Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Discourse VS ZetaBoards

Compare Discourse VS ZetaBoards and see what are their differences

Discourse logo Discourse

Discourse is an open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.

ZetaBoards logo ZetaBoards

ZetaBoards offers free forum hosting that serves a site for growing an online community.
  • Discourse Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-13
  • ZetaBoards Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-14

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.

ZetaBoards features and specs

  • User-friendly Interface
    ZetaBoards offers an intuitive and straightforward interface that is easy to navigate, making it accessible for users of all experience levels.
  • Customization Options
    It provides a range of customization options for administrators, allowing them to tailor the forumโ€™s appearance and functionality to their needs.
  • Free to Use
    ZetaBoards offers its core features and services free of charge, which can be very appealing for small communities or those on a budget.
  • Active Support Community
    There is an active community of users and support forums where users can seek advice, share tips, and troubleshoot issues together.
  • Scalability
    ZetaBoards can support a growing community, handling a significant amount of traffic and data efficiently.

Possible disadvantages of ZetaBoards

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to other forum platforms, ZetaBoards may lack some advanced features which can be a limitation for users seeking more complex functionalities.
  • Ad-Supported
    The platform may display ads on forums hosted for free, which can detract from the user experience and appear unprofessional for some communities.
  • Limited Control Over Data
    As a hosted platform, admins have less control over data and backup, which might be a concern for communities with specific data management needs.
  • Migration Difficulty
    If users decide to move to another platform, transferring data can be complex and not all features or content may be easily transferable.
  • Potential Stability Issues
    Some users have reported occasional server downtime and performance issues, which can affect the reliability of the service.

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

ZetaBoards videos

(flys house of truth) Pose n Stay Skeleton Review (zetaboards)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Discourse and ZetaBoards)
Forums And Forum Software
Forums
95 95%
5% 5
Community Platform
95 95%
5% 5
Social & Communications
87 87%
13% 13

User comments

Share your experience with using Discourse and ZetaBoards. 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 Discourse and ZetaBoards

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...

ZetaBoards Reviews

Top 10 Best Free Open Source Forum Software to Setup own Discussion Forum
Zetaboards features free hosting for the forum that delivers excellent service to develop an online community and works like a perfect place to meet, discuss and share. It is highly customizable and allows the user to change the look and feel according to each community without any hassle. It provides a simple platform with powerful features to create an exceptional forum...
Source: technofizi.net

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Discourse seems to be more popular. 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.

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 / over 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 / over 1 year ago
  • My Fediverse use โ€“ I'm hosting everything myself โ€“ 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 / almost 2 years 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 / about 2 years 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 / about 2 years ago
View more

ZetaBoards mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of ZetaBoards yet. Tracking of ZetaBoards recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

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

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

ForumFree - ForumFree allows you to create a forum or a blog in a few simple steps.

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.

XenForo - Intuitive. Social. Engaging. Fast. XenForo brings a fresh outlook to forum software.

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

PlushForums - PlushForums is a modern online forum hosting platform.