Community platforms · November 2026 Edition
Discourse vs Circle
Zero of fourteen models named Discourse first on the direct prompt; two named Circle. Both were named by all fourteen models and Discourse carries 45 labels and Circle 57, so the shares are not directly comparable.
founded 2013. Named in one category this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share18%14%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate9%12%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#4A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels4557A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Discourse reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Bettermode was named alongside these two in eleven of the fourteen direct answers. Bettermode vs Discourse · Bettermode vs Circle · Discourse vs Higher Logic Vanilla
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the community platforms page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
DiscourseFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCircle
Direct021 against Circle
Paraphrase132 against Discourse · 2 against Circle
Comparative02
Budget-constrained822 against Circle
Scale-constrained001 against Discourse
Negative111 against Discourse · 2 against Circle
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Discourse and Circle were named in the same answer 116 times, of the 143 answers naming Discourse and the 153 naming Circle. In those answers Circle took the first choice thirty-two times and Discourse twenty-one.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Discourse and Circle stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | |||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | ||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | | ||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | | |
| GPT-6 Luna | | |||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | |
Discourse Circle first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Discourse on the left and Circle on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Discourse and Circle stood in it.
Circle first, Discourse not the choice
2 of 14 modelsDiscourse was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Llama 4 MaverickCircle
Qwen 3.7 FlashBettermode, Circle alternatives: Salesforce Experience Cloud, Zendesk Community
Neither was the first choice, one was named
5 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Gemini 3.5 FlashGainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Discourse
Grok 4.20Bettermode alternatives: Circle, Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities
GLM 4.7 FlashXBettermode alternatives: Circle, Higher Logic Vanilla, Influitive
MiniMax M2.5Bettermode alternatives: Circle, Influitive, Salesforce Experience Cloud
Muse Glimmer 30BHigher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Circle, Gainsight Customer Communities, Salesforce Experience Cloud
Neither was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5Bettermode alternatives: Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla
GPT-5.4 miniGainsight Customer Communities alternatives: Higher Logic Vanilla, Salesforce Experience Cloud
Perplexity SonarBettermode alternatives: Gainsight Customer Communities
Mistral SmallBettermode alternatives: Higher Logic Vanilla, Influitive
DeepSeek V4 FlashHigher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Gainsight Customer Communities, Khoros Communities
Kimi K2Bettermode alternatives: Gainsight Customer Communities, Influitive
GPT-6 LunaHigher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Gainsight Customer Communities
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Circle leads by eight points.
Circle39%#1 of 12Discourse31%#2 of 12Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Discourse leads at mid-market.
Discourse18%#2 of 12Circle14%#4 of 12Enterprise
What the models said about Discourse
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“basic forums like Discourse (lacks B2B-specific features)” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · hard negative
“Excellent search and moderation; less "modern visual portal" aesthetic out of the box.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · soft negative
“the hosted version starts at ~$100/mo and can get pricey with scaling” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“open-source, self-hostable, transparent pricing (from $100/mo), full data ownership, no lock-in” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · first choice
“Absolute minimum budget: Start with Discourse (free) or Thinkific ($5/month)” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“Discourse if you want the best mix of capability, control, and cost-effectiveness.” GPT-5.4 mini · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about Circle
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Mighty Networks/Circle (more consumer/SaaS-focused or membership sites)” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · hard negative
“Avoid Per-Seat Pricing: Platforms like Circle.so or Mighty Networks are popular but often start at $99/mo.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · soft negative
“Circle, Bettermode, or comparable tools will not create engagement by themselves” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“Circle — best for branded customer communities that also want courses, events, memberships, and monetization in one modern platform.” GPT-5.4 mini · comparative prompt · first choice
“The best customer community platform for a company with a limited budget is Circle, which is available from $89 a month” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
“The best customer community platform for a mid-market B2B company is Circle, which is the best all-around choice” Llama 4 Maverick · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared
Bettermode vs DiscourseBettermode vs CircleDiscourse vs Higher Logic VanillaDiscourse vs Gainsight Customer CommunitiesDiscourse vs DiscordDiscourse vs Mighty NetworksDiscourse vs Facebook GroupsHigher Logic Vanilla vs CircleCircle vs Gainsight Customer CommunitiesCircle vs DiscordCircle vs Mighty NetworksCircle vs Facebook GroupsAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full community standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.