The 5 best Element451 alternatives for higher education in 2025

Higher education institutions are facing immense challenges, from external policy changes to student disengagement. With that, many are increasingly looking to AI engagement as a tool to keep their students and staff informed, connected and set up to succeed. 

There are many options out there for organizations to consider when evaluating how to best enable accurate, multi-channel engagement across the student lifecycle – from large CRM providers to stand-alone centralized AI communications platforms. Element451 is one of them.

Element451 offers an all-in-one CRM platform that provides low-cost virtual assistant capabilities as an extension of the solution. The company positions itself as a student life cycle management provider and casts a wide net by offering affordable pricing for an expansive solution. While a fit for some, what Element451 has in robustness it lacks in depth.

Its one-size-fits-all approach means all AI engagement is centered around your CRM. Web crawlers and generative AI help to automate responses to student inquiries, but maintenance to ensure that content is relevant and accurate comes at a high cost.

Here are five alternatives to Element451 if you’re looking to increase enrollment and retention by enabling a more connected, engaged campus – without losing control to AI.

1. Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty

Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty is an advanced AI-driven engagement platform tailored for higher education institutions. It enables personalized, real-time support across channels including assistants, SMS, WhatsApp, email, and telephony—allowing institutions to streamline proactive outreach and foster staff and student success. Unlike Element451, it offers automatic conversation translations and low maintenance costs.

Choosing Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty

With 24/7 AI-powered assistance, predictive analytics, automated updates and an expert team that ensures content across the knowledgebase is accurate and compliant, Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty helps those institutions who want to break down silos, enhance retention, and boost staff efficiency. The platform acts as a central connection point, integrating seamlessly with SIS, LMS, and CRM systems to deliver scalable, data-driven engagement that benefits students, alumni and staff.

By existing outside the CRM, it serves as an independent, single source of truth across campus to ensure departments are communicating information that is cohesive, accurate and relevant.

2. Kore.ai

Kore.ai helps higher education institutions improve student engagement, administrative tasks, and faculty support with AI-powered solutions. Their AI agents assist with admissions, student services, campus resources, and academic advising, making processes smoother and more efficient.

Similar to Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty, Kore.ai offers support across multiple channels and plugs into CRMs. It lacks connectors, however, to other common campus systems like LMSs and SISs.

Choosing Kore.ai

Kore.ai is a strong partner for organizations looking to implement conversational AI at scale.

Its platform is trusted by global enterprises across industries like banking, education, retail, and telecom. The platform is tailored for large organizations and focuses on automating workflows and optimizing customer and employee interactions. While its solutions are not purpose-built for higher ed, they empower all kinds of businesses to deploy intelligent virtual assistants.

3. Mainstay

Mainstay is an AI-powered engagement platform focused on student success through proactive, evidence-based messaging. It offers chatbot, live chat, and SMS communication, combining AI with human coaching for personalized experiences. Seamlessly integrating with SIS, LMS, CRM, and ITSM systems, Mainstay ensures smooth data flow across institutions.

Choosing Mainstay

Unique from Element451, Mainstay weighs human-AI collaboration heavily for emotionally intelligent interactions and is a good fit for institutions who are interested in student profile reports that track chat history and strategic communication plans aligned with key milestones.

That said, the platform does not offer daily web crawlers, gap analysis or cluster analysis of the chatbot inbox, meaning its less advanced than some other options on the generative AI front.

4. Mongoose

Mongoose’s Cadence platform is a specialized texting engagement solution for higher education, focusing on student, alumni, and donor communication. While positioned as a platform, Cadence primarily streamlines SMS-based outreach, offering AI powered automation and live chat capabilities. It integrates with SIS, LMS, CRM, and ITSM systems to support institutional workflows.

Choosing Mongoose

Cadence balances automation with human interaction, allowing seamless live agent handoff and personalized messaging. If an institution needs something more robust, however, that also offers IVR and support across channels beyond text messaging, Mongoose might not be the strongest option.  

5. ModernCampus

Modern Campus provides AI-driven solutions tailored for higher education institutions, helping them enhance student engagement, retention, and lifelong learning. Its Involve platform supports co-curricular management, allowing colleges and universities to track student activities, clubs, and events while leveraging real-time analytics to improve retention. The Web Content Management system ensures institutions can effectively manage website content to foster better communication.

Choosing ModernCampus

Designed for seamless integration with SIS, LMS, CRM, and ITSM systems, Modern Campus enables targeted outreach and workflow automation, making it a good fit for institutions with complex architectures and large existing data sets.

However, its solutions do not include daily web crawlers, gap and cluster analyses, benchmark reporting, or a drag-and-drop flow builder, which some other AI-driven platforms offer and might be important if AI-powered analysis across campus is a goal. 

Ready to see how the right AI engagement platform can transform your campus? Book a demo today to see how Ivy & Ocelot can streamline student support and improve outcomes across departments.