Discourse

Discourse is an open-source Internet forum and mailing list management software application founded in 2013. It was created by Jeff Atwood, Robin Ward, and Sam Saffron with the goal of modernizing online discussion forums for the next decade of the internet. The platform is designed to encourage high-quality discussions through a modern interface, built-in trust systems, and mobile-friendly design.

As a software product, its development is centralized in the United States, though it benefits from a global community of open-source contributors. The brand is managed by Civilized Discourse Construction Kit, Inc., which provides hosting services for customers while keeping the core code available under the GNU General Public License. Over the years, it has become the gold standard for developer communities, gaming forums, and corporate internal communication tools.