# How to install Discourse locally?

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-install-discourse-locally/185116>\
**Category:** Self-hosting\
**Created:** [April 1, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-install-discourse-locally/185116 "2021-04-01T14:43:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 14

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**Author:** ![crcoli7307](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/crcoli7307/32/267901_2.png) [@crcoli7307](https://meta.discourse.org/u/crcoli7307)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-install-discourse-locally/185116/14 "2022-07-12T15:45:57Z")

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> [@Marcin\_J](#):
>
> why is the domain actually needed? Why localhost is not enough?

It’s needed for several reasons. Although you can get a domain for free at [FreeNom](https://freenom.com), however there has been a lot of controversy on how FreeNom handles data and user information so be careful if you choose to take that route.

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-install-discourse-locally/185116)._