# Becoming the new standard discussion tool for open source projects

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/becoming-the-new-standard-discussion-tool-for-open-source-projects/26305>\
**Category:** Self-hosting\
**Tags:** hosting\
**Created:** [2015年三月13日 18:24 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/becoming-the-new-standard-discussion-tool-for-open-source-projects/26305 "2015-03-13T18:24:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 9

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**Author:** ![NicholasChammas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f475e1/32.png) [@NicholasChammas](https://meta.discourse.org/u/NicholasChammas)\
**Post date:** [2015年十二月2日 01:30 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/becoming-the-new-standard-discussion-tool-for-open-source-projects/26305/9 "2015-12-02T01:30:40Z")

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Here are a few related discussions that people might be interested in:

- [https://meta.discourse.org/t/free-hosted-option/9621](https://meta.discourse.org/t/free-hosted-option/9621)
- [Why is hosting so expensive?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-is-hosting-so-expensive/20362)
- [Hosting options (Discourse hosting vs. 3rd party hosting)](https://meta.discourse.org/t/hosting-options-discoure-hosting-packs-vs-3rd-party-hosting/36195)

To recap the key points from this and the linked discussions, if you are looking at Discourse for your open source community, here are your best options:

1. Host [with the Discourse team](https://discourse.org/pricing/). The lowest price point as of December 2015 ($100/month) is probably too much for most open source projects, unless your community is really large.
2. If you have an open source community and can make the case for it, reach out to [team@discourse.org](mailto:team@discourse.org) to discuss the possibility of the Discourse team offering you free hosting. ([ref](https://meta.discourse.org/t/becoming-the-new-standard-discussion-tool-for-open-source-projects/26305/7))
3. [Self host](http://blog.discourse.org/2014/04/install-discourse-in-under-30-minutes/) via your host of choice. You’ll pay around $10/month for the hosting but you’ll have to manage the instance yourself.
4. Get a plan on [Communiteq](https://www.communiteq.com) (formerly DiscourseHosting). Their lowest price point as of December 2015 is [$20/month](https://www.communiteq.com/pricing/), which probably makes sense for the average open source community which doesn’t see much general discussion traffic. (I say “general discussion” as opposed to discussion on specific issues, PRs, etc. which carries on well on places like GitHub).

I’ll probably go with option 4 since I’d rather spend the extra $10/month over self-hosting and save myself the time managing the install. My project is way too small to justify $100/month, though in theory I’d prefer to host with the “Mothership”, so to speak. And I doubt a small project like mine would be a good fit for option 2.

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/becoming-the-new-standard-discussion-tool-for-open-source-projects/26305)._