Build a community forum

Give your users a home base. A space to connect, help each other, and stick around.

community forum discussion discord circle discourse members engagement social q&a

Tools that power the Build a community forum stack

Discord

Real-time chat community

Create channels, voice rooms, and bots for an active real-time community

See all stacks with Discord

Circle

Structured community platform

Modern community space with spaces, courses, and member profiles for creators

See all stacks with Circle

Discourse

Async discussion forum

Open-source forum software trusted by major developer communities

See all stacks with Discourse

Slack

Professional workspace

Channel-based messaging suited for professional and B2B communities

See all stacks with Slack

1
Discord
Create a Discord server and set up channels organized by topic (announcements, general, help, showcase). Configure roles so new members start with limited permissions and earn access over time. Add a verification bot like MEE6 to reduce spam and reward engagement.
Open Discord
2
Circle
Sign up for Circle and create your community. Add Spaces for different topics or member tiers. Set up a welcome post and onboarding checklist so new members know where to start. Connect Circle to your product login so members authenticate with their existing account.
Open Circle
3
Discourse
Deploy a Discourse instance via the official Digital Ocean one-click app or Discourse's hosted plan. Configure categories to match your community topics. Enable SSO so users log into the forum with the same credentials as your main product, reducing friction.
Open Discourse
4
Slack
Create a Slack workspace and organize channels by topic. Use Slack Connect to invite external users without requiring them to manage multiple accounts. Add a Zapier integration to post a welcome message automatically whenever a new member joins.
Open Slack

Frequently asked questions

Costs depend on your scale. Most tools in this stack offer a free tier to start. Open the cost calculator on this page to estimate monthly cost based on your users and revenue.

This stack uses 4 tools: Discord, Circle, Discourse, Slack. Each tool is picked to work well with the others and to cover a specific part of the workflow.

Yes. The stack is a recommended starting point. You can replace any tool with an alternative you already use. Check the setup guide first to confirm the integration points you'll need to rebuild.

Most makers finish the 4-step setup in under an hour. Creating accounts and connecting the first integration takes the most time.