# Supported Free Installations
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** hosting
**Created:** [April 2, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064 "2024-04-02T15:47:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@justanotherperson](https://meta.discourse.org/u/justanotherperson)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/1 "2024-04-02T15:47:20Z")
Me and an admin are trying to install Discourse on a cloud or whatever, but we hit a roadblock, and it was finding a supported install _ **without** _ having to pay any money. I tried searching, but all I found was something about Heroku, which I didn’t use. Oh, and I don’t have $150 to pay someone to do it.
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### Author:  [@ondrej](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ondrej)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/2 "2024-04-02T16:02:54Z")
> [@justanotherperson](#):
>
> _ **without** _ having to pay any money
Discourse is _free_ but computer rescources are not. Have you had a look at [Communiteq](https://www.communiteq.com)?
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### Author:  [@justanotherperson](https://meta.discourse.org/u/justanotherperson)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/3 "2024-04-02T16:05:14Z")
Oh. Lemme get my megaphone to call twofoursixeight.
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### Author:  [@merefield](https://meta.discourse.org/u/merefield)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/4 "2024-04-02T16:10:27Z")
Search is your friend:
> [@Free hosts to install Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/free-hosts-to-install-discourse/159639):
>
> I know about self-hosting, but are there any other ways to host the Discourse install?
> [@Is there a completely free way to install Discourse?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-there-a-completely-free-way-to-install-discourse/36039):
>
> I really blunt question. Is there any completely free ways to install discourse. I am a beginner so simple terms would be great!
> [@Is installing Discourse for free impossible?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-installing-discourse-for-free-impossible/94964):
>
> I’d like to use Discourse but if the only way to use this is to fork over 100$ then I would just stick to something like myBB or phpBB
> [@Install Discourse on Oracle Cloud Free Tier](https://meta.discourse.org/t/install-discourse-on-oracle-cloud-free-tier/215749):
>
> --- Oracle offers a free plan including two low-spec virtual machines able to run Discourse. This trial has no time limit.warning These virtual machines are very slow and I advise you not to use them for hosting a community. That said, it can be enough to host a very small community that doesn’t care about the slowness, or for personal projects/tests. Requirements A credit card number - you won’t be charged anything, but it’s needed to register the free account A domain name An email pro…
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/5 "2024-04-02T16:22:42Z")
> [@Can I host a Discourse forum for free?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-host-a-discourse-forum-for-free/236770):
>
> 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 wi…
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### Author:  [@Crius](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Crius)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2024, 7:27pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/6 "2024-04-02T19:27:43Z")
> [@justanotherperson](#):
>
> twofoursixeight
you meant @twofoursixeight ?
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### Author:  [@cellofour](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cellofour)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/7 "2024-04-02T19:30:09Z")
Yes, they are working together on this \[1\]
* * *
1. I know because I am on their forum
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/8 "2024-04-02T20:04:46Z")
If you don’t need email support, you can use [https://dashboard.literatecomputing.com/](https://dashboard.literatecomputing.com/) for free if you join the [Free Trial group](https://dashboard.literatecomputing.com/g/FreeTrial). You enter your hostname, paste in API keys for Digital Ocean and Mailgun and it’ll create the droplet, configure mailgun, send you an email with the required DNS records and finish the install once the DNS stuff is in place.
This will get you a supported install in the sense that it follows [INSTALL-cloud](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/main/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md). It does not give you an install that is supported for free.
If you need help filling in those fields or setting up DNS records, you might need to pay for support.
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### Author:  [@Lilly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Lilly)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/9 "2024-04-02T20:14:37Z")
You posted in this topic not long ago too
> [@Is there a way to have a free forum?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/is-there-a-way-to-have-a-free-forum/295820):
>
> My friends and I are on a forum that have very tight rules, so we can never interact. We were hoping we could find a forum that free, where you can chat, is that possible? @not-ethan, how does this work?
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### Author:  [@justanotherperson](https://meta.discourse.org/u/justanotherperson)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/10 "2024-04-03T00:43:19Z")
That looks like what twofoursixeight set up on, but I’ll (try) to get in touch with him about that.
Oh and by the way, @ondrej that thing is even shorter than the Discourse free trial.
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### Author:  [@webprofusion](https://meta.discourse.org/u/webprofusion)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2024, 4:32am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/11 "2024-04-04T04:32:48Z")
> [@justanotherperson](#):
>
> supported
Someone has to pay for the resources it uses and spend some of their own limited lifespan making it work and keeping it working. How could it be free, except at someone else’s expense? What do they gain, except perhaps harvesting your users email addresses?
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### Author:  [@justanotherperson](https://meta.discourse.org/u/justanotherperson)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/supported-free-installations/302064/12 "2024-04-05T19:38:42Z")
Good point, but but we do have this thing for some people:
> **[Free Plans](https://www.discourse.org/free)**
>
> Free plan for everyone. Pro plan at no cost for qualifying open source projects.