Discourse can be ran for free, using Replit (not very well)

Product Support Self-hosting

AI-generated summary

A user demonstrates running Discourse on Replit, a free cloud platform, using a template from https://replit.com/template/discourse. While technically possible, the setup is unreliable due to Replit’s limited cloud machine resources, resulting in slow loading times and frequent 502 Server errors twofoursixeight. The user notes that upgrading to a paid plan might improve performance, but the free version is not viable for a stable installation. Another user, NateDhaliwal, confirms the instability, reporting that the site rarely loads properly, with most attempts resulting in a 502 error. Stephen emphasizes that while Discourse can be installed, this method does not constitute a supportable or functional deployment.

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So here it is, Discourse running on Replit. This is one of the methods of running Discourse for free. The problem? It’s not worth being cheap, as the loading times are lengthy. Just watch this:

How can this be done?
The people at Replit managed to port the forum software and make it possible on Replit. You can find the template used at Replit Gallery. It provides the essentials for porting Discourse over to Replit. It is definitely possible to install, but 90% of the time, you will be running into errors. Replit works on cloud machines, but these cloud machines are not very powerful. (which likely explains how poorly Discourse was running)
There is also a way to host cheaply by upgrading the Replit cloud machine to the $7/month or $21/month plan, which would probably make the forum run better. However, the free discourse version has its drawbacks. The domain is https://discourse.t-for-twofoursixeight.repl.co/latest if you want to test. Moreover, it sometimes gives way to 502 Server errors!

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Based on your description above discourse can’t be installed on replit.

There’s a vast difference between installing discourse in a supportable way that results in a fully working install, and the above.

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I tried importing the Discourse repo (I forked my own version), and Replit told me that the repo was too large. I’m not sure if a larger repl will solve the issue?

For me, it’s most of the time, or 99.9%, to be exact. If I’m lucky, it will open but can’t load a few things, or save. If not, it’s a 502 Bad Gateway error.