# May I or can I monetize my forum?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/may-i-or-can-i-monetize-my-forum/369944
**Category:** Community Building
**Created:** [June 12, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/may-i-or-can-i-monetize-my-forum/369944 "2025-06-12T19:59:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Alexaplaydespacito](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Alexaplaydespacito)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/may-i-or-can-i-monetize-my-forum/369944/1 "2025-06-12T19:59:28Z")
I don’t want to reveal my forum just yet, but it’s a leftist unity type thing (probably; I’m still working it out and finalizing things).
I may have others pay $2 through Patreon to use it.
I recently lost a day job, and I want to make money on the side while I do this.
It’s a passion project, but I’m also putting in effort
into it.
I’m not sure what else to say at this point, but I hope you can all bear with me; I’m just now doing this, paid money for the full Discourse subscription, and have always wanted to create my own Internet forum.
I want to help bring back Internet message boards, like those from the 2000s.
Tall order, I know, but recommendations and suggestions on what to include, what to avoid, and so on and so forth would be most welcome.
Most likely: I will not make it a paid thing, but I’m exploring the option so I can help make it sustainable.
Welp, that’s all I have to say.
What do you all think?
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### Author:  [@Architect](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Architect)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 8:55pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/may-i-or-can-i-monetize-my-forum/369944/2 "2025-06-12T20:55:48Z")
Launching a new community can have a lot of challenges, asking a subscription fee is reasonable but you may lose many potential members if there is a brick paywall to become a member.
Having supporter tiers above free membership can work so if people want to contribute and then get benefits from being a paying member that can work.
This may help you to integrate that:
> [@Discourse Subscriptions Plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-subscriptions-plugin/140818):
>
> discourse2Summary The Discourse Subscriptions plugin allows site owners to sell recurring and one-time purchase subscriptions that grant access to a group on a Discourse instance.open_bookInstall Guide This plugin is bundled with Discourse core. There is no need to install the plugin separately. The Discourse Subscriptions plugin allows you to create one-time as well as recurring subscriptions that users can pay for in order to access gated content. This can be a great w…
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### Author:  [@ondrej](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ondrej)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/may-i-or-can-i-monetize-my-forum/369944/3 "2025-06-12T21:09:01Z")
Hi 👋
It is indeed possible to monetise your Discourse forum through plugins such as the ones listed below
- [Discourse Patreon](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-patreon/44366)
- [Discourse Subscriptions Plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-subscriptions-plugin/140818)
* * *
> [@Alexaplaydespacito](#):
>
> have always wanted to create my own Internet forum
>
> > [@Alexaplaydespacito](#):
> >
> > It’s a passion project, but I’m also putting in effort
> > into it
I’m glad that you want to have an online community :discourse: 🎉
However, its not as easy as just creating one, you need to know the costs of running your community etc. Especially if you are asking others to pay for it, you need to make sure that your community adds value to members so they stick around. An easy way to do this is to show the purpose of the community to users so they understand why they are there.
There are also a lot of resources available here to help you grow your community such as the #Community Building category and the Discourse Blog. Feel free to ask for help 🙂
- [Building a Discourse Community](https://blog.discourse.org/2014/08/building-a-discourse-community/)