Discourse
Civilized discussion for your community
Founded
2013
Starting Price
$0
Category
Collaboration
Last updated April 27, 2026
About Discourse
Discourse is a modern, open-source community forum platform powering over 22,000 communities worldwide. It replaces traditional forums with a real-time, mobile-friendly discussion platform featuring rich moderation tools, plugins, and seamless integrations.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Modern, clean interface that makes online discussions feel natural and engaging
- Powerful trust-level system that automatically promotes helpful community members
- 100% open source with a large active community and 15+ years of development
- Excellent moderation tools including automated spam prevention and user flags
- Strong plugin ecosystem with 50+ plugins for SSO, analytics, gamification, and more
Key Features
Modern Forum Experience
Infinite scrolling, real-time updates, and a clean UI that replaces clunky traditional forum software
Powerful Moderation Tools
Built-in spam prevention, flagging system, trust levels, and automated moderation to keep communities safe
Plugin Ecosystem
50+ official plugins and themes to extend functionality including SSO, webhooks, API access, and custom integrations
Chat Channels
Built-in real-time chat alongside forum discussions for quick team collaboration and community engagement
Email Integration
Reply to topics via email, mailing list mode, and digest emails to keep users engaged without visiting the forum
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Integrate with existing authentication systems including OAuth2, SAML, and custom SSO providers
Full API & Webhooks
Complete REST API and webhook support for automating workflows and integrating with external services
Pricing
Self-Hosted
$0
- Open source (GPL)
- Full feature access
- Community support
- Unlimited users
- Host on your own server
Best For
Customer Support Community
Create a self-service support forum where customers help each other and find answers to common questions
Developer Documentation Hub
Host technical discussions, Q&A, and knowledge sharing for open-source projects and developer communities
Internal Team Communication
Replace email threads with organized, searchable team discussions with channels and topic categories
Brand Community Building
Build an engaged community around your brand with gamification, user trust levels, and content curation
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Best for teams that need persistent, searchable knowledge alongside (not instead of) real-time chat. Ideal for product decisions, RFCs, company announcements, and any discussion that should outlive a chat window.
