# Self-hosting Self-hosting means running services on your own hardware or [[Virtual Private Server (VPS)]] instead of relying on third-party SaaS providers. This includes everything from file sync (Nextcloud), password managers (Vaultwarden), media servers ([[Jellyfin]]), to note-taking apps and home automation. The motivations are typically data sovereignty, privacy, cost savings at scale, and avoiding vendor lock-in. The tradeoffs are real: you become responsible for security, backups, updates, and uptime. A misconfigured service can expose your data; a failed disk without backups means permanent loss. Tools like Docker and docker-compose have dramatically lowered the barrier to entry, making it possible to deploy complex stacks with a few configuration files. Reverse proxies (Traefik, Caddy) handle SSL certificates and routing automatically. Secure remote access is the main challenge. You don't want to expose services directly to the internet. Solutions include [[Tailscale]] for private mesh networking, Cloudflare Tunnels, or traditional VPNs. Combined with [[Zero Trust Security]] principles, self-hosting can be both private and secure. The r/selfhosted community and Awesome-Selfhosted maintain extensive lists of open-source alternatives to commercial services. ## Related - [[Tailscale]] - [[Zero Trust Security]] - [[Docker]] - [[Linux]]