# Alternatives to Discourse Discourse is an open-source discussion platform for forums, mailing lists, and community Q&A; self-hostable or hosted. Discourse ranks #4 of 7 in Community platforms, with an Alt Score of 83. It is licensed under GPL-2.0, open source with paid hosting from $100/month and available on Web, iOS and Android. 13 of 13 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/discourse/ Category: Community platforms ## Where Discourse stands out - **Free tier** — 1 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Discourse is for organizations, open-source projects, and companies that want to run a full-featured, self-owned discussion forum for their community rather than renting space on a third-party platform. - **What you get**: A 100% open-source discussion forum with threaded topics and categories, built-in real-time chat, trust levels and badges, moderation and admin tools, an admin analytics dashboard, single sign-on and social login, a comprehensive API with webhooks, and an official Discourse Hub mobile app for iOS and Android; paid hosted plans and plugins add gamification leaderboards, subscriptions/Patreon monetization, an event calendar, and advanced reporting. - **How it works**: Communities either self-host the open-source Ruby/PostgreSQL application on their own servers (free, GPL-2.0 licensed) or use Discourse's official managed hosting (Free, Pro, Business, or Enterprise plans); members read and post via the responsive web app, real-time chat, email, or the Discourse Hub mobile app, while admins configure themes, categories, SSO, and plugins to extend functionality. ## Profile - **License**: GPL-2.0 (verified 2026-07-17) - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting (verified 2026-07-17) - **Starts at**: $100/month (verified 2026-07-17) - **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-17) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [Circle](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/circle.md) | 93 | Proprietary | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS | | 2 | [Mighty Networks](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mighty-networks.md) | 89 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 3 | [Disciple](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/disciple.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 4 | [Hivebrite](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/hivebrite.md) | 83 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 5 | [Skool](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/skool.md) | 76 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 6 | [Bettermode](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/bettermode.md) | 72 | Proprietary | Web | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Community platforms checklist | Discourse | Circle | Mighty Networks | Disciple | Hivebrite | Skool | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | OSS + paid hosting | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription (enterprise, contact sales for full pricing) | Subscription | | Starts at | $100/month | $89/month | $79/month | $399/mo billed annually ($469/mo quarterly) | $895/mo (billed annually) | $9/month | | License | GPL-2.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | | Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | | Discussion forums / feed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Courses / content hosting | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | | Live events / video | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Group chat / messaging | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Paid memberships / subscriptions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Gamification (points/levels) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | | Branded mobile app | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Custom domain & branding | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | | Member analytics | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | SSO / integrations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | | Moderation tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | API / webhooks | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | | Free tier | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ## Sources Sources for Discourse. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **Starts at**: $100/month — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Cheapest paid hosted tier is 'Pro' at $100/month (billed as shown on the pricing cards, next to '/month'); a Free hosted plan and free self-hosting also exist. - Quote: “$100” - **Platforms**: Web, iOS, Android — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Core product is a responsive web app (self-hosted or hosted); Discourse also ships an official iOS app and Android app (Discourse Hub). - Quote: “Discourse iOS app and Discourse Android app” - **License**: GPL-2.0 — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: LICENSE.txt in the discourse/discourse repo is the standard GPLv2 text. - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, June 1991” - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Discourse the software is 100% open source and free to self-host; discourse.org also sells paid managed hosting plans (Free/Pro/Business/Enterprise). - Quote: “You can self-host Discourse on your own infrastructure. But if you'd rather skip the setup, maintenance, and server management, we offer official Discourse hosting.” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: GitHub API shows discourse/discourse repo pushed_at 2026-07-17 (same day as research), 47k+ stargazers, not archived. - Quote: “Our platform has been battle-tested for over a decade and continues to evolve to meet users' needs for a powerful community platform.” - **Discussion forums / feed**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Threaded topic/category discussion forums are Discourse's core product. - Quote: “Create discussion topics to foster meaningful conversations.” - **Courses / content hosting**: No — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Discourse can single-sign-on with external LMS platforms via the LTI plugin, but it does not itself host courses, lessons, or curricula. - Quote: “Learning Management System Integration implements the LTI 1.3 standard for authentication, which is supported by a number of learning management systems.” - **Live events / video**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: The Business/Enterprise Calendar plugin adds a text-based event calendar inside a topic; no native live video/streaming or webinar feature was found. - Quote: “Create and update a dynamic event calendar within a topic.” - **Group chat / messaging**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Built-in Discourse Chat, included even on the Free plan. - Quote: “Channels, group chats, and DMs keep discussions organized—so your team can go wide, go deep, or go private.” - **Paid memberships / subscriptions**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Available on Pro, Business, and Enterprise hosting plans; also a Patreon integration plugin for gating access to patrons. - Quote: “Discourse Subscriptions allows site owners to sell subscriptions that grant access to a group on a Discourse instance.” - **Gamification (points/levels)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Business/Enterprise plans add the points/leaderboard Gamification plugin; all plans (including Free) include built-in Trust Levels and Badges. - Quote: “This plugin allows admins to easily create and tweak community scoring contests, where points are awarded by participating in the community and users are ranked in leaderboards.” - **Branded mobile app**: No — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Discourse Hub is one shared iOS/Android app that lets users add any Discourse community; it is not a white-label, per-community branded app. - Quote: “Add multiple Discourse communities and switch between them seamlessly, so you're always in the loop.” - **Custom domain & branding**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Custom domain plus custom & community themes are included starting on the Pro plan; the Free plan only gets a *.discourse.group subdomain. - Quote: “Custom domain” - **Member analytics**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Admin dashboard on all plans; pricing page also lists 'Advanced reporting & analytics' as a Business-plan addition. - Quote: “Your most relevant and essential community health metrics are only a click away.” - **SSO / integrations**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: DiscourseConnect SSO, social logins, and OAuth2/OpenID/SAML support; pricing page lists SSO (OpenID & OAuth2) explicitly on the Business plan. - Quote: “Seamlessly integrate Discourse with your existing site’s login system with easy, robust single sign on.” - **Moderation tools**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Moderation tools are included even on the Free plan; features page also notes community-driven moderation. - Quote: “Flags, a review queue, and granular controls. Everything you need to keep your community healthy from day one.” - **API / webhooks**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Listed as included starting on the Pro plan; features page separately describes a 'Comprehensive API'. - Quote: “API and Webhook access” - **Free tier**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-17) - Note: Free hosted plan (unlimited members, 2 staff seats, *.discourse.group domain) in addition to free self-hosting of the open-source software. - Quote: “A real Discourse, free forever.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/