These both look like they could be good options with some work, but they are so confusing. I tried to make a new space on flotilla, and immediately there is a Bitcoin paywall for starting a relay. I thought notes could exist on any relay, that's what makes this censorship resistant?
Both Chachi and Flotilla have "forum" functionality and they both work great. What else do we have?
Do the hamster people need anything else? I don't think so.
https://app.flotilla.social/spaces/wss%3A%2F%2Fpyramid.fiatjaf.com%2F/threads
https://chachi.chat/posts/pyramid.fiatjaf.com
nostr:npub1njst6azswskk5gp3ns8r6nr8nj0qg65acu8gaa2u9yz7yszjxs9s6k7fqx nostr:npub1futsmzhe77p7rlntdty2j7u5lmmrxspwa2f3jv7h3z4nqh5w7cmqpnvwhk nostr:npub178s0p20fmkdj6s7jvhchglwff280jr3dmwknahrvkq9hwzqc2dmsjnc70u nostr:npub1ven4zk8xxw873876gx8y9g9l9fazkye9qnwnglcptgvfwxmygscqsxddfh
I know it doesn't look like phpBB, but that can be arranged.
Discussion
Any relay doesn't mean any relay has to accommodate you, for free or otherwise. Closed groups can exists, charge fees, be moderated, etc. Any set of rules the relay operator sees fit.
For full censorship resistance, you'd run your own with whatever rules or lack of rules you want so that people that care what you have to say can always find your notes.
Nostr is still a beta test honestly, lots of ideas and apps are still in the testing phase, figuring it what is work.
As to your second point, Nostr isn't free like the legacy Internet. There you pay with ads and tracking, here you pay with Bitcoin. It's a different paradigm.
any relay is already a "space" so you can use any of your existing relays.
I agree that there is a lot of work to do to make the UX smooth and get Flotilla and Chachi out of the beta phase. keep in mind that they are both solo-dev projects that are only a few months old, they'll get better!