Joyshift vs. Butter
Both tools help remote teams connect — but they're built for different jobs. Here's an honest breakdown of where each one wins.
Pick Joyshift when…
- • You used to run sessions on Butter and need a replacement that's actively developed.
- • You meet with the same team week after week and want to see team health trends over time.
- • You want real party games (Wavelength, Caption This, Two Truths) — not just polls and prompts.
Where Butter genuinely beats us
- Facilitator toolbox. While operating, Butter's polls, flashcards, hands-up queue, and reactions were first-class building blocks — Joyshift doesn't ship these yet.
- Templates library. Butter's community-shared session-template library lowered the cost of starting from a blank canvas.
- AI agenda builder. Their one-prompt session planner was a genuinely useful productivity feature for solo facilitators.
Where Joyshift wins
- Still operating. Butter has shut down. Joyshift is actively developed and supported — you won't be left scrambling for a replacement.
- Cross-session insights. Joyshift tracks collaboration, familiarity, recognition, and fun trends across sessions — something Butter never offered, and something Miro hasn't replicated post-acquisition.
- Game depth. Joyshift's library leans into real party games (Two Truths, Caption This, Wavelength) rather than only icebreaker prompts and polls.
- Built for recurring teams. Joyshift is designed for the same group meeting weekly; Butter was optimized for one-off workshops with rotating attendees.
Side-by-side
| Feature | Joyshift | Butter |
|---|---|---|
Video built in No need for a separate Zoom or Meet | ✓ | ✓ |
Live team activities Real-time games and check-ins | ✓ | ✓ |
Async support Works without everyone on a call | Partial | — |
Facilitator toolbox Polls, flashcards, hands-up, reactions | — | ✓ |
Team insight metrics Cross-session collaboration / familiarity / fun trends | ✓ | — |
Slack-native Runs primarily inside Slack | — | — |
Live human host included Person runs the session for you | — | — |
FAQ
- Is Butter still available?
- No. Butter was acquired by Miro and has shut down. If you were a Butter user, you'll need to move to a replacement tool. Joyshift is one option — designed for recurring teams that want games and team-health trends.
- Did Miro absorb Butter's features?
- Some Butter team members and ideas have moved into Miro, but Miro itself is a whiteboarding product, not a facilitator-first session tool. If you specifically loved Butter's session flow, polls, and flashcards, you'll find that pattern closer in dedicated tools than in Miro.
- Does Joyshift have games like Butter's polls or flashcards?
- Joyshift focuses on full games (Two Truths, Caption This, Wavelength, retros) rather than facilitator polls and prompts. Different surface area — both have value, but if you want creative party games inside a recurring meeting, Joyshift's library is the closer fit.