Cheapest way to run Discourse?

[Micah_hoffmann]

hello,
What is the cheapest way to run a discourse forum with custom domain?
Hosting (DO/etc) ~15/month + smtp (mailgun/etc) ~15/month.
Why is discourse hosting 100/month?
Thanks

[Architect]

Discourse can still run on a 1gb memory server, which is about $7 a month with DO/digital ocean.

If you’re sending less than 1,000 e-mails a month with mailgun then that is free. Alternative free smtp sender is Brevo.

With discourse hosting you have team support + discourse mail.

In addition you will have domain registration fees.

There are some other less expensive server options, believe Hetzner may be one of the lowest cost ones in Germany.

Probably about $2 u.s.d. a month might be the minimum but there may be even less expensive servers than that in Indonesia or The Philippines.

[Micah_hoffmann]

oh mailgun works with free version?
I must have it configured wrong… sorry

[JammyDodger]

@Micah_hoffmann

Why is discourse hosting 100/month?

For our hosting, the Basic plan currently starts at $50 a month, though Standard is $100/mth.

Managed hosting suits a lot of people who don’t want the hassle of manual installation and updates. The level of support you get (from the team who build the software, no less) is also something of a draw.

[Architect]

You have to contact support to downgrade to “flex” billing option, which WILL bill you if there are more than 1,000 e-mails sent a month but no bill for less mail than that.

Standard account is $35 a month.

[Micah_hoffmann]

I appreciate that.
But 50 extra for custom domain?

[Micah_hoffmann]

This is how to make the free version “work”?
I get to congratulations you installed discourse, but don’t receive email.

[JammyDodger]

@Micah_hoffmann

But 50 extra for custom domain?

The different plans have an increasing range of supported features, so not just that particular one. You can check out what’s available on each plan here:

Discourse pricing

Though self-hosting is also an option.

[Architect]

There is a guide for troubleshooting here:

Troubleshoot email on a new Discourse install

You just installed Discourse via the install guide, but email doesn’t seem to work. Unfortunately this means you can’t log in as an admin to finalize the install. Let’s troubleshootize! Try the doctor If you run ./discourse-doctor it will check several ways that your mail configuration might be broken, and offer advice. Try that first. Did you enter email settings correctly? The simplest way is to run ./discourse-setup again. Did you enter everything correctly? You…

Would recommend opening help ticket with your mail sender to diagnose problem.

[curiositry]

I spent a lot of effort trying to minimize Discourse hosting costs, including trying Oracle Cloud, Fly’s free tier, and others. I haven’t found a way to run it for free. The most affordable way of self-hosting Discourse that I have found is $15-25/year:

How to Migrate a Discourse Forum from DigitalOcean to Linveo $25/year VPS

Following on from my post in the Recommended Hosting Providers for Self Hosters, here is a full tutorial on my experience migrating a long-running self-hosted Discourse forum from DigitalOcean to Linveo:

[Isambard]

Just use a free VPS provider.

[pacharanero (Marcus Baw)]

Hetzner have some very low cost VPSs on offer. Some as low as €7 a month, for decent capability that runs Discourse fine for me.

[denvergeeks]

Yes Hetzner. Considering all of the factors involved in self-hosting, there is no better legitimate value to be found IMO. Also look at Contabo.

Aside from Discourse $20/month hosted, that is! I would ALWAYS choose Discourse HOSTED for a production site.