Discourse
Discourse is a platform for community discussion that is free and open source, enabling users to create discussion forums with ease.
Discourse is built in Ruby, distributed under the GNU General Public License v2.0, 46.7k GitHub stars from 100 contributors, latest release v2026.4.0-latest.
When to use Discourse
Discourse is listed here as a Web project. The directory calls out User-friendly interface, Customizable themes, Built-in moderation tools as capabilities associated with it.
Other recorded traits for Discourse include Mobile-friendly design, Notifications and email summaries.
Besides Web, this page also files Discourse under Development, Tools.
Discourse compared with
Records in this directory name phpBB, Vanilla Forums, Flarum, NodeBB as products people compare with Discourse. That list is editorial metadata, not a claim that Discourse replaces each of them.
Open-source projects that mention Discourse are collected on a separate alternatives page.
What the Discourse stats reflect
GitHub currently shows 46.7k GitHub stars, about 100 contributors, 8.9k forks, 165 open issues, latest tracked release v2026.4.0-latest. Star and activity counts here are a snapshot used as a proxy for community adoption, not a quality score.
Stats refreshed
- Language
- Ruby
- Latest Release
- v2026.4.0-latest
- License
- GNU General Public License v2.0
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Key features of Discourse
- User-friendly interface
- Customizable themes
- Built-in moderation tools
- Mobile-friendly design
- Notifications and email summaries
Recorded alternatives to Discourse
Discourse resources
Discourse on GitHub
Frequently asked questions
What is Discourse?
Discourse is a platform for community discussion that is free and open source, enabling users to create discussion forums with ease. This directory highlights User-friendly interface, Customizable themes, Built-in moderation tools.
Is Discourse free to use?
Discourse is published as open source under the GNU General Public License v2.0. The directory lists User-friendly interface, Customizable themes, Built-in moderation tools among its recorded capabilities.
What language is Discourse written in, and what is the latest release?
Discourse is written primarily in Ruby. The latest release tracked on this page is v2026.4.0-latest.
How widely is Discourse used on GitHub?
Discourse has about 46.7k GitHub stars across about 100 contributors. It also has about 8.9k forks. Those counts are a snapshot of community attention, not a ranking of quality.
What do people compare Discourse with?
This directory records phpBB, Vanilla Forums, Flarum, NodeBB as comparison points for Discourse. A longer list of open-source projects that mention Discourse is at https://www.open-source-tools.com/alternatives/discourse.
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