Community Platforms · pricing · Updated September 2026
Discourse pricing (2026)
Discourse starts at $0/mo (Free) as checked on 2026-09-02, read from Discourse's own pricing page; 4 plans. Best for Developer communities and open-source projects needing a public, SEO-indexed forum. Every figure below links to its source and the date we captured it.
At a glance
- Entry price: $0/mo (Free)
- Free tier: Yes
- Compliance: HIPAA — · SOC 2 Yes · GDPR Yes
- Best for: Developer communities and open-source projects needing a public, SEO-indexed forum; SaaS companies building product support and feedback hubs; Organizations that want self-hosted, open-source community infrastructure; Educational institutions and non-profits (significant discounts available)
As of · every figure below links to its source
Discourse plans & pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Billing | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | — | flat | Hosted community exploration tier. No credit card required. | discourse.org |
| Pro | $100 | — | flat | Unlimited members & chat, unlimited categories/tags, custom groups, email support, custom themes, API/webhook access, 15+ plugins, 5 staff seats. 85% off for education (with docs), 50% off for non-profits. | discourse.org |
| Business | $500 | — | flat | Everything in Pro plus advanced analytics, automation, events, gamification, SSO (OpenID & OAuth2), 20+ additional plugins, 15 staff seats, priority support, migration services. | discourse.org |
| Enterprise | quote-only | — | custom | Quote-only. Everything in Business plus expert design/development, 99.9% uptime SLA, GDPR & CCPA compliant hosting, 50+ plugins, unlimited staff seats. | discourse.org |
Last verified 2026-09-02. https://www.discourse.org/pricing (official pricing page, accessed 2026-06-14). No annual billing discount stated on page. GDPR & CCPA compliant hosting on Enterprise. No annual discount advertised. Re-verified 2026-09-02 against the live pricing page; published figures unchanged. Cross-checked against getapp.com.
Price changes
Price on record
$100/moFirst on record 2026-06-27
A new dated entry is stamped here each time the price moves — the record builds itself.
Tracked since June 2026. No change record has cleared two sources yet, so nothing is published on the wire.
Capabilities
Integrations: GitHub, Discord, Google SSO, Facebook SSO, Apple SSO, LinkedIn SSO, Microsoft SSO, Amazon SSO, Zendesk, Patreon, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, LTI 1.3.
Key features: 100% open-source codebase (self-host for free); SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2013 certified (managed hosting); Real-time chat channels alongside long-form discussion forums; AI-powered topic summarization and translations (49 languages); Trust/reputation system where members earn moderation rights; Full data ownership with export capability and no vendor lock-in; SSO/SAML enterprise authentication; Comprehensive plugin and theme ecosystem (50+ plugins on Enterprise); SEO-optimized public forums; Email integration (reply-by-email, mailing list mode).
Plan limits: Free: 2 staff seats, 500k monthly page views, 5GB storage, 10 categories max; Pro: 5 staff seats, 500k monthly page views, 20GB storage, unlimited categories; Business: 15 staff seats, 500k monthly page views, 100GB storage; Enterprise: unlimited staff seats, 1M+ monthly page views, 200GB+ storage; Education discount: 85% off (with documentation); Non-profit discount: 50% off.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Discourse cost?
Discourse starts at $0/mo (Free); it has 4 published plans. Verified 2026-09-02.
What are cheaper alternatives to Discourse?
Cheaper community platforms than Discourse (entry $0/mo) include Skool at $9/mo, Heartbeat at $49/mo, Circle at $89/mo. Verified 2026-09-02.
Does Discourse support HIPAA?
Discourse HIPAA support: —. SOC 2: Yes. GDPR: Yes.
Does Discourse have a free plan?
Discourse free tier: Yes.
Discourse vs alternatives
Compare all community platforms · Discourse alternatives · SOC 2-certified community platforms · GDPR-compliant community platforms · Open data · MCP
Cheaper community platforms alternatives
- Mighty Networks from $95/mo
- Circle from $89/mo
- Kajabi from $89/mo
- Heartbeat from $49/mo
- Skool from $9/mo
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Display this standing
Discourse currently holds a silver deskmark here — Rank 3 of 7 · Community Platforms. Anyone may show it. There is nothing to apply for, nothing to pay, and displaying it changes no score: the standing comes from the published algorithm and money never touches it.
The image is drawn from our live data, so it follows the standing rather than freezing it: if Discourse moves up or down a tier, the plaque on your own site says so at our next publish. Nothing is tracked beyond the ordinary web-server log that records any image request.