• Cloud Storage
• Password Manager
• Notes & Documents
• Media
• VPN
• DNS & Ad Blocking
• Monitoring
• The Starter Stack

Every service you self-host is one less company reading your data. Here’s what actually works in 2026.

§Cloud Storage

Instead of: Google Drive, Dropbox

• Nextcloud — full suite (files, calendar, contacts, office)
• Syncthing — P2P file sync, no server needed
• Seafile — faster sync, less bloat than Nextcloud

Winner: Syncthing for pure file sync. Nextcloud if you want the ecosystem.

§Password Manager

Instead of: LastPass, 1Password

docker run -d --name vaultwarden \
  -v /vw-data/:/data/ -p 80:80 \
  vaultwarden/server:latest

Vaultwarden works with all Bitwarden clients. 5 minute setup. Easiest win on this list.

§Notes & Documents

Instead of: Notion, Google Docs

• Joplin — markdown notes with E2EE
• Outline — Notion-like team wiki
• HedgeDoc — collaborative markdown editing

§Media

Instead of: Netflix, Spotify, Google Photos

• Jellyfin — free media server (movies/TV)
• Navidrome — music streaming with Subsonic API
• Immich — Google Photos replacement (face recognition, mobile app)

§VPN

Instead of: NordVPN, ExpressVPN

# WireGuard is the answer
apt install wireguard
# Or use wg-easy for a web UI

Headscale gives you self-hosted Tailscale. Zero-config mesh networking.

§DNS & Ad Blocking

Instead of: Your ISP’s DNS

• Pi-hole — network-wide ad blocking
• AdGuard Home — nicer UI, DoH/DoT built-in

§Monitoring

• Uptime Kuma — beautiful uptime dashboards
• Grafana + Prometheus — full observability

§The Starter Stack

If you’re new, start with these four:

1. Vaultwarden (passwords) — biggest security win
2. Syncthing (files) — no server needed
3. AdGuard Home (DNS) — blocks ads everywhere
4. Uptime Kuma (monitoring) — know when things break

All of these run on a $5 VPS or a Raspberry Pi. Start small, grow as you get comfortable.