krishatnet
Up-and-Coming Sensation
I want to open a forum in future. What is minimum amount required to run a forum per month.
How much money needed to run a forum
- Thread starter krishatnet
- Start date
krishatnet
Up-and-Coming Sensation
Moonface said:
will free hosting sites allow to place our own ads.
000webhost allows you to add your own ads to your site, but I'm not sure if they fit your needs. It's best to read each site's FAQ or maybe contact staff if you have any questions. Most hosts have a section for pre-sales questions or general questions about their services.
Dfarmer2001
Paragon
I am running my forums, www.referraldirectoryforum.com, for only $20.00 a year, and you can place your own advertisements on it, but you have to pay like $5.00 per 50,000 views for them not to place their ads on it if you don't want them to. I really don't mind, but the host is called proboards. Find it at proboards.com. They also opened a new forums host for $9.99 a month and you don't have to put up with any ads, and you get unlimited everything you need.
Plus you can also run your forums free using proboards, and you also get everything unlimited except plugins space, and super keys to buy certain things with.
Plus you can also run your forums free using proboards, and you also get everything unlimited except plugins space, and super keys to buy certain things with.
$9.99 is a lot for hosting a proboard. To start a forum isn't that expensive, first buy a domain. I suggest google to look for coupons to Namecheap or godaddy, I know godaddy has a 2.99 .com special right now for new clients. Once you have that check out the webhosting board here. You can get hosting for under $3 a month. After that pick your software and install it, you are ready to have a forum. The out of pocket will cost you around $10 for the first month since you have to get the domain name. After that it's $3 a month there after.
HighVelocity
New Arrival
Like others have said, no money is required. If you want a domain, paid host, Adwords, premium services etc, then yeah, it'll cost you, but within the last few years I've used Jcink, Zetaboards and ProPhpBB without spending anything.
You can run a forum for free using a host like Jcink Forum Hosting or IcyBoards. Both are free hosts that offer ways to get your database.
(Jcink Forum Hosting allows you to download your database at any time for free. IcyBoards costs 10$ to get premium for a month then you can download your database as many times as you'd like within that month.)
Each have their benefits...
JFH's database back up is free but you have to know how to convert databases from IPB1.3 to modern if you want to self-host. (It is a little more difficult than modern hosts...)
IB's databases are locked behind a paywall, but if you do pay then you get a MyBB 1.6.14 database that you can easily slide into any self-hosted MyBB 1.6.14 forum or you can use a converter to go to another software.
Of course if you want to spend money you can get and use a domain on either JFH or IB. But you aren't required to.
Like I just mentioned here, I do not recommend using free web hosts to run a forum. It will not work out that well. (Expect slow loading times, random downtimes and resource limit hit errors.)
Personally, I would not suggest buying a domain, hosting and a software license for Xenforo/IPB 3.x for a new venture. (Especially not if you've never run a forum before and have no idea how much work is involved. To be rather blunt, getting staff is hard and you aren't guaranteed to have any help for a long time. So you may have to be solo admin for years.)
I suggest getting a free hosted forum and building a userbase before you look at self-hosting. Know that you have an audience before starting to sink money into a forum. Because if your project flops and you've put a ton of money into it... it feels worse. Plus it takes some stress off of running a forum if you don't have to deal with the financial side.
Not everyone has tons of money and when running a forum you can be hit with unexpected costs... Your host closes so you have to scramble for new hosting, even though you may have been paid up for another 4 months.
I would also suggest abandoning the idea of putting your own ads up on your site. Free forum hosts tend not to allow it unless you pay for ad removal (and that can be anywhere from $5-$10 a month, so more than you might pay for hosting). And even if you were a new, self-hosted, forum... having ads up early on is not a good sign. People may avoid your site if they feel like there are too many ads (provided they don't run adblocker anyway).
And even then the amount of money you'd make from having ads will be pretty small. (I mean until you get a fairly large forum, say 50,000+ posts and 1000+ members, you won't make very much at all.)
(Jcink Forum Hosting allows you to download your database at any time for free. IcyBoards costs 10$ to get premium for a month then you can download your database as many times as you'd like within that month.)
Each have their benefits...
JFH's database back up is free but you have to know how to convert databases from IPB1.3 to modern if you want to self-host. (It is a little more difficult than modern hosts...)
IB's databases are locked behind a paywall, but if you do pay then you get a MyBB 1.6.14 database that you can easily slide into any self-hosted MyBB 1.6.14 forum or you can use a converter to go to another software.
Of course if you want to spend money you can get and use a domain on either JFH or IB. But you aren't required to.
Like I just mentioned here, I do not recommend using free web hosts to run a forum. It will not work out that well. (Expect slow loading times, random downtimes and resource limit hit errors.)
Personally, I would not suggest buying a domain, hosting and a software license for Xenforo/IPB 3.x for a new venture. (Especially not if you've never run a forum before and have no idea how much work is involved. To be rather blunt, getting staff is hard and you aren't guaranteed to have any help for a long time. So you may have to be solo admin for years.)
I suggest getting a free hosted forum and building a userbase before you look at self-hosting. Know that you have an audience before starting to sink money into a forum. Because if your project flops and you've put a ton of money into it... it feels worse. Plus it takes some stress off of running a forum if you don't have to deal with the financial side.
Not everyone has tons of money and when running a forum you can be hit with unexpected costs... Your host closes so you have to scramble for new hosting, even though you may have been paid up for another 4 months.
I would also suggest abandoning the idea of putting your own ads up on your site. Free forum hosts tend not to allow it unless you pay for ad removal (and that can be anywhere from $5-$10 a month, so more than you might pay for hosting). And even if you were a new, self-hosted, forum... having ads up early on is not a good sign. People may avoid your site if they feel like there are too many ads (provided they don't run adblocker anyway).
And even then the amount of money you'd make from having ads will be pretty small. (I mean until you get a fairly large forum, say 50,000+ posts and 1000+ members, you won't make very much at all.)
Gamer Outpost
Resident
$10-15 a year for domain (average)
$25-45 a year for hosting (average)
If you want to use a paid host and have a domain name, it will probably cost you anywhere from 35-60 bucks a year. Not too bad, and you can certainly save money by using a free host, free domain name, and/or coupon codes.
$25-45 a year for hosting (average)
If you want to use a paid host and have a domain name, it will probably cost you anywhere from 35-60 bucks a year. Not too bad, and you can certainly save money by using a free host, free domain name, and/or coupon codes.
McConnaughay
Reputable
Like others have said, it depends on what you use. If you use free-hosting and a free-domain. You'll be fine.
GoDaddy.com currently has a special where you can buy a domain for $4. (including the second year which is $14. That's where they "getcha".)
Other-wise, hosting can cost you around forty or so. If you want to have a free-hosting site using something like InvisionFree or ZetaBoards, it's certainly save some money. Although, since they already have ads on your site, there is no financial profit for it. (assuming you'd want to save up for a higher hosting medium.)
GoDaddy.com currently has a special where you can buy a domain for $4. (including the second year which is $14. That's where they "getcha".)
Other-wise, hosting can cost you around forty or so. If you want to have a free-hosting site using something like InvisionFree or ZetaBoards, it's certainly save some money. Although, since they already have ads on your site, there is no financial profit for it. (assuming you'd want to save up for a higher hosting medium.)
Technically, you can run a forum for free. You can get a TLD from FP for free using FP$. You can sometimes get hosting from a host for free in return for a link back or something (generally smaller hosts). There are also some free hosts around but they are not too reliable. There are also some very good free forum softwares. However if you really want your forum to succeed, I highly recommend that you invest into it.
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