Discourse
Forums, chat and member profiles with a decade of battle scars; Ruby, Postgres and Redis become your hobbies.
Technical Profile & Specs
verified 2026-08-10
- Cost
- $0 / forever (Open Source)
- License
- GPL-2.0+
- Hosting Model
- Local or hosted (your machine or their cloud)
- Platforms
- mobilewebself-hostedself-host, real ops
- Installation
- Use official paid hosting, or run the supported Docker-based production install on a Linux server with a domain and SMTP
- Operational Setup
- The free route starts with a Linux server, root access, DNS, SMTP, Docker, backups, security updates, and ongoing moderation configuration.
- Where Your Data Lives
- Topics, posts, users, and settings live in PostgreSQL, transient state in Redis, and uploads on local disk or S3-compatible storage; admins can create full backups.
- The Catch / Trade-off
- Discourse is mature and powerful, but it remains forum-first, requires a Ruby/PostgreSQL/Redis stack, and lacks Bettermode's no-code branded portal and business modules.
Replaces 5 paid apps
up to $205/mo ($2,460/yr) in subscriptions
Discourse FAQ
Common questions
Is Discourse free and open source?+
Discourse is an open-source tool licensed under GPL-2.0+ that runs on local or hosted. Forums, chat and member profiles with a decade of battle scars; Ruby, Postgres and Redis become your hobbies.
What paid software does Discourse replace?+
Discourse serves as a free replacement for 5 paid SaaS applications: Bettermode, Circle.so, Patreon, Tribe Community, Twist, saving up to $205/month ($2,460/year) in subscription bills.
How do you install and set up Discourse?+
Installation: Use official paid hosting, or run the supported Docker-based production install on a Linux server with a domain and SMTP. Setup notes: The free route starts with a Linux server, root access, DNS, SMTP, Docker, backups, security updates, and ongoing moderation configuration.
What is the catch or trade-off with Discourse?+
Discourse is mature and powerful, but it remains forum-first, requires a Ruby/PostgreSQL/Redis stack, and lacks Bettermode's no-code branded portal and business modules.