I think you’ll only get biased answers here… but, let’s allow the software to do (most of) the talking…
I’ve used a most of the major forum software (both paid and free // OSS) and Discourse has been an absolute joy to use in comparison. Not only could I put it together quickly (i.e. installation, setup, config(s)) but the results speak for themselves and our community quickly scaled way bigger than we were prepared for (which is obviously a good thing).
The thing that I haven’t shared is the financial / business aspects which Discourse has enabled my brother and I to accomplish… which I’m somewhat shy about sharing publicly, but, the growth has been so good (along with great plugins like Patreon that allow us to build revenue) that I quit my full-time job to work on the community exclusively.
That has all happened in the last few months.
I could go on and on, but, I’m so !@#$!^* thankful for Discourse and if I were to do it all over again… well, you know the answer to that.