Discourse is a civilized discussion platform for your community. Use it as a mailing list, discussion forum, long-form chat room, and more. Developed by Civilized Discourse Construction Kit, Inc.
License: Open Source
Discourse is ideal for modern, interactive communities with rich media and strong SEO features, whereas Simple Machines Forum caters to traditional forum setups with easy installation and customization. Discourse requires more resources and offers a steeper learning curve, while Simple Machines Forum is lightweight and user-friendly but lacks some modern functionalities.