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About Discourse - Civilized Discussion
What is Discourse?
Discourse is a customizable and scalable community platform used by over 22,000 organizations to create knowledge through conversation. It replaces scattered forums, email threads, and chat tools with one organized space for support, collaboration, and feedback.
Who is it for?
Discourse is ideal for SaaS companies, developer-focused brands, and enterprises that need a public or private community to reduce support costs, align teams, or gather product feedback. It is not designed for simple announcement-only forums or one-to-one customer messaging.
Real use cases
Companies use Discourse as a support hub where customers answer each other’s questions, as a team workspace for cross-department collaboration, and as a product feedback loop where users vote on features. Developer communities use it to share code, mirror GitHub releases, and manage roadmap discussions.
Key features
- Unlimited members & chat — Grow your community without per-seat fees for regular members.
- Customizable design — Match your brand with custom themes, colors, and a custom domain.
- SSO & enterprise auth — Integrate with Open ID, OAuth2, and SAML for secure access.
- AI daily credits — Use AI-powered features measured via credits per request or response token.
- GitHub integration — Mirror releases, issues, and pull requests directly into community discussions.
- Automation & events — Automate workflows and run events with gamification on higher-tier plans.
- Migration services — Import from Vanilla, phpBB, vBulletin, Slack, Drupal, and more.
Discourse - Civilized Discussion Pricing
Discourse - Civilized Discussion pricing: from $100/mo.
Free
$0/month — 2 staff seats, 500K monthly page views, 20K monthly emails, 10 categories, 5GB storage. Includes core community features.
Pro
$100/month — Unlimited members, unlimited public/private categories, unlimited tags, custom groups, email support, custom & community themes, custom domain, API and webhook access, 15+ plugins including DiscourseConnect, Chat integration, Solved, and GitHub. 5 staff seats.
Business
$500/month — Everything in Pro, plus advanced reporting & analytics, automation, events, gamification, SSO (Open ID & OAuth2), 20+ additional plugins (Data Explorer, Policy, Calendar, User Notes), 15 staff seats, priority support, migration services.
Enterprise
Custom pricing — Unlimited staff seats, expert design & development, 99.9% uptime SLA, dedicated infrastructure, SSO/SAML, custom integrations, 50+ plugins. All plans include a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
Frequently asked questions
Is Discourse free?
Yes, Discourse offers a Free plan with 2 staff seats, 500K monthly page views, and 20K monthly emails. Paid plans start at $100/month.
How much does Discourse cost?
Discourse pricing starts at $100/month for the Pro plan. Business is $500/month, and Enterprise has custom pricing. A free plan is also available.
Who is Discourse best for?
Discourse is best for SaaS companies that want to build a support community, internal team workspace, or developer community. It scales from startups to large enterprises.
Can I try Discourse before paying?
Yes, all plans come with a free trial — no credit card required upfront.
What are the top alternatives to Discourse?
Top alternatives include Circle, Tribe, Vanilla Forums, and Khoros. Discourse stands out with its open-source core and extensive plugin ecosystem.
Does Discourse work for internal team communication?
Yes, Discourse includes direct messaging, group chats, channels, and the ability to turn quick chats into detailed topics — suitable for team workspaces.
