# Discourse: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 45 judge labels across 1 category by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/discourse

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Community platforms](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/customer/community-platforms/index.md) | 18% | 2 | 9% | 45 |

## What the models said for it

- "open-source, self-hostable, transparent pricing (from $100/mo), full data ownership, no lock-in" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, Community)
- "Absolute minimum budget: Start with Discourse (free) or Thinkific ($5/month)" (MiniMax M2.5, Community)
- "Discourse if you want the best mix of capability, control, and cost-effectiveness." (GPT-5.4 mini, Community)
- "Best Overall Value & Control: Discourse (Self-Hosted) ... Why it's the top choice" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, Community)

## And against it

- "basic forums like Discourse (lacks B2B-specific features)" (Grok 4.20, Community)
- "Excellent search and moderation; less "modern visual portal" aesthetic out of the box." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, Community)
- "the hosted version starts at ~$100/mo and can get pricey with scaling" (Grok 4.20, Community)
- "Discourse can feel more technical" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, Community)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Mistral Small | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kimi K2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Discourse, from 122 of the 143 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- spotsaas.com: 55
- g2.com: 51
- guideflow.com: 47
- higherlogic.com: 47
- circle.so: 38
- bettermode.com: 35
- toolradar.com: 32
- discourse.org: 29 (its own site)
- linkedin.com: 29
- gainsight.com: 27

### Pages cited

- https://spotsaas.com/blog/best-online-community-management-software: 46
- https://guideflow.com/blog/customer-community-software: 44
- https://thinkific.com/blog/best-online-community-platforms: 27
- https://toolradar.com/guides/best-community-platforms: 25
- https://linkedin.com/posts/cx-everywhere_online-communities-are-becoming-a-core-part-activity-7493128026118041601-eyri: 21
- https://proofmap.com/insights/reports/customer-community-platform-2026: 20
- https://socialedgeconsulting.com/post/best-online-community-platforms: 18
- https://discourse.org/pricing: 16

## The company

Discourse; https://www.discourse.org; founded 2013. From Wikidata, fetched 2026-09-14.

## In its own words

What Discourse's own pages state, read 2026-09-28. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: The customizable, scalable community platform powering more than 22,000 communities that create knowledge through conversation. (https://discourse.org/)
- For: community (https://discourse.org/)
- Price stated: Start with the free plan or try any paid plan free for 14 days. (https://discourse.org/)
- Starting price: $100 /month (https://www.discourse.org/pricing)
- Free plan or trial: Start your free trial (https://discourse.org/)
- Certifications: GDPR, CCPA
- Hosting: Global, Europe
- Customers named: Twitch, carwow, Local Guides, Katalon, Hella, Western Digital, Wyze, Monzo

## What it publishes

Every page discourse.org exposes, read 2026-09-29: 445 addresses. By kind, pages and the last 90 days:

- blog: 247 pages, 8 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-09-23
- case study: 2 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- conference or event: 4 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2025-10-01
- report or ebook: 2 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2021-10-01
- comparison: 12 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest 2022-08-01
- template or tool: 1 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- news or press: 2 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- Recent: 2026-09-23 blog: Introducing discourse workflows https://blog.discourse.org/2026/09/introducing-discourse-workflows
- Recent: 2026-09-23 blog: How turborenault moved 20 000 members from xenforo to discourse https://blog.discourse.org/2026/09/how-turborenault-moved-20-000-members-from-xenforo-to-discourse
- Recent: 2026-09-02 blog: How to use discourse for customer support https://blog.discourse.org/2026/09/how-to-use-discourse-for-customer-support
- Recent: 2026-08-18 blog: Amd building one developer community https://blog.discourse.org/2026/08/amd-building-one-developer-community
- Recent: 2026-08-11 blog: Introducing the all new admin dashboard https://blog.discourse.org/2026/08/introducing-the-all-new-admin-dashboard
- Recent: 2026-08-06 blog: Discourse discover building in the physical world https://blog.discourse.org/2026/08/discourse-discover-building-in-the-physical-world

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/gtm.