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Flarum Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Deploy Flarum hosting and run self-hosted forum software on your own domain, without installing PHP, Composer, a web server or a database yourself. xCloud starts the pinned Flarum image with a private MariaDB database and a scheduler container, creates the administrator you chose on the install form and publishes the forum over HTTPS, with registration off until you open it, so you decide when members arrive.

Deploy your Flarum
  • No terminal
  • No technical skills needed
  • No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is Flarum?

Flarum is open-source forum software written in PHP and released under the MIT licence. Upstream describes it as a discussion platform that is fast and simple, with a responsive interface built on the Mithril JavaScript framework and an Extension API for customising it. Self-hosted Flarum is the option for communities that would otherwise rely on a hosted board such as Discourse.

On xCloud the template runs the community crazymax/flarum image at 1.8.19, pinned by digest, with a private MariaDB 11.8.3 database and a second container that runs Flarum's scheduled jobs every minute. Uploads, the enabled-extension list and storage sit on the flarum_data volume; the database sits on flarum_db. There is no seeded admin: the first administrator is created from your install form.

Flarum Hosting Live In 3 Easy Steps

Self-hosting Flarum normally means a PHP stack, Composer, a database, a web server and a certificate before you write a single post. This is the same forum without assembling any of it.

  1. Step 01

    Sign Up

    Create your xCloud account and pick Flarum from the OneClick catalog. Choose a domain, then enter your administrator username and email. Leave the password blank to have xCloud generate a strong one.

  2. Step 02

    We Deploy It For You

    One click. We start crazymax/flarum 1.8.19 with a private MariaDB 11.8.3 database and a scheduler container, mount flarum_data and flarum_db, and publish the forum over HTTPS on your domain. The first start can take 1–2 minutes.

  3. Step 03

    Sign In And Set Up Your Forum

    Save the administrator password from the protected installation credentials and sign in. Set the title and tags in /admin, configure mail, then open sign-up when you are ready for members.

Everything Flarum Does, On Your Own Server

A full community forum runs here: discussions, replies, uploads and extensions, on infrastructure you control.

  • Discussions For Your Community

    Run a community forum, product support board or discussion space on your own domain.

  • Responsive On Any Device

    A clean, responsive interface designed to be consistent and intuitive across desktop and mobile.

  • Extend With Flarum Extensions

    Add extensions from Flarum's ecosystem. Enabled extensions stay on persistent storage and reinstall when the app starts.

  • Your Admin Account At Install

    The administrator you enter is created during install. The upstream flarum/flarum default is rejected, so there is no shared login to find.

  • Scheduled Jobs Run Themselves

    A dedicated scheduler container runs Flarum's scheduled tasks every minute, separate from the forum itself.

  • Survives A Restart

    Discussions, replies, uploads and settings survive an xCloud Restart of all containers.

Everything You Need To Run Your Forum Hosting Without The Server Work

Managed hosting for Flarum, so the HTTPS, database and scheduled jobs are not your problem.

  • Flarum 1.8.19 deployed instantly
  • You create the first admin account
  • HTTPS handled by xCloud
  • Both volumes ready to back up
  • Public sign-up off until you open it
  • Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With Flarum

  • Open a community forum for your product

    Give customers a place to ask questions and answer each other on your own domain. Registration stays off until you configure mail and open it, so you control when members arrive.

  • Run a support board for a small team

    Set up tags in Administration to sort topics into areas, then let staff reply from the same interface. Discussions, replies and uploads survive a restart, because they sit on persistent volumes.

  • Host a hobby or club discussion space

    A club or interest group can run a forum without renting a hosted board. The responsive interface works on phones, and the scheduler container keeps Flarum's background jobs running every minute.

  • Extend the forum with community add-ons

    Flarum's Extension API lets you add features as extensions. In this template the enabled list is stored on flarum_data and reinstalled at start, so your additions come back after a restart.

Flarum vs Alternatives

Discourse
Discourse is the usual hosted-board comparison. Flarum is MIT-licensed and in this template runs as one PHP image, a scheduler container and MariaDB at a 512 MB baseline. Compare it with the Discourse page.
NodeBB
NodeBB has its own xCloud page. Flarum is written in PHP with a Mithril interface and extends through an Extension API, so choose it when you prefer a PHP stack and extensions managed from one list.
phpBB
phpBB is another forum engine and has no OneClick page here. Flarum's template creates your own administrator at install and keeps public registration off until you enable it.
Hosted forum services
A hosted forum service runs on its provider's servers. A Flarum forum on xCloud runs on your own Cloud VPS and domain, with the database and uploads on flarum_db and flarum_data volumes that you back up.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

Dedicated Cloud VPS sizes, pre-configured for Flarum hosting. Pick the one that fits, and resize any time.

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Most popular

One community forum, with real headroom above the template baseline.

$24.99per month

  • 6 GB RAM
  • 4 vCPU cores
  • 100 GB NVMe SSD
  • 30 TB
  • Unlimited
Get started

Cloud VPS 16 GB

More room for a busier community.

$59.99per month

  • 16 GB RAM
  • 6 vCPU cores
  • 200 GB NVMe SSD
  • 30 TB
  • Unlimited
Get started

Cloud VPS 24 GB

Flarum alongside a whole self-hosted stack.

$84.99per month

  • 24 GB RAM
  • 8 vCPU cores
  • 300 GB NVMe SSD
  • 30 TB
  • Unlimited
Get started

Flarum is free and open source under the MIT License; this is the managed server it runs on. The template baseline is 1 CPU core, 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of disk. This page sells the 6 GB tier. Every size is a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision and manage.

Managed hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy Flarum on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

  • 1 server
  • 10 sites
Start free

Starter

Most popular

Your rate with 2–5 servers connected.

$5per server / month

  • 2–5 servers
  • Unlimited sites
  • All features included
  • Bring any VPS provider
Get started

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

  • 6–10 servers
  • Unlimited sites
  • All features included
  • Bring any VPS provider
Get started

Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

  • 11+ servers
  • Unlimited sites
  • All features included
  • Bring any VPS provider
Get started

Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready To Launch Your Community Forum?

Flarum on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision and manage. Deploy faster. Own your community. Stay in control.

Hear what people are saying about us

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Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Is Flarum free?

Yes, Flarum is free, open-source software under the MIT licence. On xCloud you pay for the dedicated Cloud VPS the forum runs on and the deployment around it, not for the application. Extensions you add may carry their own licences, which you should check separately.

What are the requirements to run Flarum?

The template manifest asks for 1 CPU core, 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of disk, and measured peak use in QA was about 199 MB of RAM. The 6 GB Cloud VPS sold here leaves room for MariaDB, the scheduler and a growing community. Disk use grows with uploads.

Does Flarum need a database?

Yes. Flarum stores discussions and settings in a database, and this template provides a private MariaDB 11.8.3 container on the internal network with no published port. xCloud generates the database name, user and password for you, and the data lives on the flarum_db volume.

Can you self-host Flarum with Docker?

Yes. For Flarum Docker hosting the template runs the crazymax/flarum image, pinned by digest, a scheduler container from the same image and MariaDB, with both volumes mounted and HTTPS on your domain. You do not write compose files or install PHP and Composer.

How do I install Flarum extensions?

Extensions come from Flarum's Extension API ecosystem, which you follow through Flarum's own docs. In this template the list of enabled extensions is kept at /data/extensions/list on the flarum_data volume and the web container reinstalls them on every start, so they persist across restarts.

How do I update Flarum?

Updates are manual because the image is pinned by digest. Read the Flarum and image release notes, back up both volumes, bump the tag and digest together and recreate the containers without deleting volumes. Then check admin login, registration policy, extensions and a test post. Existing installs keep their snapshot.

How do I back up a Flarum forum?

A Flarum backup means both volumes taken in the same window: flarum_data holds uploaded assets, the enabled-extension list and storage, and flarum_db holds the MariaDB database. Composer's vendor folder is not on the volume. Restore both together and test a restore before you rely on it.

Backup and restore Docker apps

Can anyone register on my forum right away?

No. Public sign-up is off after install and returns 403 until an administrator enables it. Set up outbound mail in Administration, Email first, because this image takes no SMTP variables, then open registration under Permissions when you want new members.

Can I run Flarum in the cloud on xCloud?

Yes. For Flarum cloud use, xCloud sets up a dedicated Cloud VPS, deploys the forum, MariaDB and scheduler on it and attaches your domain and certificate. A VPS you already pay another provider for can be attached as a self-managed server and the forum template deploys there too.

How big can uploads be?

The template sets UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE to 16M in its environment, so uploads default to 16 MB per file. The value lives in the environment settings of the install, and a change takes effect after you save it and redeploy the containers.

How do I sign in the first time?

Use the administrator username or email from your install form and the password in the credentials panel, then open /admin on your domain. The upstream flarum/flarum default login is rejected, and changing these fields later in the environment editor does not rename or re-key the account.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.

Related resources

The backup guides that matter most once your forum is live, since its database and uploads live on separate volumes.

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