Lemmy is not free. Not even close. Someone’s paying out of pocket to run the hardware and pay the upkeep.

You are just a guest here. Host your own and you can pay the bills instead of freeloading off someone.

That’s part of the entire point of this. It ain’t free, but if we all split the load of hosting enough then the cost becomes manageable across the entire community.

So that way one person or one company isn’t forced to find endless ways to make money to keep the lights on.