Discourse vs Pillar

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.

Pillar is a creator-focused commerce platform for building a link-in-bio store and selling digital products, memberships, and services. Creators can offer downloads, courses, recurring memberships, coaching bookings, and custom requests. An AI builder and drag-and-drop interface support storefronts, landing pages, courses, and products. Marketing tools include lead magnets, email sequences, automated customer journeys, and sales funnels; media kits and brand-deal reporting support creator-brand activity. Payments use processors such as Stripe and PayPal, with one-tap checkout, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Buy Now Pay Later options. Coaching bookings integrate with Zoom and Google Meet, while Google Calendar and Zoom are available through Zapier. Pillar supports web, Android, and iOS. It has a free plan and a three-day trial; its pricing note lists paid plans from $29/mo when billed annually. The listed Creator plan costs $39 a month, billed monthly, and the Entrepreneur plan costs $129 a month, billed monthly. Professional has no listed price. Support includes FAQs, how-to articles, onboarding resources, and support chat. Pillar prohibits direct sales through commerce links of alcohol and restricts other illegal or regulated goods and services.