Askbot vs Discourse
Askbot
askbot.com
Discourse
discourse.orgSide by side
| Figure | Askbot | Discourse |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $49/mo | $100/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 5 |
| Spec score · Community Platforms | 8.3 (#41) | 9.0 (#8) |
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes |
| Founded | 2009 | 2013 |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Integrations | Askbot consulting offers CMS integration for WordPress, Drupal, and custom CMS platforms. | Integrations include GitHub, chat providers, Zendesk, and authentication providers. |
| Moderation | Admins can choose flags-only, audit, or full pre-moderation, with configurable flag thresholds and user lifecycle controls. | Discourse provides built-in moderation tools and AI-assisted community management. |
| Moderation tools | Yes | Yes |
| Paid from | 49 | Paid hosting starts at $100 per month for Pro. |
Plans
Askbot
- Basic$49 a month
- Business$149 a month
- Enterprise$499 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- CustomPriced on request
Discourse
- FreeFree
- Pro$100 a month
- Business$500 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Free planFree
In their own words
Discourse
Discourse is community software for hosting discussions, with options to self-host or use managed hosting. It supports private spaces, event hosting, custom domains and moderation tools, and its codebase is freely available on GitHub. The free plan costs nothing and includes unlimited members, 2 staff seats, 500k monthly page views, 20k monthly emails, 10 categories and 5GB storage. Pro costs $100 a month and includes 5 staff seats, 500k monthly page views, 100k monthly emails, unlimited categories and 20GB storage. Business costs $500 a month, with 15 staff seats, priority support, standard migration services and 100GB storage. Enterprise pricing is custom; it includes unlimited staff seats, 1M+ monthly page views, 1.5M+ monthly emails and 200GB+ storage. Enterprise also includes SSO, SAML, enterprise authentication and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Paid plans have a 14-day trial, and hosting plans require no credit card up front. Integrations include GitHub, chat providers, Zendesk and authentication providers. Support options range from community help to email support and professional services.