standards
Security and adhering to technology standards is a basic and essential part of our code - in more than one way.
Default HTTPS - on ALL publications
Default HTTPS - on ALL publications
Oh, and by the way, HTTPS and HTTP/2 are implemented on ALL our publications. We have a business to run on Readz, and so do our customers.
Easy to do business with - transparent pricing without lock-in
We also pride ourselves in delivering you unmatched support, and we strive to be easy to do business with. Part of that means offering you transparent honest pricing without lock-ins.
The Readz pricing model is straightforward. Our base license offers you already a complete solution, and you can add on features and functionalities that might fit a specific additional need you have.
Lock-in is a dirty word for us. We offer you month-to-month contracts - meaning that if you want to stop your relationship with Readz, you can do so, anytime. Annual licenses exist and offer a discount, but they are a choice, not an obligation.
We can offer you this flexibility because we don’t need a contract to get you to stay with Readz. Our product and our service should be compelling enough.
In conclusion....
Compared to Foleon, Readz offers design freedom, a performant and secure publication, transparent and honest pricing, and unmatched, friendly support.
It’s worth having a look at Readz’s core concepts, our features, our help guides, and the academy which we launched this year. And if you want to expedite your process by using pre-built blocks, we have those as well. And while you’re at it, why not check out some of our customer projects?
A start can be to have a friendly (did you notice that word coming back again and again) and open conversation about your needs and discover if Readz is a possible match for you.
There’s so much that is possible. Let’s do it together.
Migrating from Foleon made easy
All your content, images and videos can be migrated from Foleon to Readz without any disruption to your traffic and audiences. Get in touch with us at concierge@readz.com to have us do the heavy lifting for you.
TL; DR: The short version
Cut to the chase? Get to the point? Stop beating around the bush? Get down to brass tacks?
Foleon may be better for you if:
- You just want to get something out quickly, and do not care about unique design or experiences;
- You are looking for a basic editor with limited options and animation possibilities;
- You are not worried about performance, and mobile is not important to you;
- Your online marketing collateral has no need for updated security and you do not have to adhere to internal security guidelines.
Readz is best if:
- You are a designer or want to design according to your brand and creativity
- You want to guarantee rock-solid security and performance
- You like friendly support and account management
- You like flexibility in contracts and paying only what you need
Readz
Foleon
Pricing
✅ Transparent, no lock-in
❌ Closed, lock-in
Design Freedom
✅ Yes, limitless
❌ Limited
Design Features
✅ Full set of features
❌ Missing basic features
Performance
✅ Instant
❌ Slow publishing
Compliant & secure
✅ Yes
❌ Serious gaps
You are now armed with knowledge!
Hopefully this guide was useful to give you a general idea of Foleon compared to Readz.
Get the conversation started by contacting us at concierge@readz.com
Want to know more?
It is easy. Get a demo, start a free trial, let's start!
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Check facts?
Here are several links to sites where you can test performance and security, as well as some links to Foleon pages and Readz pages.
Depending on your specific implementation (your own IT might have had to work on improving the situation), you might get different results, but try it out!!
Test sites:
GT Metrix is the gold standard for all web speed weenies. It provides a super-detailed view on loading and what goes wrong (or not).
https://gtmetrix.com/
KeyCDN offers a nice speed testing tool as well - with a very clear overview.
https://tools.keycdn.com/speed
You can check security headers on this site:
https://securityheaders.com/
Check for the support of HTTP 2 here:
https://tools.keycdn.com/http2-test
Some Foleon pages:
Most of these are very short pages (see above why this is so) - which means they should load super fast and give A+ results. To perform a somewhat objective test, you want to select the longer pages in a publication.
https://avison-young.foleon.com/2021-forecast/real-estate-trends/overview/
http://engage.eif.org/eif-annual-report-2020/forewords/
https://insights.openbanking.org.uk/annual-report-2020/enabling-the-ecosystem/
https://perspectieven.bdo.nl/special-privacy-gdpr-2018-en-gated/bdo-gdpr-experts
http://www.utbildningsmagasin.lu.se/2021/innehll/
https://together.idealstandard.com/together-2021-issue-1/tomorrow-is-our-motto/
And of course - if you are a Foleon customer, you can select pages from your own content.