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Comparison · Support

Discourse vs DoneDone

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Discourse and DoneDone — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Discourse vs DoneDone: at a glance

FeatureDiscourseDoneDone
SectorSupportSupport
Velocity score5.06.3
Sparks · 30d01
Top themesmonthly-release-train, security-patches, self-hosted, long-term-branchesproject-management, helpdesk, task-tracking, custom-fields
Last editorial update21d ago6d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Discourse?

Monthly releases on time, security out-of-band, and the changelog living somewhere else

Discourse ships a dated minor every month — 2026.4 through 2026.8 in this window — and back-patches several supported branches alongside each one. The August release carries patches for 2026.7.2, 2026.6.3 and 2026.1.8, meaning a branch cut in January is still receiving fixes eight months on. Critical security work travels separately as out-of-band intermediate releases. The release topics carry no detail of their own; each links out to releases.discourse.org, so the substance of any given month is not visible from this feed.

Read the full Discourse trajectory →

What is DoneDone?

DoneDone ships custom fields — expanding from simple task tracker to configurable work platform.

DoneDone is a project management and helpdesk tool that has been steadily deepening its structural capabilities over the past several months. Recent releases show a deliberate build-up: kanban sorting and collapse controls, workflow automations tied to status changes, email-to-task intake, and now custom fields. The product ships incrementally but on a consistent cadence, with most features driven by direct customer requests.

Read the full DoneDone trajectory →

Discourse vs DoneDone: editorial side-by-side

Discourse logo
Discourse
SUPPORT
5.0

Monthly releases on time, security out-of-band, and the changelog living somewhere else

◆ Current state

Discourse ships a dated minor every month — 2026.4 through 2026.8 in this window — and back-patches several supported branches alongside each one. The August release carries patches for 2026.7.2, 2026.6.3 and 2026.1.8, meaning a branch cut in January is still receiving fixes eight months on. Critical security work travels separately as out-of-band intermediate releases. The release topics carry no detail of their own; each links out to releases.discourse.org, so the substance of any given month is not visible from this feed.

◆ Where it's heading

The cadence is the signal and it has not wavered: a monthly minor, patches reaching back to branches cut in January, and security decoupled from the feature train. That is the maintenance posture of self-hosted software whose installs upgrade on their own schedule, and the branch count is the tell — 2026.1 has now taken its eighth patch, so an install that has sat still since January remains covered. Where the product is actually heading surfaces in the documentation instead, where the AI bot's support for external MCP servers is the only entry in the last ten describing a capability rather than a version number.

◆ Prediction

September's 2026.9 topic is the near-certain next entry, in the same pointer shape, with 2026.1 likely taking another patch. What lands inside any of them cannot be read from this feed — these topics are links, so a call on product direction would have to come from the linked changelog rather than from here.

D
DoneDone
SUPPORT
6.3

DoneDone ships custom fields — expanding from simple task tracker to configurable work platform.

◆ Current state

DoneDone is a project management and helpdesk tool that has been steadily deepening its structural capabilities over the past several months. Recent releases show a deliberate build-up: kanban sorting and collapse controls, workflow automations tied to status changes, email-to-task intake, and now custom fields. The product ships incrementally but on a consistent cadence, with most features driven by direct customer requests.

◆ Where it's heading

DoneDone is building toward a more configurable platform, moving away from opinionated simplicity toward flexible data models and process automation. Custom fields and workflow automations together form the foundation of a structured work management tool that teams can mold to their own processes. The direction is clear: make DoneDone adaptable enough to compete with more complex tools without requiring that complexity upfront.

◆ Prediction

Custom fields will likely expand with automation triggers (e.g., automate based on field value, not just status), and the email-to-task intake may gain routing rules or field-mapping capabilities to make incoming requests more organized from the start.

Alternatives to Discourse and DoneDone

Other Support products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Discourse or DoneDone.

See all Discourse alternatives → · See all DoneDone alternatives →

Recent activity from Discourse and DoneDone

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 7d agoDoneDoneCustom Fields are live! 🎉
  2. 21d agoDiscourseAugust 2026 monthly release
  3. 23d agoDoneDoneCreate Project Tasks from Email!
  4. 1mo agoDoneDoneNew: Workflow Automations!
  5. 1mo agoDoneDoneInclude tags in CSV exports!
  6. 1mo agoDiscourseJuly 31st 2026 intermediate releases
  7. 1mo agoDiscourseJuly 2026 monthly release
  8. 1mo agoDoneDoneChecklist Templates just got a little easier to manage.
  9. 2mo agoDiscourseJune 2026 monthly release
  10. 3mo agoDoneDoneKanban Collapse Columns
  11. 3mo agoDiscourseMay 2026 monthly release
  12. 4mo agoDiscourseMay 19th 2026 intermediate releases

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Discourse and DoneDone?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. DoneDone is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Discourse better than DoneDone?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. DoneDone is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Support products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Discourse?

Top Discourse alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Discourse alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/discourse for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to DoneDone?

Top DoneDone alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "DoneDone alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/donedone for the full list with editorial commentary on each.