Is it even worth trying to make money from a forum anymore? (1 Viewer)

[Al]

Let’s start with the obvious question. Forums aren’t exactly high-traffic cash cows in 2025. Ad revenue is low unless you’ve got serious numbers, and most users treat paywalls like a personal insult. So is it still worth the effort to monetise? Or is it better to just treat the forum as a hobby and skip the stress? If you are trying to earn something, what are you doing and is it working?

The dream would be to make a living from a forum - but is it just that, a dream? And do we need to wake up and face reality?

 

[Cpvr]

It all boils down to how you want to monetize your forum. You can do a/b testing to see what works and what doesn’t.

Such as, placing ads for guests and encouraging them to join, so they don’t see ads or you can treat it as a hobby.

It is technically not living a dream, but it’s a possibility that you can make money if you’re able to monetize it correctly.

You could also try selling ads instead as a monthly rate, a 6 month or a yearly rate, which would go towards server costs and more.

Or, try selling merchandise if you can find someone to design and create merchandise that you turn a profit from. Such as, mugs, t shirts, hats, plushies, hoodies, etc.

There has been many forums over the years that have generated thousands of dollars in revenue, especially those that were sold and purchased by VerticalScope.

Google adsense pays via a ECPM model now, so it’s easier to generate a profit compared to when it was a CPC model. Especially if a site isn’t able to generate a high level of clicks.

Honestly, I’d rather treat my forum as a hobby for now and focus on building it without a focus on monetizing it.

 

[Ravenfreak]

IMO it's not really worth making money from a forum. You're better off trying to earn money from a blog or even better a vlog. Running websites is just a fun hobby I like to do, so I never tried earning money from my sites and honestly I'm okay with them just being there for fun.

 

[Senkusha]

Heck, I can't even get people to join my forum for totally free and no ads. I'm not wasting my time trying to monetize it.

 

[Bawse]

Small forums make next to nothing. My forum has 350+ members, 20 average online per 24 hours, and it generates a little revenue. It depends what you define "worth it". I'd say it's worth it if you own a big board, and you monetize it properly.