Discourse (self-host)
Open-source · self-hostable · replaces 2 SaaS tools on os-alt
discourse/discourse · alive · ★ 47.0k · last commit today · 139 open issues
License: GPL-2.0
Good fit for Long-form communities, support forums, and mature subreddits that ran more like discussion boards than link-aggregators.
Weak at Stack weight — Discourse runs Postgres, Redis, Sidekiq, and Unicorn in one container; not a Pi-friendly install.
In a terminal? npx -y github:SolvoHQ/os-alt-cli discourse-cloud prints
the Discourse Hosting (Discourse.org) comparison table including Discourse (self-host).
how the CLI works →
Replaces these SaaS
- Discourse Hosting (Discourse.org) · Community / forum hosting
Clone `discourse/discourse_docker` and run `./discourse-setup`. The wizard generates `containers/app.yml`; rebuild with `./launcher rebuild app`. Migration from Discourse Cloud: open a support ticket asking for a Postgres backup, restore via `./launcher enter app` → `discourse enable_restore && discourse restore`. SSL via the built-in Let's Encrypt integration; SMTP credentials in the YAML.
- Reddit · Threaded community / forum
Run `discourse-setup` from the official `discourse_docker` repo. For migration: Discourse has community importers from Reddit (`scripts/import/reddit.rb` reads a JSON archive of your subreddit if you have one). Discourse trades the ranked feed for a chronological topic list with rich threading; better fit if your community valued long-form discussion over upvote-ranking.
README badges for the SaaS this replaces
Maintainers and forks: drop a badge in your README to link readers from the SaaS-comparison page back to your repo.
