Growth · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Discourse

A platform for community discussion. Free, open and simple.

Discourse is a customizable community platform designed for organizations and groups that want to foster discussion and knowledge-sharing. It serves communities of all sizes, from internal teams to public forums… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Discourse launched in 2015; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Discourse 2.0▲291

   Civilized discussion for your community, redesigned ✨

   2018 · blog.discourse.org · its alternatives →

2. 2DW
   Discourse – Wikipedia for Sensitive Topics▲30

   We just launched our open beta of Discourse and would love feedback. We’re a group of professionals from across technology & journalism who all have a shared experience working with sensitive topics and misinformation online. We built Discourse as a way to fill a gap we continued to see in our day jobs: a trustworthy and simple way to understand challenging topics. Discourse is unique in that it (a) combines multiple viewpoints into one place and (b) allows for Wiki-style crowd suggestions. While other sources try to be 'fair and balanced' off the bat, our belief is that it takes time,…

   2023 · indiscourse.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Discourse Announces Chat▲35

   Chat is here! Enable conversations in your community to flow between faster-paced chat and slower-paced discussions.

   2022 · blog.discourse.org · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Discourse▲43

   New open source discussion platform from Jeff Atwood.

   2014 · discourse.org · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Comradery▲291

   Threaded discussions and real-time chat for your community!

   2020 · comradery.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   PaperTalk▲104

   A community platform for state of the art research

   2024 · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Turf▲716

   The in-app community platform for SaaS companies

   2024 · useturf.io · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Spectrum▲791

   Build better communities

   2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Frond▲458

   A better way to build community online

   2023 · frond.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Slab▲747

    Modern knowledge base & wiki for teams

    2018 · slab.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Talkbase▲404

    We measure why community matters

    2023 · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Commons▲220

    Private Discord for your team to collaborate

    2021 · blog.mozilla.org · its alternatives →

13. 13
    Darto▲73

    Community platform that improves online discourse

    2019 · darto.com · its alternatives →

14. 14AD
    Anonymous Discussion Platform For Any Topic (think Reddit meets Slack)▲72

    2017 · hashtags.chat · its alternatives →

15. 15
    Bind▲420

    Build a product driven community

    2023 · bind.ie · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Lexicon▲201

    An open-source, customizable mobile app for communities

    2021 · its alternatives →

17. 17FA
    FlingUp, a Reddit-like platform Ive been building for the last 2 years▲260

    2023 · flingup.com · its alternatives →

18. 18WB
    We built a platform for forums and called it Microcosm▲41

    2014 · microco.sm · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Discourse.Directory▲6

    Browse Discourse communities from around the Internet.

    2017 · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Front▲303

    Efficient email for teams

    2018 · front.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Mantle Chat▲298

    Collaboration platform where teams work with AI together

    May 2026 · mantle.chat · its alternatives →

22. 22
    Buzz▲161

    Your people, your agents, your project — all in one place

    Jul 2026 · buzz.xyz · its alternatives →

23. 23
    NimForum – A lightweight alternative to Discourse▲186

    Lightweight alternative to Discourse written in Nim - nim-lang/nimforum

    2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    CommunityScout▲223

    Get the right community platform based on your needs

    2022 · bettermode.com · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →