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Comparison · Support
Request Tracker vs Discourse
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Request Tracker and Discourse — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Request Tracker vs Discourse: at a glance
What is Request Tracker?
RT's October pair fixes at least 27 CVEs and finally adds TOTP MFA to 5.0 and 6.0.
Best Practical released RT 6.0.4 and 5.0.11 on 2026-10-29 as a coordinated security pair, with findings from CERT Polska. The notes list at least 27 CVEs, including a ticket-forwarding bypass that could email transactions from tickets the user cannot see, CSRF through the URL shortener that could grant SuperUser, and feed URLs that ran any search with the owner's rights. Both releases also add TOTP multi-factor authentication, configurable password policies and self-service password reset; 6.0.4 additionally rebuilds the attachments and links widgets and adds a lifecycle viewer.
What is Discourse?
Discourse ships its second out-of-band security release in under three weeks.
On November 10 Discourse issued intermediate releases for critical security fixes across 2026.11 latest, 2026.10, 2026.9 and 2026.7. It comes 18 days after the October 23 security drop and two weeks after the 2026.10 monthly release, which listed 720 changes including a chat channel homepage option and Data Explorer tags.
Request Tracker vs Discourse: editorial side-by-side
Request Tracker
5.0SUPPORT
RT's October pair fixes at least 27 CVEs and finally adds TOTP MFA to 5.0 and 6.0.
◆ Current state
Best Practical released RT 6.0.4 and 5.0.11 on 2026-10-29 as a coordinated security pair, with findings from CERT Polska. The notes list at least 27 CVEs, including a ticket-forwarding bypass that could email transactions from tickets the user cannot see, CSRF through the URL shortener that could grant SuperUser, and feed URLs that ran any search with the owner's rights. Both releases also add TOTP multi-factor authentication, configurable password policies and self-service password reset; 6.0.4 additionally rebuilds the attachments and links widgets and adds a lifecycle viewer.
◆ Where it's heading
Security still sets RT's calendar: the May pair and the October pair both landed on one day across branches. What changed is that authentication features now ship on 5.0 as well as 6.0, rather than feature work staying on 6.0 only. The 4.4 branch had its final release in October 2025, so the active lines are now 5.0 and 6.0.
◆ Prediction
The next release is likely another same-day 5.0 and 6.0 pair driven by security reports; the size of this batch suggests follow-up fixes could come sooner than the usual gap of several months.
Discourse
5.0SUPPORT
Discourse ships its second out-of-band security release in under three weeks.
◆ Current state
On November 10 Discourse issued intermediate releases for critical security fixes across 2026.11 latest, 2026.10, 2026.9 and 2026.7. It comes 18 days after the October 23 security drop and two weeks after the 2026.10 monthly release, which listed 720 changes including a chat channel homepage option and Data Explorer tags.
◆ Where it's heading
The monthly release train is steady, but out-of-band security fixes are arriving more often: two in the last three weeks after gaps of several months earlier in the year. 2026.8 is missing from this patch set while 2026.7 is still covered.
◆ Prediction
Expect 2026.11 to land on the usual late-month schedule; the entries do not explain why security releases have become more frequent.
Alternatives to Request Tracker and Discourse
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 Request Tracker or Discourse.
DoneDone
DoneDone's editor gets tables, spreadsheet paste and text colors.
Twilio
Twilio's voice AI stops cutting callers off mid-sentence, using its own turn-taking model.
Xurrent
Xurrent's November update blocks unverified email senders from changing records.
LiveAgent
LiveAgent 5.71 starts letting bots work chats over MCP and answer the phones.
Chatway
Chatway adds a Ticket Center, moving from live chat toward a full helpdesk.
See all Request Tracker alternatives → · See all Discourse alternatives →
Recent activity from Request Tracker and Discourse
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3d agoDiscourseNovember 10 critical security fixes across four branches
- 15d agoRequest TrackerRT 6.0.4 fixes dozens of CVEs and adds TOTP MFA
- 15d agoRequest TrackerRT 5.0.11 fixes dozens of CVEs and adds TOTP MFA
- 17d agoDiscourseOctober 2026 monthly release
- 21d agoDiscourseOctober 23rd 2026 intermediate releases
- 1mo agoDiscourseSeptember 2026 monthly release
- 2mo agoDiscourseAugust 2026 monthly release
- 3mo agoDiscourseJuly 31st 2026 intermediate releases
- 5mo agoRequest TrackerSecurity release fixes REST 2.0 credential leak and SQL injection
- 5mo agoRequest TrackerSame security fixes as 5.0.10, plus dashboard and accessibility work
- 1y agoRequest TrackerCalendar view for saved searches and memory management work
- 1y agoRequest TrackerCSV injection fix in TSV export, with assorted updates
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Request Tracker and Discourse?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Request Tracker and Discourse are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Request Tracker better than Discourse?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Request Tracker and Discourse are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Support products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Request Tracker?
Top Request Tracker alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Request Tracker alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/request-tracker for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
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.