Is there a way to have a free forum?

[Moin]

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.

Can I host a Discourse forum for free?

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 …

You can also install Discourse on your own hardware e.g. Discourse on a Raspberry Pi | Blog