Discourse vs Element
Comparing two open source alternatives to Discord and Slack . Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.
Element
AGPL-3.0Open-source Matrix client for secure, decentralized messaging, voice, and video — runs on your own server.
Side-by-side comparison
 Discourse | Element | |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| GitHub Stars | 46,688 | 12,950 |
| Forks | 8,867 | 2,551 |
| Open Issues | 153 | 3,653 |
| Last Commit | Apr 3, 2026 | Apr 8, 2026 |
| First Released | Jan 12, 2013 | Jul 22, 2015 |
| Categories | ||
| Tags |
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