I love self-hosting services, and here are 5 reasons why you should too

Key findings

  • Improve privacy and avoid data tracking with self-hosted apps.
  • No subscription fees required; many FOSS options available.
  • Control every aspect and enjoy the learning experience with self-hosted servers.



Whether you're running private media servers on virtual machines or hosting multiple apps in containers on server hardware, self-hosting is a fun hobby if you enjoy working at home. But beyond the entertainment aspect, there are several practical reasons why you might want to dive into the world of self-hosting.

5 Better data protection

Self-hosted apps can prevent companies from spying on your activities

Dashy UI runs on an LXC container

The lack of privacy is one of the biggest problems with third-party providers. From media streaming apps that use your information to deliver personalized ads to VPN providers that sell your data, third-party platforms aren't exactly known for protecting your confidentiality.


So if your privacy is important to you, it's a good idea to host your own media, password, and VPN servers on a local machine. Aside from preventing companies from accessing your data, self-hosted services are less vulnerable to security breaches, provided you don't connect your server to the Internet and secure all data using firewalls and VLANs.

4 No subscription fees

Only FOSS services here

While I pay recurring fees for a handful of apps, I'm not a fan of subscription-based pricing models, especially those where companies can raise prices at will at any time. Fortunately, there's a flood of apps and services in the self-hosting space that meet most of my needs without requiring me to dig deep into my pockets each month.


Most of these services are based on FOSS and I don't have to pay a penny to use them. The cherry on top is that Wireguard, Paperless-ngx, CasaOS, Jellyfin and many other major apps have better interfaces and are far more powerful than their paid third-party competitors.

3 A solid learning experience

You can also learn a lot from troubleshooting

Running a Debian VM on a Raspberry Pi Proxmox server

Hosting applications on local servers can give you a lot of valuable insight into what's going on behind the scenes. First of all, running services locally will teach you the essentials of virtualization, networking, and firewalls.


And that's before you start troubleshooting. Even if you choose the most stable container/VM images, things can – and will – break. But as you troubleshoot your self-hosted setup, you'll soon become familiar with most terminal commands and essential technical jargon.

2 You don't have to worry about losing access to services

The real reason why I joined the Self-Hosting team

Running the AdGuard add-on within the Home Assistant interface

If you use only online services, you're essentially relying on corporate servers that can shut down without notice. Or a change in provider policies can result in you losing access to apps, files, and content you've already paid for.

Because you're responsible for your self-hosted servers, you can rest assured that your valuable files and apps won't be stolen by corporate machinations. And if you run critical services like password managers on your own machines, you can create a high-availability cluster or set up automatic syncing between separate systems to avoid downtime caused by hardware failures or power outages.


1 You are in control

You are both the administrator and the end user

A screenshot of LibreELEC on the Raspberry Pi 5

Since everything runs on your own hardware, you can optimize every aspect of your self-hosting experience. Whether it's cover art plugins for Emby or NVR add-ons for Home Assistant, the customization options are endless when it comes to improving the software aspects of your home lab.

When you consider the lack of ads, better privacy options, and complete control over all your files, applications, and data, it's clear why many computer enthusiasts (myself included) love self-hosting.

Create a self-hosting paradise with all your favorite services

The plugins in the Kodbox web interface


As well as being a replacement for online apps, the world of home labs is full of self-hosted apps that can make your life a lot easier. For example, Tube Archivist is a solid app if you want a pure YouTube media server, while MiroTalk is great for P2P video conferencing. There's also the metasearch engine SearXNG, the remote admin tool Guacamole, and ChangeDetection, which makes real-time news tracking a breeze. And the list goes on.

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