Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

DeviantArt VS Discourse

Compare DeviantArt VS Discourse and see what are their differences

DeviantArt logo DeviantArt

deviantART was created to entertain, inspire, and empower the artist in all of us.

Discourse logo Discourse

Discourse is an open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.
  • DeviantArt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-03
  • Discourse Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-13

DeviantArt features and specs

  • Large Art Community
    DeviantArt has a vast user base, allowing for diverse artwork and varied feedback from other artists and art enthusiasts.
  • Portfolio Management
    The platform allows artists to create a polished and organized portfolio to showcase their works professionally.
  • Wide Range of Genres
    There are numerous categories and sub-categories for art, photography, literature, and more, catering to various artistic tastes and styles.
  • Artist Support
    DeviantArt offers options like commissions, prints, and the core membership for artists to earn money from their work.
  • Engagement Features
    The site includes features such as comments, favorites, and groups that foster interaction and community building among users.

Possible disadvantages of DeviantArt

  • Interface Clutter
    The website can sometimes feel cluttered and overwhelming, with numerous menus and sections that might be confusing to new users.
  • Commercialization of Art
    The platform's emphasis on commercialization can sometimes overshadow the appreciation of art for artโ€™s sake.
  • Quality Control
    With the vast amount of content submitted daily, it can be difficult to maintain a high standard of quality across the platform.
  • Copyright Issues
    There have been instances of art theft, where users upload others' work without permission, raising concerns about copyright violations.
  • Paid Features
    Some advanced features and tools are locked behind a paywall, which can be prohibitive for emerging artists who are financially constrained.

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.

Analysis of DeviantArt

Overall verdict

  • DeviantArt can be a great platform for certain users, but it may not be suitable for everyone.

Why this product is good

  • Diverse Community: DeviantArt is one of the largest online social networks for artists and art enthusiasts, offering a vibrant community for sharing and discussing art.
  • Wide Range of Artworks: Users can explore a vast array of artworks, including traditional art, digital art, photography, and more.
  • Engagement Opportunities: Artists can receive feedback from the community, engage in contests, and collaborate with others.

Recommended for

  • Emerging and Established Artists: Those looking to exhibit their work and build an audience.
  • Art Enthusiasts: Individuals interested in discovering new art and engaging with artists directly.
  • Collaborative Art Projects: Artists aiming to collaborate or participate in community projects and challenges.

DeviantArt videos

Deviantart Eclipse: A Review

More videos:

  • Review - Deviantart Review - MarkOmo83 (paid video)
  • Review - I HATE deviantART (2018)

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 DeviantArt and Discourse)
Social Networks
73 73%
27% 27
Forums
0 0%
100% 100
Design Inspiration
100 100%
0% 0
Forums And Forum Software

User comments

Share your experience with using DeviantArt and Discourse. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

DeviantArt Reviews

23 Best Free Image Hosting Sites (Upload & Share) in 2022
DeviantArt is currently the largest online social community of artists and art enthusiasts. It provides a place for artists to display and get feedback on their work. With over 10 million incredibly talented members, you could spend weeks browsing the site.
13 Best DeviantArt Alternatives & Similar Sites
More than anything, the best alternative depends on lots of factors. But first of all, make sure that the platform you are going to choose will help you show your work to the world. And this is anything you need to know about DeviantArt alternatives, that may help to put your work online for anyone to see.
Top 10 Killer Deviantart Alternatives for Art Communities
If you are in search of some right platforms like DeviantArt, ArtMajeur is for you. The same as ArtWeb, ArtMajeur allows you to buy and sell artworks. You can upload your images and sell them on the website for a commission of 10% or sell reproductions through print-on-demand. The community provides perfect constructive criticism of your work, allowing you to improve your...
20 Websites Like DeviantArt {2021}
Many of you must have indeed opted for DeviantArt to take your art to the next level. But in case, you are listening to it for the first time, we are here to guide you with the details of DeviantArt. We shall predominantly discuss the reasons why you need alternatives for websites like DeviantArt.

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, DeviantArt should be more popular than Discourse. It has been mentiond 58 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.

DeviantArt mentions (58)

  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2024)
    DeviantArt | Senior Site Reliability Engineer/Senior DevOps Engineer/Senior Infrastructure Engineer | US/Canada - West Coast/Mountain Time (Fully REMOTE but must be in one of those time zones) or Tel Aviv Israel (ONSITE) | Full-Time | https://deviantart.com DeviantArt was founded in 2000 and has been a part of Wix since 2017. It is the largest online social network for artists and art enthusiasts. For emerging and... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Decided to grab this series, first book came as a comicโ€ฆ problem?
    My favorite source of "envisioning material," though, is the work that Mika Blackfield has done on deviantart.com:. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Author Resources: A Non-Comprehensive Guide to Finding Non-AI Budget Cover Art
    Starving Artists: This is one of the options I encourage the most highly. Take the time to search out new, promising artists, ones without extensive careers. Their prices are lower- often immensely so! Finding good ones will be tricky, however- this is one of the ones where you'll need to spend a LOT of time browsing through various art sites looking. I recommend starting your search on deviantart.com and... Source: about 3 years ago
  • Panthers Helmet Movie Shot
    The shot was black and white, the helmet was up risen by hand, and pretty sure it was posted on deviantart.com (a website which was popular like 15 years ago, haha). Source: about 3 years ago
  • Sunamine29 strikes again, and her target appears to beโ€ฆ Tree.
    The WG drive had 11 parts. Go on deviantart.com and go to Sunamine29โ€™s account, then go to โ€œGalleryโ€ and scroll left on the galleries until you find a gallery called โ€œTree and Remote WG Driveโ€. Source: about 3 years ago
View more

Discourse mentions (23)

View more

What are some alternatives?

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

Behance - The Creative Professional Platform.

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

Dribbble - Shots from popular and up and coming designers in the Dribbble community, your best resource to discover and connect with designers worldwide.

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.

pixiv - pixiv is an illustration community service where you can post and enjoy creative work. A large variety of work is uploaded, and user-organized contests are frequently held as well.

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