Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Bettermode VS Discourse

Compare Bettermode VS Discourse and see what are their differences

Bettermode logo Bettermode

Create community sites, code-free.

Discourse logo Discourse

Discourse is an open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.
  • Bettermode Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-09

The most versatile, and feature-rich engagement platform. Browse beautifully designed templates, effortlessly customize it to meet your specific requirements.

  • Discourse Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-13

Bettermode features and specs

  • Customizability
    Tribe.so allows extensive customization to fit the unique branding and community engagement needs of different organizations, offering tools for theme personalization and custom CSS.
  • Integrations
    Tribe.so integrates seamlessly with various third-party tools and platforms such as Slack, Zapier, and Google Analytics, enhancing functionality and ease of use.
  • User Engagement
    The platform provides multiple engagement features like gamification, polls, and Q&A, which help to foster community interaction and participation.
  • Mobile-Friendly
    Tribe.so is optimized for mobile use, ensuring a responsive design that works seamlessly across different devices, which is crucial for user accessibility.
  • Scalability
    It offers scalable solutions that can grow with the size and needs of the community, making it suitable for both small businesses and large enterprises.

Possible disadvantages of Bettermode

  • Pricing
    The subscription plans can be somewhat expensive for small businesses or solo entrepreneurs, which might limit accessibility for some users.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may find the platform complex initially, requiring some time to fully understand and utilize all its features and functionalities.
  • Limited Offline Access
    The platform requires an internet connection, which limits its use in environments where connectivity is poor or unreliable.
  • Dependence on Third-Party Integrations
    While integrations add functionality, they also create dependency on third-party services. Issues with these services can affect the performance and capabilities of Tribe.so.
  • Feature Overwhelm
    For some users, the extensive feature set can be overwhelming, especially for those who only need a basic community platform without advanced functionalities.

Discourse features and specs

  • Modern Interface
    Discourse provides a clean, intuitive, and responsive user interface that works well on both desktops and mobile devices.
  • Open Source
    Discourse is open source software, allowing for customization, self-hosting, and community contributions, which can reduce costs and increase flexibility.
  • Rich Features
    The platform includes a variety of built-in features such as threaded replies, real-time notifications, and community moderation tools.
  • Scalability
    Discourse is designed to handle small communities as well as large, active forums, making it suitable for a variety of use cases.
  • Security
    Regular updates and a dedicated security team help keep the software secure against vulnerabilities.
  • Integration and APIs
    Discourse offers extensive APIs and integrates well with various other services and plugins, facilitating seamless extensions and automation.

Possible disadvantages of Discourse

  • Resource Intensive
    Discourse can be resource-heavy, which may require significant server capacity and maintenance, especially for large communities.
  • Hosting Costs
    While you can self-host Discourse, the server and maintenance costs can be high. Managed hosting plans provided by Discourse can also be expensive.
  • Complex Setup
    Installing and configuring Discourse can be complex, particularly for those without technical expertise in server management and Ruby on Rails.
  • Learning Curve
    Users and administrators might face a steeper learning curve compared to more traditional forum software due to its modern interface and extensive features.
  • Limited Built-in Themes
    The default theme options are somewhat limited, and extensive customization requires knowledge of front-end development.
  • Dependency on PostgreSQL and Redis
    Discourse relies on PostgreSQL for its database and Redis for caching, which might complicate setup and maintenance compared to solutions that use simpler database architectures.

Bettermode videos

Create your own social media community with TRIBE.so

More videos:

  • Review - Tribe.so walkthrough and quick review - build your own Facebook-like community

Discourse videos

Why We Chose The Discourse Platform For Our Forums

More videos:

  • Review - Why Discourse is the Best Forum Software Out There (No, Really) | Location Rebel
  • Review - A Grammar Review for Discourse Analysis

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Bettermode and Discourse)
Community Platform
37 37%
63% 63
Forums And Forum Software
Project Management
100 100%
0% 0
Forums
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Bettermode and Discourse. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Bettermode and Discourse

Bettermode Reviews

12+ Brilliant Patreon Alternatives to Monetize Your Audience
Paid plans start from $85 and $249 per month or more for large enterprises or those in regulated industries. Tribe also offers a free plan for individuals or smaller businesses. We also had a lifetime deal available for Tribe on Appsumo.
10 Best Patreon Alternatives
You can use Tribe to give your brand social dimension and engage users for further discussion and connection under your brand. Users can follow, explore, ask questions, start discussions, comment, upvote, and share different content types.

Discourse Reviews

20 Telegram Alternatives to Chat With in 2024
Discourse is a basic forum function that could be an alternative to Telegram if you want to stick to text discussions. It's pretty analog, missing both video and livestreaming tools. Instead, Discourse is a basic community that lets you organize discussions--it feels a bit like having your own reddit or Quora.
18 Best Discord Alternatives 2020 | Expert Reviews
Discourse comes in a couple of flavours. You can self-host it yourself in which case the software is free, and you simply need to sign up for server space, or you can pay Discourse for a hosted-for-you option, though self-hosting is a lot cheaper the premium option takes care of the technical side.
IndieHackers: Best forum software
I used Flarum when trying to get a community set up for my product (ended up abandoning it to revisit when we have a larger customer base). It worked fairly well and I enjoyed it but it's definitely beta and unless you're fairly tech savvy it's not quite worth the setup / maintenance. Lots of config changes, crashes, huge issues with plugins, and some features missing. I'd...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Discourse should be more popular than Bettermode. It has been mentiond 23 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Bettermode mentions (3)

  • Open Source Community/forum platform
    I've been researching a few up and coming community platforms such as tribe.so circle.so pensil.in beam.gg which by initial looks they all seem to share similar frameworks and styles which I'm really impressed by. It's sent me down a rabbit whole to see if there is an open source framework that these platforms are built on? Source: over 3 years ago
  • Selling to developers? Use These 3 Strategies
    In a digital, multi-touchpoint world, it’s getting more challenging to measure which users hear about your brand from which channels. That’s why tools like Orbit, Tribe, and Mighty have gained traction so quickly. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Your Product Shouldn't Be an App
    If your app is trying to bring people together but not necessarily to form a market, you might be better off hosting a private Discord or building a community site on top of a platform like Circle, Tribe, or Dev.to's own Forem. Communities especially are an interesting opportunity when added on top of info-products, as they give you the chance to keep your customers engaged with you between releases of new content. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

Discourse mentions (23)

  • Qilin: A Starter Project Template For Every Open Source Project
    GitHub Discussions can also be a great place for support as long as these are regularly monitored. Another option along the same lines is Discourse and the Open Source Matrix which is used by quite a few Open Source and community-based projects. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: How to run an old-school mailing list?
    A lot of communities use [Discourse ](https://discourse.org). [LPSF](https://forum lpsf.org) migrated to it when Yahoo Groups was discontinued. Some of the advantages are that it's open source, self-hostable, and can be configured to work as both a traditional mailing list and modern forum. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • My Fediverse use – I'm hosting everything myself – PeerTube, Mastodon and Lemmy
    More like https://discourse.org/. You can run it yourself, but I can also just have them ding a credit card every month and not think about it again (I do this for a community). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Reddit faces content quality concerns after its Great Mod Purge
    Discourse perhaps? I've seen it in use in a few places; it has a modern look and feel to it at least. https://discourse.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • So Long, Twitter and Reddit
    I fully agree with you see my comment here[0] -- I think you may have misread my comment, it says "Discourse" (as in the forum software[1]), not Discord. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37245220. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Bettermode and Discourse, you can also consider the following products

Mighty Networks - Mighty Networks enables entrepreneurs, organizations, and companies to create and grow a community-powered brand.

Flarum - Flarum is the next-generation forum software that makes online discussion fun. It's simple, fast, and free.

Circle.so - Bring together your discussions, memberships, and content. Integrate a thriving community wherever your audience is, all under your own brand.

Vanilla Forums - Build an engaging community forum using Vanilla's modern cloud forum software.

Slack - A messaging app for teams who see through the Earth!

phpBB - Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is a cheap, credit-card sized computer. The official website uses phpBB for their discussion forums. phpBB is not affiliated with nor responsible for any of the sites listed on the showcase.