diumDium vs Discourse: A forum, or forum plus live events?
Discourse is a mature, open-source forum. Dium adds live sessions, AMAs and sponsor pages without plugins or self-hosting. Here is where each wins.
The short answer
Some groups keep a long-running Discourse forum and use Dium for a single event, program or cohort.
Discourse fits
Pick Discourse if you want a proven forum with mature search, open-source code you can self-host, and a large plugin ecosystem.
Dium fits
Pick Dium if your community mixes Q&A with live sessions, AMAs, cohorts or events with sponsors, and you do not want to run servers or plugins.
Side by side, as of September 2026
Competitor prices come from each vendor's own page unless marked. Check Discourse pricing for today's numbers.
| Criterion | Dium | Discourse |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free under 50 members | Free hosted plan: unlimited members, 500k pageviews/mo, 5GB storage, 2 staff seatsAs of September 2026. Source: Discourse pricing |
| Paid plans | $29 to $299/mo, set by member count | Pro $100/mo (5 staff seats, themes, API, 15+ plugins); Business $500/mo (15 staff, analytics, automation, events, gamification); Enterprise customAs of September 2026. Source: Discourse pricing |
| Open source and self-hosting | Hosted only | Free and open source to self-hostAs of September 2026. Source: Discourse pricing |
| Marked best answers | Available (Discourse Solved) | |
| Live sessions | Built in: RSVP seats, Meet or Zoom link, raised hands, polls, breakouts, co-hosts, recurring sessions | Events on BusinessAs of September 2026. Source: Discourse pricing |
| Sponsor, speaker and exhibitor pages | Not a built-in page type | |
| Direct messages | 1:1 and group, with reactions, edits and pins | Personal messages |
| Search and SEO | Search across Waves, with best answers first | Mature search and SEO |
How they compare on what matters
Search and long-term SEO
Discourse has years of work behind its search and SEO. We do not claim Dium's search is better. Dium's search focuses on solved Waves: when the asker marks a best answer, that answer is what people find first.
Live sessions and AMAs
In Discourse, events come with the Business plan at $500/mo (as of September 2026, Discourse pricing). In Dium, any Wave can be a scheduled session on every plan: RSVP seats, your Google Meet or Zoom link, raised hands, polls, breakout rooms, co-hosts and recurring sessions. Questions asked during the session stay on the Wave.
Events with sponsors and speakers
Dium Pages give each sponsor, speaker, exhibitor or partner a branded page with a wall, sessions, team and contact button, plus visit analytics for its owner. Rooms let sibling Flows (for example, one per event track) share members and DMs.
Hosting and ownership
Discourse is open source. You can run it yourself and own the whole stack. Dium is hosted only. Owners can request an export of their Flow's Waves and answers by email.
Price
Discourse's free hosted plan allows unlimited members with 2 staff seats (as of September 2026, Discourse pricing). For a large community that fits inside those limits, that is cheaper than Dium. Once you need the paid plans, Discourse starts at $100/mo and Dium at $29/mo.
Where Discourse is better
No tool is best for everyone. If these matter most to you, Discourse is probably the better choice.
- Mature search and SEO, built over many years.
- Open source. You can self-host and own the code.
- A large plugin and theme ecosystem.
- Proven at very large scale.
- A free hosted plan with unlimited members, as of September 2026.
Moving from Discourse
Start small. Most groups move their questions first and keep everything else where it is.
Keep your archive online
If you close a forum, keep high-traffic threads online or redirect them, so search value is not lost. Bettermode gives the same advice for forum moves.
Open a Flow
Free under 50 members. Set up profile types for moderators, speakers or mentors.
Seed the answers people need
Post your most visited questions as Waves with marked best answers. Dium has no Discourse importer today.
Start with an event
Many groups start with one AMA or cohort in Dium, then decide what else to move.
Dium vs Discourse: questions
Is Dium's search better than Discourse's?
We do not claim that. Discourse's search and SEO are mature. Dium's advantage is live sessions, AMAs, sponsor Pages and DMs in one hosted product.
Can I self-host Dium?
No. Dium is hosted only. Partners can mount Dium inside their own domain and sign members in with SSO. See the developer overview.
Do I need plugins for live sessions in Dium?
No. Sessions, RSVPs, polls and breakouts are part of every plan. You bring your own Google Meet or Zoom link.
Can I import my Discourse forum?
Not today. Write to [email protected] if you want help planning a move.
Sources
- Discourse pricing, checked September 28, 2026
- Bettermode, August 2026 (a forum vendor), checked September 28, 2026
- Dium pricing
Corrections and affiliation
Found something out of date or wrong? Email [email protected] with a link to the source. We check it, fix confirmed errors and change the "last checked" date only when the facts change.
Dium is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any company named on this page. Product names and trademarks belong to their owners and are used only to identify their products.
Try Dium next to Discourse. Free under 50.
Open a Flow, move your top questions, and see if answers stick. No card needed.