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Reviews onG2Capterra
5 reviews tracked

The Bottom Line

Entry price

Free plan available, paid tiers above

Biggest pro

Best forum software

Biggest con

Resource heavy

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

What is Discourse?

Editorial review
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.

Available on: Web

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 Trial

Self-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

How Discourse's pricing compares

At $25/mo, Discourse is the most affordable of its 4 direct competitors.

Discourse
$25
$299

Entry paid plan, monthly.

Reviews

3.8/5

Across 5 verified user reviews on Capterra, G2

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Best Discourse Alternatives

Top alternatives based on features, pricing, and user needs.

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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.

Guides & Articles