Self-Hosting vs Cloud: Full Cost Comparison
Quick Verdict
Self-hosting saves money starting in year 2 for most setups. A $200 mini PC replacing $30–50/month in cloud subscriptions pays for itself in 4–8 months. A $600 NAS build replacing cloud storage and media services breaks even in 12–18 months. After break-even, self-hosting costs drop to $5–15/month (electricity) while cloud costs stay the same or increase.
The catch: self-hosting requires time to set up and maintain. If your time is worth $200/hour and you spend 20 hours a year on maintenance, that’s $4,000 in opportunity cost. For most people running Docker containers, actual maintenance is 1–2 hours per month — a reasonable trade.
The Cloud Services You Can Replace
Common Self-Hosting Stack vs Cloud Equivalents
| Cloud Service | Monthly Cost | Self-Hosted Alternative | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google One 2 TB | $10/mo | Nextcloud | File sync + photos + docs |
| iCloud+ 2 TB | $10/mo | Nextcloud | |
| Dropbox Plus 2 TB | $12/mo | Seafile, Syncthing | |
| Google Photos | $3–10/mo | Immich | Included in Google One |
| Netflix | $16–23/mo | Jellyfin, Plex | Personal media only |
| Spotify | $11–17/mo | Navidrome | Personal music library |
| 1Password Family | $5/mo | Vaultwarden | |
| Notion Personal Pro | $10/mo | Outline, BookStack | |
| Todoist Pro | $5/mo | Various self-hosted todo apps | |
| Tailscale Personal Plus | $5/mo | Headscale | Free tier may suffice |
| UptimeRobot Pro | $7/mo | Uptime Kuma | |
| Google Analytics | Free (data cost) | Plausible, Umami | Privacy benefit |
| Zapier Starter | $20/mo | n8n | |
| Feedly Pro | $6/mo | FreshRSS, Miniflux |
Typical replacement total: $50–120/month saved depending on which services you use.
Hardware Cost Scenarios
Scenario 1: Budget Mini PC ($200)
Target: Replace cloud storage, password manager, RSS reader, notes, DNS filtering
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Beelink EQ14 (Intel N100, 16GB, 500GB) | $160 |
| External 4 TB HDD for backups | $40 |
| Total hardware | $200 |
Monthly operating cost:
- Electricity (8W idle × 24/7 × $0.12/kWh): $0.84/mo
- Domain name (optional): $1/mo amortized
- Total: ~$2/mo
Services replaced: Nextcloud ($10), Vaultwarden ($5), FreshRSS ($6), Pi-hole (free alternative), BookStack ($10) = $31/mo saved
Break-even: 7 months
Scenario 2: Mid-Range NAS ($600)
Target: Replace cloud storage, media streaming, photo backup, all cloud services
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Mini PC (Intel N305, 32GB, 500GB NVMe) | $350 |
| 2× 8 TB WD Elements (shucked) | $200 |
| 4-bay NAS case or enclosure | $50 |
| Total hardware | $600 |
Monthly operating cost:
- Electricity (15W idle × 24/7 × $0.12/kWh): $1.58/mo
- Domain name: $1/mo
- Total: ~$3/mo
Services replaced: Google One ($10), Netflix personal media ($0 — still need Netflix for originals), Jellyfin replaces Plex Pass ($5/mo), Immich replaces Google Photos ($3/mo), plus Vaultwarden, Nextcloud, etc. = $50–80/mo saved
Break-even: 8–12 months
Scenario 3: Prosumer NAS ($1,500)
Target: Full media server, Proxmox virtualization, maximum storage
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Used Dell OptiPlex 7080 SFF (i7-10700) | $200 |
| 64 GB ECC RAM | $160 |
| LSI SAS 9207-8i HBA | $20 |
| 4× 16 TB Seagate Exos (refurbished) | $600 |
| 1 TB NVMe (boot + cache) | $60 |
| Fractal Node 804 case | $120 |
| Corsair RM550x PSU | $80 |
| APC UPS 1500VA | $180 |
| Miscellaneous (cables, fans) | $80 |
| Total hardware | $1,500 |
Monthly operating cost:
- Electricity (40W idle × 24/7 × $0.12/kWh): $4.20/mo
- Domain name: $1/mo
- UPS battery replacement (every 3 years): $1.50/mo amortized
- Total: ~$7/mo
Services replaced: All cloud services ($80/mo) + 64 TB storage equivalent ($20–40/mo on cloud) = $100–120/mo saved
Break-even: 13–15 months
5-Year Total Cost of Ownership
| Cloud Services | Budget Self-Host | Mid-Range Self-Host | Prosumer Self-Host | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 0 (hardware) | $0 | $200 | $600 | $1,500 |
| Year 1 (monthly) | $600–960 | $24 | $36 | $84 |
| Year 2 | $600–960 | $24 | $36 | $84 |
| Year 3 | $600–960 | $24 | $36 | $84 |
| Year 4 | $600–960 | $24 | $36 | $84 |
| Year 5 | $600–960 | $24 | $36 | $84 |
| 5-Year Total | $3,000–4,800 | $320 | $780 | $1,920 |
| 5-Year Savings | — | $2,680–4,480 | $2,220–4,020 | $1,080–2,880 |
These numbers assume no hardware replacement. In practice, budget for:
- HDD replacement every 3–5 years ($50–100/drive)
- UPS battery every 3 years ($50–80)
- Potential mini PC replacement in year 5 ($200)
Even with replacements, self-hosting saves 60–80% over 5 years.
The Costs People Forget
Electricity
Most home servers draw 5–40W idle. At $0.12/kWh:
| Idle Power | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 5W (Raspberry Pi) | $0.44 | $5.26 |
| 8W (N100 mini PC) | $0.70 | $8.41 |
| 15W (N305 mini PC) | $1.31 | $15.77 |
| 40W (DIY NAS) | $3.50 | $42.05 |
| 80W (used enterprise server) | $7.01 | $84.10 |
Electricity is cheap for efficient hardware. It becomes significant only with power-hungry enterprise servers (Dell R720 at 100W+ idle).
Internet Bandwidth
Self-hosting uses your home internet for remote access. If you have data caps:
- Streaming personal media remotely: 2–5 GB/hour (1080p)
- Syncing files: depends on usage
- Photo backup: depends on photo count
Most users with unlimited internet don’t notice the impact. If you have a 1 TB data cap, heavy remote media streaming could be a concern.
Time Investment
| Task | Frequency | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Initial setup | Once | 4–8 hours |
| Docker container updates | Monthly | 15 min |
| Monitoring check | Weekly | 5 min |
| Troubleshooting issues | As needed | 0–2 hours/month |
| Hardware maintenance (cleaning, drive replacement) | Yearly | 1–2 hours |
Realistic monthly time: 1–2 hours for a well-set-up server. Most of that is Docker updates, which tools like DIUN can help you track (Watchtower, the former go-to for automatic updates, is deprecated).
Domain Name (Optional)
A domain for remote access via reverse proxy: $10–15/year. Not required — services like Tailscale and Cloudflare Tunnel provide remote access without a domain.
What Cloud Still Does Better
Be honest about the trade-offs:
| Cloud Advantage | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Zero maintenance | No updates, no troubleshooting, no hardware failures |
| Redundancy built-in | Google/AWS won’t lose your data from a hardware failure |
| Multi-device sync | Polished apps with seamless sync (though Nextcloud and Immich are close) |
| Bandwidth | Cloud serves data from global CDNs; your home upload speed limits remote access |
| Uptime | Cloud: 99.99%. Your home server: 99.5% if you’re diligent (power outages, ISP issues) |
| Sharing | Cloud services make sharing with non-technical family members easier |
The biggest risk: Hardware failure. A cloud provider replicates your data across datacenters. Your single home server doesn’t. This is why backups (3-2-1 rule) are non-negotiable for self-hosting.
Making the Decision
Self-host if:
- You pay $30+/month in cloud subscriptions you could replace
- You value data privacy and ownership
- You enjoy tinkering (or at least don’t mind it)
- You have reliable home internet (no data caps, decent upload speed)
- You’re willing to maintain backups
Stay on cloud if:
- You hate troubleshooting technical issues
- Your time is extremely valuable and you’d rather pay than maintain
- You need 99.99% uptime for business-critical services
- You travel frequently and need reliable remote access with limited upload speed
- You’re replacing only $10–15/month in services (break-even takes too long)
The hybrid approach:
Most self-hosters use a mix. Self-host what saves real money and improves privacy (file storage, photos, media, passwords). Keep cloud services where the UX is genuinely better or where the service can’t be replicated (Netflix originals, Spotify’s catalog, Google Maps).
FAQ
Does self-hosting actually save money with current electricity prices?
Yes, unless electricity is extremely expensive (>$0.30/kWh). Even at $0.30/kWh, a 10W mini PC costs $26/year in electricity — still far less than cloud subscriptions. European countries with expensive electricity still save money self-hosting.
What if my server dies? Do I lose everything?
Only if you don’t have backups. Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule: 3 copies, 2 different media, 1 offsite. Use Restic or BorgBackup for automated encrypted backups to an external drive and/or cloud backup service.
Can I self-host on a Raspberry Pi to save money?
Yes, for lightweight services (Pi-hole, Vaultwarden, FreshRSS). A Raspberry Pi 5 8 GB costs ~$80 and draws 3–5W. Not suitable for Plex transcoding, Nextcloud at scale, or running more than 10–15 containers.
What about a VPS instead of home hardware?
A VPS ($5–20/month) splits the difference. No hardware cost, no electricity, no home internet dependency. But ongoing monthly cost, limited storage, and your data is on someone else’s server. Good for public-facing services; home hardware is better for large storage and media.
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