Celebrating a Decade of Discourse

Happy Anniversary to us! On August 26, 2014, we released Discourse v1.0 and introduced hosting services. We have been full throttle ever since. Now that we’ve hit this milestone we’re taking a look back to see how far we’ve come. 

Discourse milestones and achievements: 

100% Open Source

What was the big idea that started Discourse?  “To raise the standard of civilized discourse on the Internet through seeding it with better discussion software and to remain “100% open source and free to the world, now and forever”. To create software that “feels great to use” and has “built-in moderation and governance systems” to help community owners to keep out bad actors. 

Continuous Development

Since our launch, we’ve continually rolled out major updates to enhance the Discourse experience. Starting with just 15 plugins, we’ve expanded our offering to 49 official plugins, allowing communities to tailor their platforms to their unique needs. We introduced chat to facilitate easier side conversations, making real-time communication within communities seamless. Additionally, we’ve embraced AI-driven features, such as our AI bot and Summarization, to assist with moderation and improve user experience. We’re always listening to your feedback and focusing on quality-of-life improvements, ensuring that both admins and community members find Discourse easier and more intuitive to use.

Company growth and remote workplace

With this vision in mind, we launched the beta version with a team of four in 2013, by 2015 we had grown to 9 and today as we celebrate a decade of Discourse we are a team of 102 in 25 countries and 14 time zones working asynchronously together. Discourse serves as our primary collaboration tool, enabling us to work effectively, no matter where we are in the world. You can read about the thought and effort that goes into keeping Discourse a safe and inclusive workplace. 

What started as a small team with a big idea has evolved into a platform that powers meaningful conversations across the globe, backed by a community and a company culture that we’re immensely proud of. 

Series A Funding

Three years ago, we received what felt like an early anniversary present—$20 million in Series A funding! This wasn’t just a financial boost; it was a huge vote of confidence in what we’re building together. Thanks to this investment, we’ve been able to grow our team, accelerate our product development, and make sure that Discourse is here for the long haul. It’s allowed us to double down on our mission and keep pushing forward. 

Leadership Handover

At the start of 2023, we made some big changes in our leadership team. Jeff Atwood, one of our three founders, decided to take on a new role as Executive Chairman, handing over the reins to Sarah Hawk and Sam Saffron as co-CEOs. They’ve done an incredible job leading Discourse into its next phase of growth, and we couldn’t be more excited about where they’re taking us. It’s been a smooth transition, and the future is looking brighter than ever with them at the helm.

Discourse by the Numbers

Now, let’s talk numbers—because we’ve got some to be proud of!

• More than 20,000 communities have chosen Discourse to power their discussions, highlighting the widespread adoption of our platform.
• We’re hosting over 3,000 amazing communities, and each one reflects the trust and support you’ve given us. 
• 107,459,302 Topics Served. That’s over 107 million conversations sparked, and counting!
• Nearly 1.65 billion posts have been made on Discourse, making it a place where people love to connect.

Plus, we created our Discourse Discover site to make it easy to find and join new communities. Whether you’re looking to connect over shared interests or explore new topics, Discover helps you find your next favorite community.

Thank You to our Customers

This brings us to the people who make our mission possible—our customers. We want to extend a big, heartfelt thank you for trusting us with your communities. Your feedback, support, and loyalty have been the driving force behind our growth and success over the past decade. Whether you’ve been with us since the early days or joined us more recently, your commitment has helped shape Discourse into what it is today.

We’re incredibly proud to work with so many amazing communities. A special shoutout to some of our early adopters, including BoingBoing, Mcneel Forums, SmartThings Community, AN Forums, Docker, Sitepoint, SketchUp Community, CodeCombat, and Rust whose trust early in our journey meant so much to us. 

We’re honored to be part of the journey of every community that uses Discourse, and we look forward to another decade of meaningful conversations and thriving communities together!

What’s Next? 

As we celebrate how far we’ve come, we’re even more excited about what lies ahead. The past ten years have been an incredible journey, but we’re just getting started. Looking forward, we have big plans to continue evolving Discourse, ensuring that it remains the best platform for fostering meaningful conversations and building strong communities.