Discourse vs Flarum
On the evidence we track, Discourse leads this comparison with a composite score of 60/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for community platforms. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
Discourse
LeaderA free, open-source platform for building online communities that can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure or run on official Discourse hosting, with built-in real-time chat and customizable themes.
Flarum
A customizable forum platform designed for hosting community discussions with built-in moderation tools and permission management features.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
Discourse
LeaderFrom $100/month. Free tier available.
- FreeFree
- Unlimited members and chat
- 2 staff seats
- Public and private categories
- Community support
- Pro$100/month, 5 staff seats
- Unlimited members and chat
- Unlimited public and private categories
- Unlimited tags
- Custom groups
- 5 staff seats
- +5 more
- Business$500/month, 15 staff seats
- All Pro features plus:
- Advanced reporting and analytics
- Automation
- Events
- Gamification
- +5 more
- EnterpriseContact sales
- All Business features plus:
- Unlimited staff seats
- Expert design and development services
- 99.9% uptime SLA
- 50+ plugins
- +5 more
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
Discourse
Leader- Slack
- Telegram
- Discord
- Mattermost
- Matrix
- Zulip
- Rocket.Chat
- Gitter
- Stride
- Microsoft Teams
- Basecamp
- IRC Cloud
- Flock
- Webex
- GitHub
- Google Adsense
- Google Ad Manager
- Amazon Affiliates
- Patreon
- X
- Apple
- Mastodon
- +6 more
Flarum
Not documented yet.
Discourse or Flarum: which one depends on you
A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.
Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.