# Discourse vs Skool: which do AI models recommend for community, September 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Community platforms. Zero of twelve models named Discourse first on the direct prompt; zero named Skool. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/customer/community-platforms/discourse-vs-skool/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discourse | 13% | #4 of 14 | 11% | 37 | 12 of 12 |
| Skool | 2% | #8 of 14 | 20% | 10 | 6 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Bettermode) (alternatives: Discourse, Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla)
- Mistral Small: neither first, one named (first choices: Bettermode) (alternatives: Discourse, Jatra)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Circle) (alternatives: Discourse, Guru, Microsoft Viva Topics & Teams, Salesforce Communities)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: Bettermode) (alternatives: Gainsight Customer Communities, Higher Logic Vanilla, Influitive, Zendesk Community)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: Higher Logic Vanilla) (alternatives: Gainsight Customer Communities, Khoros Communities)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Bettermode) (alternatives: Circle, Gainsight Customer Communities)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither named (first choices: Higher Logic Vanilla) (alternatives: Bettermode, Gainsight Customer Communities)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither named (first choices: Higher Logic Vanilla) (alternatives: Bettermode, Gainsight Customer Communities, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Zendesk Community)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Higher Logic Vanilla) (alternatives: Bettermode, Circle, Salesforce Experience Cloud)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither named (first choices: Higher Logic Vanilla) (alternatives: Bettermode, Gainsight Customer Communities, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Zendesk Community)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named (first choices: Circle, Higher Logic Vanilla) (alternatives: Bettermode, Salesforce Experience Cloud)

## What the models said about Discourse

- "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

- "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)

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. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.