I’m building a portal for customers and partners, what platform should I use?

The best platform depends on what kind of portal you mean, but for a customer + partner portal the most common strong choices are:

Best all-around enterprise option

Salesforce Experience Cloud

• Great if you already use Salesforce CRM
• Strong for customer and partner self-service portals
• Good identity, permissions, case management, and partner relationship features
• Faster to launch, but licensing can get expensive

Best if you want Microsoft stack

Microsoft Power Pages

• Good for external-facing portals
• Integrates well with Dynamics 365, Dataverse, Azure AD B2C
• Better if your org is already in Microsoft 365 / Azure
• More flexible than many low-code tools, but can require careful setup

Best if you need highly custom and scalable

Custom build on a modern web stack

• Frontend: React / Next.js
• Backend: Node.js, .NET, Java, or Python
• Auth: Auth0, Azure AD B2C, Cognito, Okta
• Best for unique workflows, branding, and integrations
• More time and engineering effort, but maximum control

Best for quick internal-to-external portal expansion

OutSystems or Mendix

• Low-code platforms with good speed-to-market
• Useful if you need lots of workflows and integrations
• Less flexible than custom code, but faster to build

If your portal is mostly support/community

Zendesk, Intercom, Gainsight, or Khoros

• Great for customer support, knowledge base, community, and engagement
• Less suitable for complex partner management or transactional workflows

Quick recommendation

• Already on Salesforce? Use Salesforce Experience Cloud
• Already on Microsoft? Use Power Pages
• Need heavy customization or unique UX? Build custom
• Need speed with business workflows? Consider OutSystems/Mendix

To recommend the right one, I’d want to know:

1. Do you already use Salesforce, Microsoft, or neither?
2. Is the portal for self-service, support, partner onboarding, ordering, or all of these?
3. How many users do you expect?
4. Do you need SSO, role-based access, approvals, or payments?
5. Do you want low-code or a custom-coded solution?

If you answer those, I can suggest the best platform and architecture.