^^^
Hosting currently ending up at around 500 euros\year, main forum site itself + diverse addons for development, testing and security. Donations keeps it afloat, thanks for that. The forum software itself is free, but dozens of developpers relies on donations to keep the spirit up to continue development and support, I make sure they get a decent yearly sum from here.
Many cheaper hosting offers exists, I am (and you with donations :O) paying for good compatibility with this particular forum software, stability, quick support. As you (hopefully) experience, site is fast and snappy, everything works year after year, minuscule amount of offline episodes or other trouble, 17 years.
How much it 'costs' in hours is another question, simple answer is, like fixing one's motorcycle, kind of hobby, satisfaction when it all works well + the social interaction. And to be clear, there is no way I'm making, or interested in making, any money out of all this, thus no need for ads, no paid membership etc.
