I think there are different options. Buying your own domain name and periodically renewing it, plus paying for servers, can be quite expensive. A Telegram forum is a free solution.
However, forums require moderators, who need to be paid. If we find enthusiastic moderators, things could go faster. But there are a lot of problems with forums. Anything that allows us to save money is good.
I'm still considering what will make us look real and serious in the society. People's perception of Telegram isn't going to help, they almost didn't believe any project there has some real value because of the scams bred there. If funds becomes a problem, we can start from Telegram as a contingency plan, but we should be making serious plans to get our own forum.
Moderators wouldn't be a problem if we move to our site, we've people dedicated to the project who will dedicate themselves to work in that capacity, at least until Chamby is able to pay them, no matter how long it takes. We're volunteers and this is more like a startup, so together we can keep pushing.