# Do I have to download discourse to host? **URL:** \ **Category:** Self-hosting\ **Tags:** hosting\ **Created:** [November 10, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403 "2015-11-10T00:54:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MemorableChicken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MemorableChicken](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MemorableChicken)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/1 "2015-11-10T00:54:48Z")
To use my own Discourse do I have to download and pay for it, or can I just do it directly through github without downloading? If so, how? I really like discourse, so I want to have my own. 😀 _Sorry for bothering you, but I am kinda a noob. 😜_ ---
**Author:** ![tgxworld](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tgxworld/32/106117_2.png) [@tgxworld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tgxworld)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/2 "2015-11-10T01:04:31Z")
You can follow this guide if you are planning to host your own Discourse instance. 😄 > ---
**Author:** ![MemorableChicken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MemorableChicken](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MemorableChicken)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/3 "2015-11-10T01:05:16Z")
Guess not 😢 I have to pay 😜 ---
**Author:** ![MemorableChicken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MemorableChicken](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MemorableChicken)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/4 "2015-11-10T01:06:27Z")
Plus I am on an iPad and would rather not use a computer, so yeah 😕 ---
**Author:** ![tgxworld](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tgxworld/32/106117_2.png) [@tgxworld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tgxworld)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/5 "2015-11-10T01:07:28Z")
Yes you’ll need to pay for the Digital Ocean server. ---
**Author:** ![MemorableChicken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MemorableChicken](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MemorableChicken)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/6 "2015-11-10T01:08:34Z")
😢😢😢 Is there some way to use github without downloading anything? ---
**Author:** ![tgxworld](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tgxworld/32/106117_2.png) [@tgxworld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tgxworld)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/7 "2015-11-10T01:15:00Z")
Well… the only way I know to not have to download or configure anything is to pay Discourse to host it for you. 😉 > **[Discourse pricing](https://discourse.org/pricing)** > > Official Discourse hosting plans for communities of every size. ---
**Author:** ![MemorableChicken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MemorableChicken](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MemorableChicken)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/8 "2015-11-10T01:20:00Z")
😵😵😵 I DONT HAVE A CREDIT CARD 😵😵😵😵 ---
**Author:** ![KazWolfe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/kazwolfe/32/64441_2.png) [@KazWolfe](https://meta.discourse.org/u/KazWolfe)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/9 "2015-11-10T06:55:24Z")
You need to understand the difference between websites: - **Static Content** Static content sites are nothing but pure `.html` files. They don’t change unless someone manually edits the code. This is the kind of website you can host on GitHub, Weebly, or whatever else service you feel like using. - **Dynamic Content** Most websites these days are what we call “dynamic.” This means that they’re always changing what information they show and how they show it based on what’s going on. These types of websites (usually) have a lot of server-side code that generates this content. Discourse (and most forums, and blogs, and basically almost every other website ever) are a prime example of this. Discourse is purely dynamic, meaning you can’t host is statically (is that a word?) on GitHub or whatever free HTML platforms exist out there. You need to have your own server. In addition, Discourse requires a lot more things than your typical blog. Because of Discourse’s complexity and the sheer number of things going on behind the scenes, you need to have your own VPS to run it. Unless you can find a free VPS (if you do, I wouldn’t trust them as far as I can throw them) or someone figures out how to spin up Discourse instances like they do with WordPress, there’s no way around paying for a server. Which you usually have to do anyways. DigitalOcean would likely be the cheapest bet, costing at least $5 per month. IIRC, you can try using the promo code `DODEPLOY` to get a month or two free. Sorry! ---
**Author:** ![MemorableChicken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MemorableChicken](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MemorableChicken)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 11:17am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/10 "2015-11-10T11:17:57Z")
😖 I should just set up a different forum, this is nice, but too expensive. ---
**Author:** ![zogstrip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/zogstrip/32/512781_2.png) [@zogstrip](https://meta.discourse.org/u/zogstrip)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/do-i-have-to-download-discourse-to-host/35403/11 "2015-11-10T15:07:00Z")