Community platforms · September 2026 Edition
Discourse vs Skool
Zero of twelve models named Discourse first on the direct prompt; zero named Skool. Discourse was named by twelve of the twelve models and Skool by six and Discourse carries 37 labels and Skool 10, so the shares are not directly comparable.
founded 2013. Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share13%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate11%20%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#8A position in a field of 14; printed, not drawn.
Labels3710A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Discourse 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 Discourse · Higher Logic Vanilla vs Skool · Bettermode vs Discourse
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.
DiscourseFirst choices, of twelve modelsSkool
Direct001 against Discourse · 1 against Skool
Paraphrase101 against Discourse
Comparative20
Budget-constrained51
Scale-constrained00
Negative002 against Discourse · 1 against Skool
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.
Every model, every framing
The seventy-two answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Discourse and Skool 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 | | |
Discourse Skool first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Discourse on the left and Skool on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Discourse and Skool stood in it.
Neither was the first choice, one was named
3 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
Mistral SmallBettermode alternatives: Discourse, Jatra
Qwen 3.7 FlashCircle alternatives: Discourse, Guru, Microsoft Viva Topics & Teams, Salesforce Communities
Neither was named
9 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
Perplexity SonarBettermode alternatives: Circle, Gainsight Customer 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
Kimi K2Higher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Circle, Salesforce Experience Cloud
GLM 4.7 FlashXHigher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Gainsight Customer Communities, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Zendesk Community
MiniMax M2.5Circle, Higher Logic Vanilla alternatives: Bettermode, Salesforce Experience Cloud
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
Discourse leads by eighteen points.
Discourse18%#3 of 13Skool0%#10 of 13Mid-marketThe figures above
Enterprise
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
What the models said about Skool
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“Avoid Creator-First Platforms (e.g., Circle, Mighty Networks, Skool)” Gemini 3.5 Flash · direct prompt · hard negative
“Why to be cautious: Feature limitations and poor user experience” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“Final Pick: If you can spend even a tiny amount, Skool at $9/month gives you the most features per dollar.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Skool at $99/month is one of the most cost-effective all-in-one options with gamification and payments built in.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · alternative
“Skool is a highly simplified platform that combines discussion threads, a course classroom, and an event calendar.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · alternative
Also compared
Higher Logic Vanilla vs DiscourseHigher Logic Vanilla vs SkoolBettermode vs DiscourseBettermode vs SkoolCircle vs DiscourseCircle vs SkoolDiscourse vs DiscordDiscourse vs Gainsight Customer CommunitiesDiscourse vs Facebook GroupsDiscord vs SkoolGainsight Customer Communities vs SkoolFacebook Groups 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.