If you are techy and willing to run it yourself it can be run very cheaply (e.g. Automators is $10/month on Linode), but it depends on the community. MPU posts many more images than the Automators crowd so we had to set up image hosting for this forum - which increases the complexity (though makes it cheaper), but most people wouldn’t want to consider running their own Discourse forum because it is not plug and play.
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True.
Flex Plan:
If you opt to enter your credit card, you’ll receive 5,000 free messages per month for 3 months. After the 3 months is up, if you haven’t opted to upgrade into one of our subscription plans, you’ll continue on a Pay as you Go plan, in which you’d pay for any messages you send at a rate of $0.80/1,000 messages. Additionally, on flex plans you get:
- No daily sending limit
- You get 5,000 free messages a month for 3 months. If you send over this amount during the first 3 months, additional messages are charged at a rate of $0.80/1,000 messages
- Data retention for Logs and the Events API is 5 days
- You can create custom domains
- Use of Authorized Recipients is not required to send with custom domains; you may send to whomever you like!
Discord - the CB Radio of the 21st Century!
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I remember and used one in the car. I quickly got rid of it after relentless chatter, including from truckers. 
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They used to have a free plan, but alas…
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Mailgun still offers a 3 month free plan, followed by pay-as-you-go pricing:
There are also other options for similar costs. Amazon SES is (usually) actually cheaper, although sometimes more problematic - and the pricing is much harder to understand.
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That’s good to know and very helpful. Just a question if I want to add something to my plate 
This is absolutely golden.
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Other than the initial work (presumably installing the LAMP stack & Discourse), how much ongoing server management do you find yourself having to do to keep things up and running?
100% agree. I’ve tried discord a few times, but I get frustrated when I can’t follow a conversation, I’m the same with large Slack channels (When I used to use Slack) Discourse works far better for me and I always feel comfortable that I’m up to date, or that I know what to do to get up to date.
It’s why I’ve never engaged meaningfully in the Relay Discord.
Each to their own, it obviously works for many people. Just not for me.
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I love Quills! I also hate Discord.
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Great combo Are you in Louisville as well?
Reading this is such a relief. I thought it was just me.
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You’re not alone! That was part of the reason I wanted to post this to see if I was alone!
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100% … I can barely keep up with Slacks let alone Discords as well.
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I hate Discord for different reasons. I actually like the IRC-ish conversation structure of it. However, I despise using the Mac App because, again, Electron. I’m not sure if this is related to it being an Electron app, but there is something fundamentally broken with the way that handles a/v on the Mac and the fact that it ignores DnD. When I think of why I dislike Electron apps I immediately think of Discord on the Mac.
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Discord messages get so lost in the shuffle
Even when using the “advanced” search functionality?
Sure I can go and find something if I need it but if I’m trying to follow a conversation there are 20 of them happening in the page at the same time
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Our company has been using Communniteq (previously called discoursehosting.com) for about 5 years now. $20/month, or $200/year – and that includes email and Askimet anti-spam. They take care of everything. I’ve rarely had to contact them, but when I do the response is fast and helpful. I have no connection with them other than being a very satisfied customer.
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