Community platforms · September 2026 Edition
Circle vs Discourse
Two of twelve models named Circle first on the direct prompt; zero named Discourse. Both were named by all twelve models and Circle carries 43 labels and Discourse 37, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in two categories this edition.
founded 2013. Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share15%13%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate23%11%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#3#4A position in a field of 14; printed, not drawn.
Labels4337A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Circle reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Bettermode was named alongside these two in nine of the twelve direct answers. Higher Logic Vanilla vs Circle · Higher Logic Vanilla vs Discourse · Bettermode vs Circle
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the community platforms page.
By framing
How many of the twelve models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
CircleFirst choices, of twelve modelsDiscourse
Direct203 against Circle · 1 against Discourse
Paraphrase211 against Discourse
Comparative12
Budget-constrained352 against Circle
Scale-constrained00
Negative005 against Circle · 2 against Discourse
Bars are first choices, 0 to 12 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to twelve.
Across every category in the September 2026 Edition, Circle and Discourse were named in the same answer seventy-five times, of the 125 answers naming Circle and the 104 naming Discourse. In those answers Discourse took the first choice thirteen times and Circle seventeen.
Every model, every framing
The seventy-two answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Circle and Discourse stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | |||
| Mistral Small | | | | | | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | |||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | |||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | |
Circle Discourse first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Circle on the left and Discourse on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Circle and Discourse stood in it.
Circle first, Discourse an alternative
2 of 12 modelsDiscourse was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Qwen 3.7 FlashCircle alternatives: Discourse, Guru, Microsoft Viva Topics & Teams, Salesforce Communities
MiniMax M2.5Circle, Higher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Salesforce Experience Cloud
Neither was the first choice, one was named
4 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Gemini 3.5 FlashBettermode alternatives: Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla
Perplexity SonarBettermode alternatives: Circle, Gainsight Customer Communities
Mistral SmallBettermode alternatives: Discourse, Jatra
Kimi K2Higher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Circle, Salesforce Experience Cloud
Neither was named
6 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5Bettermode alternatives: Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla, Influitive, Zendesk Community
GPT-5.4 miniHigher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Gainsight Customer Communities, Khoros Communities
Grok 4.1 FastHigher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Gainsight Customer Communities
DeepSeek V4 FlashHigher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Gainsight Customer Communities, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Zendesk Community
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
GLM 4.7 FlashXHigher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Gainsight Customer Communities, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Zendesk Community
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Circle leads by thirteen points.
Circle31%#1 of 13Discourse18%#3 of 13Mid-marketThe figures above
Enterprise
The order flips: Discourse leads at enterprise.
Discourse6%#5 of 9Circle2%#8 of 9What the models said about Circle
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Avoid Creator-First Platforms (e.g., Circle, Mighty Networks, Skool)” Gemini 3.5 Flash · direct prompt · hard negative
“Avoid: Paid SaaS like Circle ($89/mo)” Grok 4.1 Fast · budget prompt · hard negative
“Very polished UX, but support/billing concerns are notable... Circle for post-cancellation billing issues” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Start with Circle if you want a polished, low-maintenance experience that covers marketing, support, and engagement.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“If you have ~$90/month and no developers, Circle offers the best value for a professional customer community.” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · first choice
“the best customer community platform is usually Circle if you want a polished, all-in-one branded community” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about Discourse
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“avoid free/open-source (e.g., Discourse) for compliance/security” Grok 4.1 Fast · direct prompt · hard negative
“Forum-first platforms (Discourse, NodeBB, Flarum, etc.) ... Why be cautious: Complex permission and moderation setups” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · soft negative
“requires technical resources to run and integrate... If not, avoid self-hosted Discourse” DeepSeek V4 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Choose Discourse if you want the absolute best customer support hub where community answers help deflect support tickets via Google Search” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Choose Discourse if your product is technical and complex, requiring a robust database of past solutions.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“the best customer community platform is Discourse (self-hosted open-source version)” Grok 4.1 Fast · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Higher Logic Vanilla vs CircleHigher Logic Vanilla vs DiscourseBettermode vs CircleBettermode vs DiscourseCircle vs DiscordCircle vs Gainsight Customer CommunitiesCircle vs Facebook GroupsCircle vs SkoolDiscourse vs DiscordDiscourse vs Gainsight Customer CommunitiesDiscourse vs Facebook GroupsDiscourse vs SkoolAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full community standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.