I want to start a forum related to crypto. I am new to this. What is the minimum investment required to start, for hosting and softwares. I found some free forum hosting sites like proboard are they good for long term growth?

Zero. You can start a forum without a investment. I did, and I started investing as I improved my site/forum. Either way it takes a lot of time, and dedication to start up a community.

 

Maybe at least $200 for a Xenforo license. I wouldn't start over with a free software.

I agree with [mention=86]Bawse[/mention] - It's possible to start out very cheap or even free, but I wouldn't recommend it. The results could be demotivating. If you're serious about it, purchase a second hand license and cheap web hosting to get you started. A second hand license costs 150 USD, a cheap web reliable web host would set you back around 50 USD a year, quite possibly with a domain name included.

Zero. You can start a forum without a investment. I did, and I started investing as I improved my site/forum. Either way it takes a lot of time, and dedication to start up a community.

 

Maybe at least $200 for a Xenforo license. I wouldn't start over with a free software.

Thank you, can you suggest some free sites where can I start a forum.

Thank you, can you suggest some free sites where can I start a forum.

Jcink, Proboards and Forumotion are the most current popular free forum hosts.

 

Unless [mention=79]Arantor[/mention] and me change that this year. 😇😗

I agree with [mention=86]Bawse[/mention] - It's possible to start out very cheap or even free, but I wouldn't recommend it. The results could be demotivating. If you're serious about it, purchase a second hand license and cheap web hosting to get you started. A second hand license costs 150 USD, a cheap web reliable web host would set you back around 50 USD a year, quite possibly with a domain name included.

Is that licence valid for 1 year or?

Is that licence valid for 1 year or?

Yes, normally it is, since most sell licenses that went out of support and the terms require you to sell licenses second hand with renewed support.

I want to start a forum related to crypto. I am new to this. What is the minimum investment required to start, for hosting and softwares. I found some free forum hosting sites like proboard are they good for long term growth?

Whether free hosting/software or paid, your investment will be many hours of your days.

The monetary cost isn't the most relevant factor imo, it's how much time you're able to dedicate to development, adding content & advertising your forum. You could setup a really nice forum with a great domain name on reliable hosting for as little as $200 or so, I've also known admins "splash out" and buy custom themes/plugins etc immediately and pay upwards of $1000+ to launch a forum. What is spent isn't really what determines the success (upto a certain extent).

 

The success of your forum will be determined by how motivated you are, how able you are to build ties within your community and retain active members, and how well you recruit and advertise and eventually move onto getting members to advertise for you. At the beginning as an admin, it'll feel like a full-time job in some respects (and if it doesn't, you're either running a hobby forum or not serious about proper success). As your forum grows, you'll see the load start to lighten slightly, before you become a fully-fledged self-sustaining active community at which point you're back to having a full-time job again. :)

Jcink, Proboards and Forumotion are the most current popular free forum hosts.

 

Unless [mention=79]Arantor[/mention] and me change that this year. 😇😗

We will see what we can do. It might take us a bit longer than just 2025 to dethrone the existing folks, though!

It's a good question. I don't know much about it because all my forums are on free platform such as Forumotion. They charge nothing but again, I don't have my own domain without forumotion in it and all the data is permanently in their posession. Software itself lacks plenty of things compared to xenforo, lolz. But when you don't have to invest, it is what it is xD

Jcink, Proboards and Forumotion are the most current popular free forum hosts.

 

Unless [mention=79]Arantor[/mention] and me change that this year. 😇😗

I wouldn't use a free forum host, because if you ever grow to the point where to want to move to a self hosted forum, you won't be able to grab the database(I think).

I wouldn't use a free forum host, because if you ever grow to the point where to want to move to a self hosted forum, you won't be able to grab the database(I think).

I don't know about the others mentioned, but Jcink allows you to download your database.

I don't know about the others mentioned, but Jcink allows you to download your database.

Forumotion doesn't. Technically, you don't even own the forum because they can shut it down anytime they find suitable, however, despite you "deleting" your forum, it remains permanently in their database, so you can always ask them to reactivate it.

It depends on your budget. You can start a forum on free hosting and free software, and then move to paid hosting in the future and possibly a paid forum script. I've seen successful forums on free hosts before, specifically Proboards of all places. Jcink does allow you to make backups of your database as mentioned in this thread, I think Createmybb allows you to request a database backup. No other free forum host does this btw.

It depends on your budget. You can start a forum on free hosting and free software, and then move to paid hosting in the future and possibly a paid forum script. I've seen successful forums on free hosts before, specifically Proboards of all places. Jcink does allow you to make backups of your database as mentioned in this thread, I think Createmybb allows you to request a database backup. No other free forum host does this btw.

Jcink let’s you get a backup.

I want to start a forum related to crypto. I am new to this. What is the minimum investment required to start, for hosting and softwares. I found some free forum hosting sites like proboard are they good for long term growth?

ProBoards and other free forums are good if you don't mind rented space. That means you get what you get for free. You get what you pay for. You abide by their terms and if they shut it down, you just have to deal with it.

 

You can also buy shared hosting for around $100 a year, a domain name for about $20 a year, and a free forum software like phpBB3 or SMF.

 

Personally, nothing against ProBoards but I'd spend the $120 and use a free software and have full control over my community.

I don't mind using free forum software since I'm a poor boy. It lets me pursue my passions and hobbies without burning a hole through my wallet. There may be some fickle rules that can be made on this software sometimes, but I've been content with the 6+ years I've been using Jcink. Free forum software is a great way to start in the forum world if you are new to everything, even for testing purposes. It will give you a feel for how the forum software works and what you can accomplish. If you start a forum using free forum software I would most certainly try to find forum software that allows you to download your database in case you ever want to upgrade to something more powerful.

There are ways you can start with ) but i do think in order to progress an investment will be needed down the line.

 

 

ProBoards and other free forums are good if you don't mind rented space. That means you get what you get for free. You get what you pay for. You abide by their terms and if they shut it down, you just have to deal with it.

 

You can also buy shared hosting for around $100 a year, a domain name for about $20 a year, and a free forum software like phpBB3 or SMF.

 

Personally, nothing against ProBoards but I'd spend the $120 and use a free software and have full control over my community.

 

I was on a Proboards for a long time and they are a very easy forum to manage but the cons is you cant get acess to the database,

It's a good question. I don't know much about it because all my forums are on free platform such as Forumotion. They charge nothing but again, I don't have my own domain without forumotion in it and all the data is permanently in their posession. Software itself lacks plenty of things compared to xenforo, lolz. But when you don't have to invest, it is what it is xD

Are you making any money from that forums through advertisements. Can we place our own ads?

Are you making any money from that forums through advertisements. Can we place our own ads?

I am making no money. I can put your banner for free if you want.

I want to start a forum related to crypto. I am new to this. What is the minimum investment required to start, for hosting and softwares. I found some free forum hosting sites like proboard are they good for long term growth?

I think it all depends on the type of forum you want to build.

 

 

 

 

 

If you choose the paid forum software route, you’ll need at least $195–$300 to get your forum off the ground. This amount includes licensing and hosting costs.

 

 

 

 

 

You’ll also need to take into account the type of add-ons you’d like to use, especially if you opt for Xenforo. You should budget an additional $20–$100 for these.

 

 

On the other hand, if you choose free forum hosting software, you can save money.

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend ProBoards, but I’d choose Jcink instead.

I think it all depends on the type of forum you want to build.

 

 

 

 

 

If you choose the paid forum software route, you’ll need at least $195–$300 to get your forum off the ground. This amount includes licensing and hosting costs.

 

 

 

 

 

You’ll also need to take into account the type of add-ons you’d like to use, especially if you opt for Xenforo. You should budget an additional $20–$100 for these.

 

 

On the other hand, if you choose free forum hosting software, you can save money.

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend ProBoards, but I’d choose Jcink instead.

Proboards is good for rookie but eventually you have to get out of if you want success. Phpbb isnt bad either