Discourse
Open-source forum, hosted, with members uncapped
pricingfree tierapichecked 20 Aug 2026
What Discourse is
Discourse is the open-source forum that most technical communities settle on: threaded discussion built to stay readable at scale, used for support hubs, product feedback and developer communities. Because the source is open you can host it yourself for nothing but server costs; the paid plans buy hosting and management instead of features, which is a different trade from every other community platform here.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $100/mo | Unlimited members and chat, custom domain, API and webhooks, 5 staff seats, 15+ plugins |
| Business | $500/mo | Adds analytics, automation, events, gamification, SSO, 15 staff seats |
| Enterprise | On request | 99.9% uptime guarantee, unlimited staff seats, 50+ plugins |
Free access: Free plan to spin up a community with no server to manage
read from the vendor pricing page · 20 Aug 2026 · how we verify
Best for
- 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
Not for
- Small teams needing SSO — it sits on the $500 tier
Integrations
Discourse alternatives
All 4 alternatives to Discourse, compared Get the Toolvern badge for Discourse
Circle Community platform with AI moderation and search 
Bettermode Branded community you own, priced by member count 
Common Room Buyer intent across community, social and CRM 
Commsor Turns a community into a go-to-market channel Head to head: Discourse vs Circle Discourse vs Bettermode Discourse vs Common Room Discourse vs Commsor
Compiled by Stepan Noianov from the vendor's own site and pricing page. Something wrong? Report an inaccuracy.