Self-hosting at home: where to start

Self-hosting means running an app on a computer you control instead of paying a company to run it for you. The reward is privacy and no subscription. The cost is your time: you install it, keep it updated and, above all, back it up. Start with something low-stakes, and add the apps that hold irreplaceable data only once your backups work.

What you need

• An always-on computer: an old PC, a mini PC, a NAS that runs Docker, or a Raspberry Pi for the lighter apps.
• Docker, which most of these apps use to install and update in a few commands.
• A second place for backups, such as another drive or cloud storage.

Check each app's requirements before you buy hardware. Immich, for example, asks for at least 6 GB of RAM and 2 CPU cores.

A good order to start in

1. Pi-hole: a gentle first project

Pi-hole blocks ads for every device at home and runs on Linux or in Docker. If it breaks, you switch your router's DNS back and nothing is lost. It teaches you the basics of running a service. See our guide to blocking ads on every device at home.

2. Jellyfin: your films and music, streamed

Jellyfin streams your own films, shows and music to apps on your TV, phone and browser, with no subscription or premium tier. Losing its server is an inconvenience rather than a disaster, because your media files stay where they are. Plex is the polished alternative with paid extras; our Plex vs Jellyfin comparison covers both.

3. Set up backups before anything precious

Before you trust a server with photos or passwords, make sure it's backed up somewhere else. Duplicati is a free, open-source backup app that encrypts your data before sending it to cloud storage, a NAS or another drive. Test a restore once, so you know it works.

4. Immich: your phone photos

Immich backs up photos and videos from your phone automatically and lets you search them by faces and objects. Its own docs say all features are free, but also warn that self-hosting probably won't save you money once hardware and backups are counted, and its README tells you to keep a 3-2-1 backup of your photos: three copies, on two kinds of storage, one away from home.

5. Vaultwarden: your passwords, with care

Vaultwarden is an unofficial server that works with the official Bitwarden apps, so your password vault stays on your hardware. It needs HTTPS and a server you keep secure and up to date. If that sounds like more responsibility than you want, Bitwarden's own hosted plan does the same job; our Bitwarden vs Vaultwarden comparison explains the difference.

When you outgrow one box

Home Assistant, which runs your smart home locally, is often the next project; its docs say a custom install usually takes one to two hours. Once you run several apps, Proxmox VE lets one machine host many virtual machines and containers from a web interface. It's free and open source; paid subscriptions add support and the enterprise update repository.

The rule that matters most

An app on your own server is only as safe as your last backup. Keep updates on, keep apps off the open internet unless you need them there, and use a private network tool such as Tailscale to reach them from outside.