Common Room vs Discourse: Which Should You Choose in 2026?
Both prices below were read from each vendor's own pricing page on the date shown.
Pricing side by side
| Plan | Common Room | Discourse |
|---|---|---|
| tier 1 | $2500/mo — Billed annually — 5 seats, up to 100k contacts, 5k research credits | $100/mo — Unlimited members and chat, custom domain, API and webhooks, 5 staff seats, 15+ plugins |
| tier 2 | On request — 15 seats, up to 250k contacts, dedicated CSM | $500/mo — Adds analytics, automation, events, gamification, SSO, 15 staff seats |
| tier 3 | On request — 30 seats, up to 750k contacts | On request — 99.9% uptime guarantee, unlimited staff seats, 50+ plugins |
read from both vendors' pricing pages · 20 Aug 2026 · how we verify
Choose Common Room if
- Teams whose buyers live in Slack and community forums rather than inboxes
- Anyone wiring buyer data into AI agents — the MCP server ships on every plan
Choose Discourse if
- Large communities with few moderators — members are unlimited, staff seats are the cost
- Teams that want the option to self-host later; the software is open source
Where each one disappoints
Common Room
- Small teams — the published entry is $2,500/mo billed annually
Discourse
- Small teams needing SSO — it sits on the $500 tier
Compiled by Stepan Noianov from both vendors' own sites. Something wrong? Report an inaccuracy.