Discourse vs Mattermost Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Discourse | Mattermost | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $100/mo | Custom |
| Number of plans | 3 | 3 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | flat-rate | per-seat |
Pro
- Unlimited members & chat
- Unlimited public & private categories
- Unlimited tags
- Custom groups
- Email support
- Custom & community themes
- Custom domain
- API and Webhook access
- 15+ plugins
- 5 staff seats
Business
- Advanced reporting & analytics
- Automation
- Events
- Gamification
- SSO (Open ID & OAuth2)
- 20+ additional plugins
- 15 staff seats
- Priority support
- Migration services
Enterprise
- Expert design & development services
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Migration services
- GDPR & CCPA compliant hosting
- 50+ plugins
- Unlimited staff seats
Professional
- Messaging, File Sharing, and Link and File Previews across Device Platforms
- 1:1 Audio Calls and Screen Sharing
- Threaded Discussions
- Core Search up to 3 Million Posts
- Custom Branding, Themes, and Emojis
- Hashtags
- Channel Categorization
- Available in 20 Languages
- Multi-Window Desktop
- Compact View
- Markdown Compatibility
- Message Priority
- Persistent Notifications
- Group Calling and Screen Share
- Guest Accounts
- Custom User Groups
- System-Wide Notifications
- Multifactor Authentication
- Single Sign-On
- AD/LDAP User Sync
- Advanced Access Controls
- Interactive AI Bot Support
- Bring-Your-Own & Multi-LLM Integration
- Multiplayer Tool Calling
- Integrations Platform
- Operational and DevOps Integrations
- Community Support
- Professional Support
Enterprise
- Sovereign AI
- Contextual Summarization and Composition
- Real-Time Channel Briefing
- Universal Connector with Model Context Protocol (MCP)
- Agents Enhanced Search
- Enterprise LLM Management
- Sovereign Agentic Web Search
- Channel-Context Summarization
- Agents Token Accounting
- Tool Policy Editor
- Agent Creation
- Calls with Live-Text Transcription & AI Summaries
- Video Integrations
- Microsoft Teams Messaging Integration
- Shared Channels
- FIPS 140-3 Compliant
- STIG-Hardened Image for DoD Information Assurance Standards
- Collaborative Playbooks
- Workflow Dashboards
- Mobile Playbooks
- Enhanced Run Reports
- Channel Checklists
- AI-Assisted Summaries and Retrospectives
- Granular Role-Based Access Controls
- AD/LDAP Group, Channel, and Team Sync
- Delegated Granular Administration
- Data Retention Policy
- Legal Hold
- Compliance Export and eDiscovery Automation
- Channel Export
- Custom End User Terms of Service
- High Availability Cluster-Based Deployment
- Horizontal Scalability Architecture
- Enterprise Search (3M+ Posts)
- Performance Monitoring
- Advanced Logging
- High Availability, Horizontally Scalable Calls and Screen Share
- Supported Kubernetes Deployment
- Scale to 50,000 Concurrent Users
- Boards: Kanban-Style Project Management
- Enterprise Mobility Management (AppConfig) Support
- Private Mobility with ID-Only Push Notifications
- Enterprise Support
- Premier Support
- U.S.-Based Premier Support
Enterprise Advanced
Popular- Mobile Biometrics
- Mobile Data-at-Rest Encryption
- Mobile Ephemeral Mode
- Mobile Screenshot Prevention
- Mobile Jailbreak / Root Detection
- Secure File Viewer (Mobile)
- Air-Gapped Deployment
- DDIL Microsoft Teams App
- Offline Operation and Smart Resync
- Scale to 200,000 Concurrent Users
- Dedicated Write-Through Caching
- InTune MAM for iOS
- Dynamic Attribute-Based Access Controls
- Zero Trust Channel Access
- Environmental Attribute-Based Controls
- Anonymous ID-Based URLs
- Classification Markings: Channel Banners
- Data Spillage Handling
- Burn-on-Read Messages
- Program Masking
- Automatic Channel Translations
Discourse vs Mattermost FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Discourse uses flat-rate pricing, while Mattermost goes with per-seat. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Discourse: At $100 and $500 flat, Discourse sits mid-to-premium compared to lighter forum tools, but it undercuts enterprise community platforms that charge based on MAUs or seats. They're clearly going after teams that want forum ownership without the per-user pricing anxiety that plagues Slack-alikes. Mattermost: Full custom pricing across all paid tiers signals they're going upmarket and selling through sales, not self-serve — they're not trying to win SMBs on price transparency. They're competing with Slack and Teams in regulated industries (defense, finance, healthcare) where open-source and self-hosted control matter more than cost.
Still deciding? See the best Discourse alternatives or the best Mattermost alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Discourse and Mattermost and let you know when something moves.