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Discourse Reviews & Product Details

Discourse Overview

What is Discourse?

Discourse is a powerful platform for building online communities. With its modern design, intuitive interface, and robust feature set, Discourse empowers organizations, businesses, and individuals to connect with their audiences and build vibrant, engaging communities. From discussion forums to chat rooms, Discourse offers a range of tools and features that make it easy to communicate, collaborate, and share information. Whether you're looking to connect with customers, engage with fans, or build a community around your brand, Discourse provides the tools and support you need to succeed. With a focus on usability, scalability, and security, Discourse is the ultimate solution for anyone looking to create a thriving online community.

Discourse Details
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Product Description

Discourse is the 100% open source discussion platform built/

How do you position yourself against your competitors?

We offer the most powerful and versatile community tool in the world. Unlike others, our open-source platform combines the power of discussion with real-time chat and gives you complete control of your data. In addition to our product, our services include hosting, design and custom development, making us a complete solution for all kinds of organizations from small teams to large enterprises.


Seller Details
Seller
Discourse
Year Founded
2012
HQ Location
El Cerrito, CA
Twitter
@discourse
12,057 Twitter followers
LinkedIn® Page
www.linkedin.com
203 employees on LinkedIn®

JR
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Recent Discourse Reviews

Jerome H.
JH
Jerome H.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
5.0 out of 5
"Friendly user interface"
a great platform to learn and share ideas about relevant topics
AA
Aboelhassan A.Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
4.0 out of 5
"my experience in using Discourse."
It is an extensive database filled with valuable information. Discourse is user-friendly and facilitates open discussions in a forum-style format. ...
PH
Prithvi H.Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
4.0 out of 5
"One of the best community and forum building app"
Discourse is very easy to use and very user friendly. One think I like the most about it is the batches and awards that can be assigned to top cont...
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Discourse Media

Discourse Demo - Community example
This screen capture showcases a Discourse community, which is highly customizable and open-source. With Discourse, community managers and developers can personalize every aspect of the site, from layout and branding to plugins and themes. This flexibility enables the community to evolve and grow ...
Discourse Demo - Community example
This screen capture showcases a Discourse community, which is highly customizable and open-source. With Discourse, community managers and developers can personalize every aspect of the site, from layout and branding to plugins and themes. This flexibility enables the community to evolve and grow ...
Discourse Demo - Community example
This screen capture showcases a Discourse community, which is highly customizable and open-source. With Discourse, community managers and developers can personalize every aspect of the site, from layout and branding to plugins and themes. This flexibility enables the community to evolve and grow ...
Discourse Demo - Community example
This screen capture showcases a Discourse community, which is highly customizable and open-source. With Discourse, community managers and developers can personalize every aspect of the site, from layout and branding to plugins and themes. This flexibility enables the community to evolve and grow ...
Discourse Demo - Badges System - Gamification
This screen capture showcases Discourse's badge system, which is a powerful tool for rewarding and incentivizing user behavior. With badges, community managers can recognize users for their contributions, encourage engagement, and create a sense of accomplishment and belonging within the communit...
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Video Reviews

66 Discourse Reviews

4.0 out of 5
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66 Discourse Reviews
4.0 out of 5
66 Discourse Reviews
4.0 out of 5

Discourse Pros and Cons

How are these determined?Information
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Pros
Cons

Overall Review Sentiment for DiscourseQuestion

Time to Implement
<1 day
>12 months
Return on Investment
<6 months
48+ months
Ease of Setup
0 (Difficult)
10 (Easy)
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G2 reviews are authentic and verified.
AA
Doctor
Medical Practice
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about Discourse?

It is an extensive database filled with valuable information. Discourse is user-friendly and facilitates open discussions in a forum-style format. It offers significant customization options, allowing the creation of various topics and categories, while also monitoring user engagement. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Discourse?

Although tagging and searching typically lead me to the information I need, there often appears to be duplicate content, making it difficult to identify the 'newest' or 'validated' answers. Additionally, the notifications occasionally do not function correctly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Discourse solving and how is that benefiting you?

respond to customer inquiries and maintain a record of responses similar to Stack Overflow. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Jerome H.
JH
Photography Instructor
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: G2 invite
What do you like best about Discourse?

a great platform to learn and share ideas about relevant topics Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Discourse?

i enjoy every single bit of using this platform Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Discourse solving and how is that benefiting you?

assisting me with meeting new people who have vast knowledge about my contract with labelbox. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

PH
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about Discourse?

Discourse is very easy to use and very user friendly. One think I like the most about it is the batches and awards that can be assigned to top contributors. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Discourse?

Nothing much to dislike here as I really love the product. Their enterprise plans can be a little pricey. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Discourse solving and how is that benefiting you?

Usually at our organisation we have one as internal users only and one open to the public. People can post their questions and queries and it will be answered by the experts in the market. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

SL
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: G2 invite on behalf of seller
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about Discourse?

We chose Discourse about five years ago because we wanted to create a place for an in-depth conversation about new research that was coming out in occupational therapy. And it has delivered! I am consistently amazed by the quality of conversation that the platform fosters.

The added bonus has been all of the customization options on the platform. This has allowed us to roll out new tools we did not anticipate initially. The best surprise was when they recently updated the layout to prioritze sidebar navigation-it gave the platform a freshness to rival other social platforms! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Discourse?

One thing to be aware of with Discourse is that it gives a lot of flexibility, but we've had to leverage a developer to capitalize on creating our more advanced tools. Overall, we've been pleased with this tradeoff though! And, luckily, Discourse really does provide amazing support for more complex projects. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Discourse solving and how is that benefiting you?

Discourse helps us manage our private community for occupational therapists to discuss new research and earn their continuing education hours. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from André Sousa of Discourse

Great to hear that Discourse has been delivering on your needs for the past five years, Sarah! We're thrilled that our platform has been able to facilitate meaningful and in-depth conversations among your community of occupational therapists.

We understand that the flexibility and customization options that Discourse provides can be both a blessing and a challenge, especially when it comes to creating more advanced tools. However, we're glad to hear that you've been able to leverage the support of our amazing team to make the most of the platform's capabilities.

Thank you for taking the time to share your positive experience with Discourse on G2. We appreciate your feedback and are committed to continuing to provide a platform that helps businesses like yours build and nurture thriving online communities.

Sara L.
SL
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: G2 invite on behalf of seller
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about Discourse?

I have worked with a number of all inclusive, expensive, enterprise level community platforms. I was unaware of Discourse until my last job.

I was really impressed by the flexibility and opensource nature of the product. The pricing is great which makes this a viable option for SMD level businesses.

The leadership and support folks are amazing. They are very responsive and really do care about their customers.

I really liked that support tries to resolve issues if they are simple instead of just pushing me to open a professional services ticket. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Discourse?

The UX is pretty basic. If you want some really unique experience or functionality you need to go custom which can be a big project.

There are limited out of the box plugins but I believe they are adding as they work on customizations so that makes integrations with your other systems more likely. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Discourse solving and how is that benefiting you?

Self-Service Support and Product Awareness. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from André Sousa of Discourse

Dear Sara,

Thank you for sharing your experience with Discourse. It's great to hear that you have found our platform to be flexible, open-source, and cost-effective for SMD level businesses. We appreciate your positive feedback about our support team and their responsiveness in resolving issues.

Regarding your feedback on the UX and out-of-the-box plugins, we understand that customizing the platform to achieve a unique experience or functionality can be a big project. However, we are continually working on adding more features and integrations to help make it easier to achieve your goals.

Thank you for trusting Discourse as your community platform and for your support. We look forward to working with you to help achieve your self-service support and product awareness objectives.

Michael C.
MC
Talent Acquisition Partner
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about Discourse?

Discourse is really easy to use and allows an open discussion in a forum style platform. It's quite customizable where you can create different topics and categories, and also tracks user engagement. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Discourse?

Discourse is quite a robust platform, and depending on how the company uses and organises it, it can be quite overwhelming. Fortunately, they have a fantastic bot that teaches you the basics and get you up-to-speed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Discourse solving and how is that benefiting you?

We like to use Discourse for community discussion threads and company/team announcements. It's a way to help us seperate from our knowledge-base and have a simpler workflow. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from André Sousa of Discourse

Hi Michael. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Discourse. It's great to hear that you find the platform easy to use and customizable. The ability to create different topics and categories, as well as track user engagement, definitely makes it a useful tool for community discussions and announcements.

We understand that the platform can be overwhelming at times, but we're glad to hear that the bot has been helpful in teaching you the basics and getting you up to speed.

It's wonderful to know that Discourse has been a valuable tool for separating your knowledge base and simplifying your workflow. We hope that it continues to serve you well in your community discussions and company/team announcements.

Thank you for your review and for choosing Discourse!

Filippo S.
FS
Multilingual Support Specialist
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about Discourse?

main resource for internal communication and support outside of live channels Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Discourse?

interface is very minimal and flat, but not necessarily simple and intuitive Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Discourse solving and how is that benefiting you?

Provides an online discussion platform to engage in product discussion Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from André Sousa of Discourse

Thank you for your feedback on Discourse, Filippo! We're glad to hear that it's your primary resource for communication and support. We also wanted to state that understand your concern about the interface and are continually working to improve it.

We'd like to take this opportunity to let you know that Discourse recently launched its 3.0 version, with improved features such as an updated editor with better formatting options, improved image handling, keyboard shortcuts, and better moderation tools. Additionally, we've made it more accessible for visually impaired users and introduced a "Knowledge Explorer" feature to help you search for information more efficiently.

We appreciate your support and hope these new features will make your experience even better. If you have any more feedback or suggestions, please let us know.

Verified User in Information Technology and Services
UI
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about Discourse?

It is a huge database of valuable information. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Discourse?

It's not the most intuitive tool to use. While tagging and searching usually get me to where I want to go, there seems to always be duplicate information and no way to determine which is the 'newest' or 'validated' answers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Discourse solving and how is that benefiting you?

A repository for all technical questions/answers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from André Sousa of Discourse

Thank you for your feedback about Discourse. We're glad to hear that you find the platform to be a valuable database of information.

We understand your concerns about the usability of Discourse, including duplicates and outdated information. We're continuously working on ways to improve the platform's organization and search features to make it easier for users to find the information they need. We also have a just-in-time feedback feature that screens for duplicate content and provides real-time notifications to users when they attempt to post content that already exists.

Our community moderators regularly review and validate the information to ensure that it's accurate and up-to-date. We recommend that you use the "Latest" or "New" tabs to see the most recent posts and updates.

We appreciate your feedback, which helps us improve the platform and provide a better user experience. If you have any further suggestions or concerns, please let us know. Thank you for choosing Discourse, and we hope to continue being a valuable resource for you.

Regarding your concerns about duplicate content, you may find this post on the Discourse Meta forum helpful. It discusses how the platform handles duplicate content and offers suggestions for avoiding or reporting it.

See how Discourse improved
Verified User in Nanotechnology
UN
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about Discourse?

everything is very good. I have no suggestions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Discourse?

Sometimes the notifications do not work properly Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Discourse solving and how is that benefiting you?

answer customer questions and have history of answers kind of like stack overflow Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from André Sousa of Discourse

Thank you for your positive feedback about Discourse! We're delighted to hear that you're satisfied with the platform and that you don't have any suggestions for improvement.

Regarding your comment about notifications, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We understand how important notifications are to keep you informed and up-to-date. We encourage you to check out our Discourse Meta forum, where you can find various posts discussing notification issues and how to resolve them.

Our team is continually working to improve the notification system, and we appreciate your feedback, which helps us identify areas for improvement. If you have any further suggestions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Thank you for choosing Discourse as your preferred communication platform, and we hope to continue providing you with a positive experience.

See how Discourse improved
Padraic R.
PR
Community Manager
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
Response from André Sousa of Discourse

Thank you so much for your amazing review of Discourse, Padraic! We're thrilled to hear that our platform has been meeting all of your needs and that you find it easy to use and customize. It's also great to hear that our support team has been helpful and responsive.

We definitely understand your desire for additional plugins and features. While we work hard to continually add new functionality to our platform, we know that there may be specific needs that our current ecosystem of third-party plugins may not fully address. We appreciate your feedback on this and will certainly keep it in mind as we continue to improve our platform.

Thank you again for choosing Discourse as your main point of contact for all of your members. We're committed to providing the best possible experience for you and your community, and we look forward to continuing to support you in the future!