Discourse vs Element

Comparing two open source alternatives to Discord and Slack . Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.

Discourse

GPL-2.0

A platform for community discussion. Free, open, simple.

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Element

AGPL-3.0

Open-source Matrix client for secure, decentralized messaging, voice, and video — runs on your own server.

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Side-by-side comparison

	Discourse	Element
License	GPL-2.0	AGPL-3.0
Self-hostable	Yes	Yes
GitHub Stars	47,703	13,398
Forks	9,001	2,735
Open Issues	256	3,833
Last Commit	Aug 22, 2026	Aug 21, 2026
First Released	Jan 12, 2013	Jul 22, 2015
Categories	Team Chat & Messaging Tools	Team Chat & Messaging Tools
Tags	#forum #chat	#chat #messaging #privacy #self hosted #voice chat

GitHub stars over time

Discourse47,703

Element

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