My friends and I are on a forum that have very tight rules, so we can never interact. We were hoping we could find a forum that free, where you can chat, is that possible? @not-ethan, how does this work?

Just to add to what @not-ethan said above. Discourse is free as its open source anyone can spin up a discourse using the install guide. What isn’t free however, is computer time.

Thanks for sharing that, Ethan @not-ethan !!! Jimmy @ssityeghd , If you can do the standard install process the server cost to run discourse can be about $15/month or less. For new members to sign up can also be completely free, but someone has to pay for the server cost is all.

Here are the requirements for open-source/creator sites: [image] Free Hosting for Open Source v2 Nearly two years ago we started very carefully experimenting with free hosting of open source projects. Today we’re announcing the next iteration of our free hosting program, casting a much wider net this time. [image] Free Discourse Communities For Creators We would like to help creators build their communities. If you are a creator building on the web, then you might be eligible for a free, hosted Discourse community.

[image] anon36555649: If you can do the standard install process the server cost to run discourse can be about $15/month or less. For new members to sign up can also be completely free, but someone has to pay for the server cost is all. So technically, there is no “free forum,” just lower prices?

[image] justanotherperson: So technically, there is no “free forum,” just lower prices? No, many forums are free for new members, but to run a forum takes electricity and network bandwidth to work. So if you can generate your own electricity and have your own internet company with servers, it won’t cost you anything more than that to launch a forum. Traditionally a forum is a public square in a city where people are free to speak and have events within the bounds of laws of the city. Those don’t need electricity or internet service to work just a lot of bricks.

The software is free. You don’t have to pay for using Discourse. But if you don’t have your own hardware, you have to pay for someone to use theirs. [image] Can I host a Discourse forum for free? Self-hosting In short… Short answer: no. Less short answer: technically, yes, but you may face technical difficulties, and your server will probably have very low specs, resulting in a slow, sometimes hanging forum. It’s also likely you’ll need a credit card, even without fees. Basically, if you need a fully functional Discourse forum and a good user experience, you can’t have this for free. Why can’t I easily set up a Discourse forum for free? Discourse has some requirements. You need a Linux server wi… You can also install Discourse on your own hardware e.g. Discourse on a Raspberry Pi | Blog

Indeed, you can run on a Pi. But also you can run on any home computer or laptop - if it has suitable specs and you can make it reachable from the Internet, that’s enough. And in a sense, it’s free - the electricity would be the main cost, if you use hardware you already own and an internet connection you already have. (There are various ways to make your home machine reachable - Cloudflare have a free offering.) Oh, there is an unavoidable cash cost, I think, which is that you need a domain.

So for a random person like me, it’s impossible for a free discourse?

People have responded to your question but it seems you have a different definition of free. Discourse is open source and free to use The infrastructure and connection needed to run it usually isn’t free, but there are custom self-hosted install configurations that can be done if you have a specific setup. what may be free to you, is almost never free for someone else - generally bandwidth has a cost somewhere…

Is there a way to have a free forum?

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not-ethan (Ethan) February 18, 2024, 9:03pm 2

If you are a content creator or maintainers of an open source project you can. https://free.discourse.group/

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Is there a way to have a free forum?

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