Discourse review

Discourse is the forum standard, and it now has a free hosted plan alongside its open source code. Every hosted plan gives unlimited members and chat, and the Free plan includes 2 staff seats, 10 categories, 5GB of storage and 500k page views a month. Pro at $100 a month adds unlimited categories and tags, custom groups, custom themes, a custom domain, API and webhook access and 15+ plugins such as Solved and DiscourseConnect, with 5 staff seats. Business at $500 a month adds events, automation, gamification, advanced reporting and OpenID and OAuth2 SSO. Hosted communities get free iOS and Android apps with push notifications, and AI spam detection runs on every tier. Teams with server skills can self-host the same software for free. What Discourse does not do is sell: there are no courses or membership checkout, so it suits support, product and open source communities more than paid groups.

Who it is for

Product, support and open source communities that need searchable long-form discussion.

Price

Free hosted plan; Pro $100 per month; Business $500 per month; free to self-host.

Pro $100 /month
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 6, 2026.

Key features

• Unlimited members and chat on every hosted plan
• Unlimited categories, tags and custom groups from Pro
• AI spam detection and daily AI credits
• Content translation into up to 4 languages on Pro
• API and webhook access with DiscourseConnect SSO

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Free hosted plan and free self-hosting
• Strength: Strong search, moderation and SEO for long-form threads
• Strength: Free iOS and Android apps with push notifications
• Weakness: No built-in courses or paid membership checkout
• Weakness: Free plan is limited to 2 staff seats and 10 categories
• Weakness: Events, automation and gamification need Business at $500 a month

Key facts

• Free plan: Yes, 2 staff seats, 10 categories
• Pro: $100 per month, 5 staff seats
• Business: $500 per month, 15 staff seats
• Page views: 500k a month on Free, Pro and Business
• Self-hosting: Free and open source

Where it ranks

Discourse is No. 5 in our Best Community Platforms verdict.