please share your expert advise on choosing between DO & Vultr. I am on DO, with 2gb RAM, 12$ plan, smtp has been a major issue. I can’t move ahead. Googling shows vultr is competetive, not sure about smtp issue.. how are your experiences, server needs to be down here in australasia.

Not directly answering your question, I have been very happy with AWS Lightsail.

ye, heard that, and they have their email service for smtp as well. is it easy to install discourse…

使用netcup+mailgun，目前运行挺好

If I can install in on Lightsail folllowing community provided standard install instructions, anyone can. :flushed_face::smiley:

doesn’t matter what cloud host you use, none will work if you can’t figure out how to properly edit a yaml file and follow directions when people try to help you with it.

i edited the config in yaml as you @Lilly instructed, it did not work for me. tried few other edits in yaml, nah didn’t work. I’m not a developer. 1st step into discourse, 1st step into DO. Now, I dont have any smtp in my .yml.

ok i’m sorry this is happening to you. yml files are sensitive. i use Hetzner myself. i used to use Digitalocean but the configurations aren’t super different. i prefer the Hetzner dashboard and interface, and they are way cheaper. i use Hetzner and Resend for email for 3 forum - a busy pubic one, …

good to know you are skilled. Hetzner is EU, again google says better find Sydney based server, everyone talked abt DO, so I signed up with them, plus it is linux based. Nothing biggy for now, let’s see how it goes.

SMTP issues, can you elaborate? Often the provider will block SMTP ports by default and you must often verify your identity (often providing government ID) to unblock them. It’s possible they may have customer location restrictions but in any case file a support ticket with them. Then you are usu…

Vultr vs DO for discourse

Support Self-hosting

NateDhaliwal (Nate Dhaliwal) May 28, 2026, 5:26am 11

@merefield OP’s problems are encountered here: If local logins are disabled

Topic		Replies	Views
Help! New install - SMTP Self-hosting	10	1216	March 13, 2020
Discourse is not sending emails Support	4	630	February 20, 2020
Looks like DO is disabling Smtp in their Discourse hosting plans Self-hosting hosting	25	835	August 20, 2024
Discourse on AWS? Self-hosting hosting	18	3590	June 28, 2023
Guidance for Setting Up Discourse: Hetzner VDS + Namecheap Private Email SMTP Self-hosting hosting	11	415	September 19, 2025

Vultr vs DO for discourse

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