Discourse icon

Discourse

Discourse is an open-source discussion platform built for modern communities and organizations. It enables fluid conversations across teams with features like categories, tags, private messages, and real-time notifications.

What is Discourse?

Discourse is an open-source, highly customizable discussion platform created in 2013. It is designed to build modern community discussion forums and allows teams to have productive conversations.

Some key features of Discourse include:

  • Responsive design that works well on mobile devices
  • Advanced formatting options using Markdown
  • Categorization system to organize topics
  • Tagging to help users find information
  • User trust levels based on participation
  • Notifications to follow discussions
  • Private and secure messaging between community members
  • Integration with single sign-on providers
  • Custom plugins and themes

Discourse is built using Ruby on Rails and JavaScript, with React for the frontend. It has an MIT license making the platform free and open for anyone to use. Discourse aims to create more meaningful online communities and productive discussions compared to traditional forum software.

The Best Discourse Alternatives

Top Apps like Discourse

phpBB, XenForo, Hittly, The Public Community, Flarum, Thredded, ZeroTalk, Discut, vBulletin, Glisser, Yooco, Simple Machines Forum, Tribe Community Platform, AsmBB, Instaforum, FluxBB, MyBB, Get Satisfaction, Open Social, Sociohub, NodeBB, Azuriom, PlushForums, Kialo, Vanilla Forums, GraphComment, uCoz, Community Builder, Piazza, NamelessMC, bbPress, LayerBB, PunBB, Convolio, MUUT, YaBB, IkoBB, Codoforum, FlaskBB, VoxPopuli, TangoBB, Flazy, Sengii Connect, Kunena, OCFHollaines, Mybema, DuckDuckGo Community Platform, Krowdify Notes, ForumWP, Master Comments System, ArmorForums, Rootbuzz, YaBB SE, C-BOARD, DebateIsland are some alternatives to Discourse.

PhpBB

phpBB is an open-source bulletin board software written in the PHP programming language. It is used to power discussion forums and message boards on websites. Some key features and information about phpBB:Released in 2000, it is one of the oldest and most popular forum softwares availableUsed by over 40% of sites...

XenForo

XenForo is an open source Internet forum software package written in PHP. It was originally developed by some of the team behind the vBulletin forum software. XenForo is designed to be easy to use, extensible and scalable for forums of all sizes.Some key features of XenForo include:A clean...

Hittly

Hittly is a robust link management and redirection platform designed to help businesses consolidate, organize and track all their links in one easy-to-use dashboard. It goes beyond basic URL shorteners by providing powerful features catered towards marketers and businesses.With Hittly, you can create and customize branded links, set up...

The Public Community

The Public Community is an open-source, self-hosted team chat and collaboration platform, positioned as an alternative to proprietary tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams. It focuses heavily on privacy and security.Some key features of The Public Community include:Encrypted chat rooms and direct messages to protect sensitive conversationsFile sharing...

Flarum

Flarum is an open-source forum software written in PHP that is focused on simplicity and performance. Originally created in 2014 by Toby Zerner, Flarum has grown into a popular alternative to traditional forum platforms like phpBB and vBulletin.Some key features and benefits of Flarum include:Very lightweight and fast -...

Thredded

Thredded is an open-source forum application built using the Ruby on Rails framework. It is designed to be simple to set up and easy to customize while still providing a robust set of features expected of forum software.Some key features of Thredded include:User accounts and authentication - Users...

ZeroTalk

ZeroTalk is an open source, decentralized video calling application focused on privacy and security. It uses peer-to-peer technology to connect users directly without routing conversations through a central server.Some key features of ZeroTalk include:End-to-end encryption - Video calls are encrypted using AES-256 encryption so the content remains private...

Discut

Discut is an open-source discussion platform built using React and Node.js. It allows website owners and app developers to easily integrate threaded conversations and discussions into their platforms. Some key features of Discut include:Real-time updates - Comments and reactions appear instantly without needing to refresh.Reactions - Users...

VBulletin

vBulletin is a widely-used Internet forum software package that powers discussion communities on the web. It was first released in 2000 by Jelsoft and has seen strong adoption rates over the past 2 decades.Some key features that vBulletin offers include:User profiles - Members can create detailed profiles with avatars, bios...

Glisser

Glisser is a cloud-based presentation software that allows users to create visually stunning and interactive presentations. Some key features of Glisser include:Animation effects - Add smooth transition animations to objects to captivate your audience.Themes and templates - Choose from a variety of professionally designed templates and color themes...

Yooco

Yooco is an free and open-source bookmark/link manager designed to help individuals and teams organize, manage, and quickly access their browser bookmarks. It was created as an alternative to proprietary bookmarking services with the goals of user privacy protection, flexibility, and customization.Key features of Yooco include:Clean and...

Simple Machines Forum

Simple Machines Forum (SMF) is a powerful, free, and open source forum software that enables you to set up and run an online community website. It has an extensive feature set that allows you to grow and manage an active member base.Some key features of SMF include: Member profiles...

Tribe Community Platform

Tribe Community Platform is an open-source software designed for building online communities and managing memberships. It provides a suite of tools that help organizations create private, branded online networks to foster communication, collaboration, content sharing, and relationship building among their members.Some key features of Tribe include:Customizable member profiles...

AsmBB

AsmBB is an open-source Internet forum software application written entirely in assembly language. It was created as an experiment to build a fully-featured forum software using low-level system programming languages for maximum speed and efficiency.Some key features of AsmBB include:Lightweight and fast - As it's written in raw...

Instaforum

Instaforum is an easy-to-use online forum and community builder platform founded in 2008. It enables anyone to quickly create and manage an online forum community without any technical expertise.Key features of Instaforum include:Modern forum interface with real-time discussions and notificationsUser management systems for roles, reputation points, badgesRobust community tools...

FluxBB

FluxBB is an open-source, light-weight forum software written in PHP. It is designed to be easy to install, use, and modify while still providing powerful features found in larger forum platforms.Some key features and benefits of FluxBB include:Easy 5 minute installation - FluxBB can be set up quickly with...

MyBB

MyBB is an open source, free forum software written in PHP that allows anyone to easily create and manage an online community website. First released in 2002, MyBB has become one of the most popular forum software options used on the web.Some key features of MyBB include:User accounts and...

Get Satisfaction

Get Satisfaction is a customer engagement and experience platform designed to help companies build better relationships with their customers. It allows brands to have conversations with customers right on their website, mobile app or social media channels.Some key features of Get Satisfaction include:Public customer community - Customers can...

Open Social

OpenSocial is an open standard and set of APIs for social networking platforms led by Google and developed through the OpenSocial Foundation. It allows developers to create applications that access a social network's friends and update feeds. The goal is to enable applications to work across multiple websites and social...

Sociohub

Sociohub is an all-in-one social media management platform suitable for businesses, agencies, and individuals. It provides users with the ability to manage their social networks, listen to conversations, publish content, monitor analytics, and facilitate team collaboration from a unified dashboard.With Sociohub's scheduler, users can plan and schedule posts in...

NodeBB

NodeBB is an open-source Internet forum software written in JavaScript and built on Node.js. It was created to provide an alternative to traditional forum software like phpBB and vBulletin by taking advantage of the speed and event-driven, non-blocking I/O model of Node.js.Some key features and benefits...

Azuriom

Azuriom is an open-source game server management panel and platform built with the PHP Laravel framework. It aims to provide an easy way for gamers and server owners to manage, create and join game servers.Some key features of Azuriom include:User management system to handle registrations, profiles, roles/permissions...

PlushForums

PlushForums is an open-source Internet forum software package written in PHP. It allows an individual or organization to host their own discussion board website for topics of interest.Some key features of PlushForums include:Lightweight and fast - Optimized for speed and low resource usageEasy installation - Can be set...

Kialo

Kialo is an online discussion and debate platform launched in 2018 that aims to promote constructive conversations around complex or controversial topics. Its key features include:Tree-like structure - Discussions on Kialo branch out from an initial question or thesis through a logical, tree-like flow as users add pro and con...

Vanilla Forums

Vanilla Forums is a flexible, open source forum software that enables you to build an online community platform. It has a modern, intuitive interface and is fully responsive for optimal viewing on any device.Some key features of Vanilla Forums include:User management tools like registration, login, profiles, roles/permissionsRobust...

GraphComment

GraphComment is a versatile graphic design and diagramming application used to create a wide variety of visual diagrams like flowcharts, UML diagrams, network diagrams, graphs,Floor plans and more. It provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that allows users to easily arrange shapes and connectors on the canvas.Key features include...

UCoz

uCoz is a user-friendly website builder designed to allow anyone, even with no coding skills, to easily set up a website. It offers a straightforward drag-and-drop interface along with hundreds of customizable templates for different industries so you can quickly get a site up and running.Some of the key...

Community Builder

Community Builder is an open source community and membership platform built with PHP and MySQL. It provides tools for building an online community website with features like user profiles, groups, events, forums, blogs, photos, and more.Key features include:User profiles - Members can create personal profiles with photos, biographical...

Piazza

Piazza is an online question-and-answer platform designed for students and instructors to facilitate class discussion outside of the classroom. It provides an online forum where students can post questions related to the course material and get answers from fellow students, teaching assistants, and instructors.Some key features of Piazza include...

NamelessMC

NamelessMC is an open-source platform designed to integrate seamlessly with Minecraft servers to provide advanced community features. It was created to be easy for server owners and administrators to set up, customize and manage.Some key features of NamelessMC include:Forums - Out-of-the-box forums to allow players to discuss server...

BbPress

bbPress is an open source forum software package that is designed to integrate seamlessly with WordPress. It transforms a standard WordPress installation into a full-featured forums system without requiring any additional configuration. bbPress comes packed with features that allow you to get a forums site up and running quickly.Some...

LayerBB

LayerBB is an open-source forum and community building software written in Node.js. It was created to provide a modern, fast, and lightweight alternative to traditional forum solutions.Some key features of LayerBB include:User management with registration, login, profiles, avatars, roles/permissionsDiscussions and comments with threads, replies, reactions, searchPrivate...

PunBB

PunBB is an open-source, lightweight Internet forum software written in PHP. It is released under the GNU General Public License. PunBB is designed to be fast, lightweight, and highly customizable, making it suitable for forums of all sizes.Some key features of PunBB include:Private messaging system allows users to...

Convolio

Convolio is a cloud-based customer data platform (CDP) designed to help companies unify customer data from disparate sources to get a 360-degree view of their customers. Here are some key things to know about Convolio:- It ingests customer data from multiple channels like your website, mobile apps, CRM, email...

MUUT

MUUT is an open-source interface design application that can be used as an alternative to proprietary tools like Sketch and Figma. It is designed specifically for user interface and user experience (UI/UX) designers to create wireframes, prototypes, website mockups, mobile app designs, and other graphics for digital projects.Some...

YaBB

YaBB (Yet Another Bulletin Board) is a free, open source bulletin board and forum software written in PHP. It enables website owners and administrators to set up customized online communities, discussion boards and forums to facilitate communication between users.Some key features of YaBB include:User-friendly admin Control Panel for...

IkoBB

IkoBB is an open source Internet forum software package written in PHP. It allows an individual or organization to host their own Internet forums and build an online community. Some of the key features of IkoBB include:Lightweight and fast - Optimization for speed and low resource usageEasy installation -...

Codoforum

Codoforum is an open-source Internet forum software package written in PHP. It allows anyone to set up their own online discussion community. The software is designed to be easy to install, use, and customize while still providing powerful features expected of forum platforms.Some key capabilities and benefits of Codoforum...

FlaskBB

FlaskBB is an open-source forum software written in Python using the Flask web framework. It is designed to be lightweight, simple to use and easy to extend.Some key features of FlaskBB include:User management systems like registration, email confirmation, forgot password, etc.Forum management for categories, forums, topics, postsPrivate...

VoxPopuli

VoxPopuli is an open-source web application that can be used to create live polls, quizzes, word clouds, and more during presentations, meetings, or events. It provides an interactive way for presenters to gather feedback and increase audience participation.To use VoxPopuli, the presenter first creates polls or other activities in...

TangoBB

TangoBB is an open source internet forum software package written in PHP. It offers an easy way to set up and run an online community website.Some key features of TangoBB include:User registration and login system with public profilesPublic and private messaging between forum membersPosting in forums with threads...

Flazy

Flazy is a free and open source animation and game creation software that is designed to be an alternative to Adobe Flash. It allows creators to build animations, games, banners, presentations and more without needing any coding knowledge.Some key features of Flazy include: Drag and drop timeline based animationVector...

Sengii Connect

Sengii Connect is a robust customer engagement platform designed to help businesses provide exceptional customer experiences and build stronger customer relationships. Using AI and machine learning, Sengii Connect analyzes customer behaviors and interactions to deliver personalized recommendations and tailored communications.Key features of Sengii Connect include:Customer data management -...

Kunena

Kunena is an open source forum extension for the Joomla content management system. It integrates tightly with Joomla allowing for a seamless user experience for members.Kunena is designed to be easy to use both for administrators managing the forum and users participating in discussions. It has an intuitive interface...

OCFHollaines

OCFHollaines is an open-source project management application designed for agile software development teams. It provides a range of features to help manage projects including:Customizable kanban boards for visualizing work and workflowsFlexible task management with categories, assignments, priorities, due dates etc.Resource management to plan and allocate team membersTime tracking...

Mybema

Mybema is an open-source, self-hosted project management application similar to Asana. It allows teams to manage projects and tasks with an intuitive interface organized around boards, lists, and cards.Some key features of Mybema include:Boards to organize projects and tasksLists and cards to break down tasksDue dates, start dates...

DuckDuckGo Community Platform

DuckDuckGo Community Platform is an open source web search engine software that was created by the privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo. The platform allows developers to create their own private search engines by using DuckDuckGo's existing infrastructure and services.Some key features of DuckDuckGo Community Platform include:Open source code that...

Krowdify Notes

Krowdify Notes is an online note-taking and organization application designed for individuals, students, and teams working remotely or in an office. With Krowdify Notes, users can create, edit, organize, share, and collaborate on notes and documents in real time.Key features of Krowdify Notes include:Real-time collaboration - Multiple users...

ForumWP

ForumWP is an open-source forum software that integrates seamlessly with WordPress sites. It enables you to quickly set up a fully-featured discussion board or online community platform using WordPress as the foundation.Some key features of ForumWP include:Lightweight and optimized codebase for faster performanceIntuitive graphical user interface within WordPress...

Master Comments System

Master Comments System is an open-source commenting platform designed to help website owners engage readers through comments. It comes packed with features including:Spam filtering to automatically detect and block spam commentsUser moderation allowing site moderators to approve, edit, or delete commentsEmail notifications when new comments are postedSocial media integration...

ArmorForums

ArmorForums is an online cybersecurity forum launched in 2018. It serves as a community platform for information security professionals, ethical hackers, cybersecurity enthusiasts, and anyone with an interest in topics related to malware, vulnerabilities, cyberattacks, hacking, and general information security.On ArmorForums, members can participate in discussions via threads and posts...

Rootbuzz

Rootbuzz is a comprehensive social media management platform designed to help businesses, agencies, and content creators effectively manage their social media presence across multiple platforms. Some key features of Rootbuzz include:Post Scheduling - Schedule unlimited posts to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and more, all from a unified calendar...

YaBB SE

YaBB SE (Yet another Bulletin Board Special Edition) is a free, open-source internet forum software package written in PHP. It allows webmasters to easily create and manage feature-rich discussion boards for building online communities and forums.Some key features of YaBB SE include:Modern, responsive interface with multiple themes and...

C-BOARD

C-BOARD is an open-source web-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) application designed to help people with speech and language impairments communicate effectively. It allows users to construct sentences by clicking on symbols and having the sentence spoken out loud using text-to-speech technology.Some key features of C-BOARD include:Easy to...

DebateIsland

DebateIsland is an online debating platform designed to provide a space for constructive argumentation and critical thinking on controversial issues. With DebateIsland, users can:Initiate and participate in structured debates on hundreds of debate topicsRead, analyze, and vote on debate cases written by other members of the communityTest and sharpen...