Discourse

Rating: 4.2

User Satisfaction: 82%

Discourse is a tool that offers forum and community software for teams, organisations and developers so they can build discussion-driven communities, support hubs or knowledge bases.

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Overview

Discourse is a modern forum / discussion‐platform software that you can host yourself (because it’s open source) or use via managed hosting from the makers. It’s built for communities: public or private, customer support forums, internal company discussion hubs.

If you’re building an online community (members, Q&A, knowledge sharing), you want something flexible, future-proof, and under your own control. Discourse gives you full ownership of your data and unlimited conversation history, so you aren’t locked into a vendor or losing posts when you hit a cap.
It also improves on old‐style forums with modern features (mobile support, real‐time updates, trust levels). That makes it more engaging and manageable for a community of users.
For teams it also matters because you can use it as a support forum, user community, or even an internal collaboration space.

Details

Tool Launch / Founded Date

approx. 2014-08-26 (first public v1.0 release)

Best for

Companies or projects that want to build and own their community platform Ops/Community managers seeking full control over data and branding Developers or teams comfortable with hosting or want managed hosting alternative Organisations that expect large volume of posts or want a long-living knowledge archive

Access Type

Free open-source software (self-host) Paid managed hosting (subscription / SaaS)

Licensing Model

Core software: GPL v2 (or later) open-source. For managed hosting: you pay for service; your data remains yours.

Feature

Unlimited conversation history: you don’t lose old posts due to storage caps.
Responsive mobile-first design: works across desktop, tablet, phone.
Custom categories, tags, groups, trust-level system: good for structuring community engagement.
Open data / export: because it’s your instance you retain data ownership and portability.
Plugin & theme support: you can extend functionality and branding.
API / Webhooks: available on certain plans; allows integration with other tools.
Managed hosting option: if you don’t want to self-host, you can use the official hosting and focus on community rather than infrastructure.

Pricing Tables

Starter

$20 per month

Unlimited members
2 staff
discourse.group domain

Pro

$100 per month

Unlimited members
5 staff
Custom domain
16 plugins
Custom themes
API and Webhook access

Business

$500 per month

Unlimited members
15 staff
Custom domain
26 plugins
Custom themes
API and Webhook access
Priority support
Migration services

Analytics

Traffic Analysis

Domain Rating
82

Organic Traffic
342690

Majority Users
United States

Visits Over Time

No visit data found.

Traffic Sources

No traffic data found.

Last Update Date: 2025-11-16

FAQ

Can I use Discourse for commercial/monetised communities? ▼

Yes. Whether you self-host or use the managed hosting, you retain control of your community’s data and membership. The GPL license covers the software itself; your community content is yours.

How many posts/users can I have? ▼

For managed hosting the member count is “unlimited” (in the plans) but the number of staff seats and plugin limits vary. On self-host, your limit is essentially your server/infrastructure capacity. (Discourse - Civilized Discussion)

Can I customise the look and add my own features? ▼

Yes — Discourse supports themes and plugins. For truly custom features you may need developer work. The API and webhooks are available. On lower plans some plugin counts are limited (e.g., 16 plugins on Pro).

Does Discourse provide an API and integrate with other tools? ▼

Yes. There is a REST API and webhooks support (especially on Pro plan and higher). You can integrate with SSO providers, analytics, other systems. (Discourse - Civilized Discussion)

Will my data be portable if I use the managed service? ▼

Yes — one of the key value propositions is “truly portable data” meaning you can opt to self-host or migrate. (Discourse - Civilized Discussion)

What support do I get? ▼

On managed plans, support levels vary. The Business and Enterprise plans include “priority support” and migration services. With self-host you rely on community/support you arrange. Always review SLA with your plan.

What are the main differences between the plans? ▼

The key differences are number of staff seats (moderators/admins), custom domain vs sub-domain, number of plugins allowed, custom themes support, level of staff support/migration services. As you scale, you may need a higher plan.