Well, if you want private images it is normal that they charge you for it. What I advise you to do is to make the images public and mount the private part as a volume. This way you can upload the images wherever you want without worrying.
Another option if you want the resulting image to have something private is to create as much as you can in a public image and have a script that adds the private part as the last layer.
Apart from the registries you have in GitLab and GitHub if you are looking for something more generic like Docker Hub you have Quay (from RedHat). It works very well and has a pretty nice interface (especially the new one that is in testing).
You don’t really need Cloudflare to have your own domain, you can do everything directly with GitHub.
It is not about leading anything but about having the code in a repository so that it is easy to read/consult/audit/etc.
You can upload the code to any service (it doesn’t have to be GitHub, it can be GitLab, sourcehut, etc…) and disable issues and comments.
Yes, without a doubt, for me it is the most balanced client, a pity that there is not for Android, but well, in mobile Element does not give problems either.
They are very focused on development and therefore the documentation is a bit sparse (maybe).
The truth is that it is not very complicated to install. It is simply to download the binary (it is statically compiled so it has no dependencies) place it in /usr/bin and execute it (the best is to create a user in the machine with the home in /var/lib/conduit and then launch it with systemd).
Another option is to simply launch it with docker.
In any case, if you have problems, comment it here and we will look to see what could be happening.
I recommend Matrix with the Conduit server. This server requires almost no resources and even runs on a Raspberry Pi.
Cinny works perfectly as a desktop client (in case you want to escape from the ubiquitous Element). And for mobile I would use Element for Android/iOS although FluffyChat also works very well.
Excuse me, but on what authority do you say it doesn’t suck? The comparison in the readme seems to be written by a resentful kid.
Or you can directly use Glowing Bear without installing anything.