TL;DR - Discourse
- Discourse is open-source forum software for building online communities
- It provides modern discussion features, moderation tools, and extensive customization options
- Self-hosted free, managed hosting from $100/month
Pricing: Free plan available
Best for: Growing teams
3.8/5 across review platforms
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Best forum software
- Open source
- Active development
- Great community
- Modern design
Cons
- Resource heavy
- Hosting expensive
- Complex self-hosting
- Learning curve for admin
- Ruby dependency
Ratings Across the Web
3.8(5 reviews)
Ratings aggregated from independent review platforms. Learn more
Key Features
Forum softwareThreaded discussionsBadgesTrust levelsPluginsOpen source
Pricing Plans
14-day Free TrialSelf-Hosted
Free
Open source
- 100% free
- Full control
- Community support
Starter
$25/month
Basic hosting
- Managed hosting
- Basic plugins
- Email support
Most Popular
Standard
$100/month
Growing communities
- More plugins
- Priority support
Business
$300/month
High traffic
- Enterprise plugins
- SLA
- Dedicated support
About Discourse
By Toolradar Team·
Discourse reinvented forum software for the modern web. Clean design, powerful moderation tools, and discussion features that encourage quality conversation—community platforms that work.
Trust levels encourage good behavior. The notification system keeps people engaged. Self-hosting or managed cloud deployment.
Organizations building community forums choose Discourse because it's the modern standard for web discussion platforms.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to review Discourse!
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Discourse FAQ
Is Discourse free?
Open source and free to self-host. Hosted starts at $100/month. Self-hosting saves money but requires technical skill.
What is Discourse?
Discourse is modern forum software. Discussion boards with real-time updates, gamification, and moderation tools. Powers many community forums.
Discourse vs Slack?
Discourse is for async, searchable discussions. Slack is for real-time chat. Discourse for community; Slack for team communication.
Who uses Discourse?
Ruby community, Figma, New Relic, and many open source projects. Popular for developer communities and support forums.
Source: discourse.org