If there was a way to use dozens of enterprise-grade cloud software tools (that can each cost hundreds of dollars a month) for free (or nearly free), that would be worth exploring, right?


Well, let’s explore it!


Every couple years I come to a new appreciation for self-hosted software.

For the uninitiated, if you have a spare computer sitting around that you’re willing put to work as a server (or if you want to rent a server for like $5/month), there are literally hundreds of programs available for free that you can host on that server, providing really viable alternatives to commercial cloud tools.


The practice of hosting these services on a server you control is called self-hosting.

And I think it’s awesome!


One of the things I love is the sheer number of things you can do!


Looking for an cheaper/more-private alternative to Dropbox / Google Drive?
You can self-host Nextcloud.

Wanting a cheaper alternative to Netflix / Disney+, or an easy way to play your old DVDs on your phone?
Host your DVDs and other media (that you own) on Jellyfin.

How about a more privacy-friendly alternative to Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp? Or a version of Slack that you have full control over?
You can self-host Matrix / Element.

Looking for a social platform like Twitter, but that’s less toxic and more conducive of a good social experience?
You could self-host Mastodon.


You could even run an alternative to ChatGPT yourself, without needing OpenAI or other AI companies.


That’s awesome!!


I’ve been self-hosting a number of projects lately, and getting a TON of value from them:

  • I run an instance of n8n (an open source alternative to Zapier), which I use for 1) syndicating my blog posts to Twitter, Mastodon, etc. 2) for automating recurring work-related tasks (tracking and reporting KPIs, sending reminders of expiring agreement for our 3rd-party licenses, automatically creating and sending reports of project progress, etc.), and 3) for doing “smart routing” of leads to respective team members; and lots more. The value I get from n8n is HUGE… and it’s completely free software.
  • I run an instance of Miniflux as my RSS feed aggregator, which gives me full control over my news feed, pulling in posts from over 150 different sources.
  • I’ve installed Ollama on my laptop, so I can use Large Language Models even if I don’t have internet access.
  • I’ve recently been dabbling with Mautic, which purports to be a viable alternative to MailChimp or ActiveCampaign. Between a few potential use cases I’m exploring, there is the possibility of saving a good amount of money using Mautic instead of our current tools.
  • In a way, this website/blog is my own little “self-hosted” social media.


I’ve been LOVING each of these, and getting a ton of value from them.


There is definitely a trade-off: it does take a fair amount of skill and some work to be able to roll out these tools. You have to be comfortable “getting your hands dirty” with the command-line and the networking infrastructure.

The learning curve is fairly steep. But there’s a thriving community of nerds creating tutorials and tools to make the process easier!


And the payoff can be awesome!


If you wanted to use Mailchimp to host a mailing list of 100,000 people, it’s going to cost you over $800 USD per month.

If you want to use Zapier to do 100,000 multi-step automations, it will also cost you nearly $800 USD per month.


But with Mautic and n8n, you can get the same features (and often, even better features), with no usage limit, for free.


You just need to provide the server.

So, if you were to repurpose an old $200 desktop computer to host these, it could save you potentially $1,600 USD per month for as long as you use it! 🤯



I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty cool! 😎