"Storing in the Cloud" May No Longer Be the Norm? Self-Hosting Re-evaluated in the Subscription Era

In the past, software and data storage were often "one-time purchases."

However, today, various everyday services such as photo storage, password management, video streaming, online storage, music, and smart homes have transitioned to monthly or annual subscriptions.

The cost of each service isn't particularly high.

Many people might think, "It's convenient, so it can't be helped," and decide to subscribe for a few hundred yen or around a thousand yen per month.

However, when you add up the costs for photo storage, password management, video services, online storage, and music services, the annual expense is not insignificant.

This is where "self-hosting" is gaining renewed attention.

Instead of using the servers of service providers, you run your own services on devices like home NAS, mini PCs, or Raspberry Pi.

Until recently, self-hosting was seen as a hobby enjoyed by a select group of tech-savvy individuals familiar with Linux and networks.

However, with the development of environments centered around Docker, it has become much easier to implement than before.

Most importantly, the software for self-hosting itself has significantly evolved.

Photos Transition from "Stored in the Cloud" to "Kept at Home"

Photo management is particularly gaining attention within self-hosting.

A prime example is Immich.

It allows you to automatically upload photos taken with your smartphone, display them in a timeline, manage albums, and search for people or objects, providing an experience similar to cloud-based photo services on a home server.

One of the main reasons self-hosting was avoided was because "it had features but was difficult to use."

However, with services like Immich emerging, that gap has significantly narrowed.

Reports of users migrating from Google Photos to Immich in 2026 are also appearing on social media.

A user who set up an automatic photo backup environment using a Raspberry Pi 5 and external storage highlighted the major benefit of "escaping the monthly storage rental and managing my photos on my own hardware."

Another user reportedly migrated over 200,000 photos from Google Photos to Immich.

Additionally, there are reports of users who, after using Immich in parallel for several years, stopped backing up on Google Photos and fully transitioned.

These posts reveal that the purpose of self-hosting is no longer just "saving money."

More users are considering it as a data ownership issue, pondering "where to place their memories."

However, there is a significant pitfall here.

Just because you move your photos to a home server doesn't mean they are automatically safe.

In cloud services, the provider takes measures against storage failures, but on a home server, you need to handle it yourself.

The hard drive might fail.

You might accidentally delete files.

There is also the risk of ransomware or server troubles.

Therefore, in photo management through self-hosting, it's essential to consider "the server itself" and "backup" as separate issues.

On social media, when someone posts about fully transitioning to Immich, many users immediately ask, "Do you have a backup elsewhere?"

In the self-hosting community, there is a greater emphasis on backup awareness than among cloud users.

For Password Management, Reliability Matters More Than Cost

Password management is more challenging to decide on than photo management.

Vaultwarden is a well-known self-hosted password management service.

It's a lightweight server implementation compatible with the Bitwarden client, making it easy to run on relatively small hardware.

Unlike photos or videos, it requires less storage space.

Technically, it seems very compatible with self-hosting.

However, the issue here is not the cost.

The concern is what happens if the password management service stops.

There are very interesting discussions on this topic on social media.

While some support self-hosting Vaultwarden at home for data control, others choose the cloud version of Bitwarden due to concerns about having to fix a home server if it stops while traveling.

In one discussion, a very clear criterion was introduced for deciding whether to self-host an important service.

If the service stops during a vacation, is it something you'd interrupt your enjoyment to fix?

If the answer is "yes," then running the service yourself requires a certain level of commitment.

This applies to self-hosting in general.

For those who enjoy server management as a hobby, Vaultwarden is an attractive service.

On the other hand, for those who want to spend less time thinking about password management, paying an annual fee for a professionally managed service is perfectly reasonable.

Self-hosting is not about creating free services.

It's about replacing part of what you paid for with your own time and responsibility.

Paperless-ngx Makes Paper Mountains Searchable

The interesting aspect of self-hosting is that it's not just about replacing existing subscriptions.

Paperless-ngx is a prime example of this.

It scans invoices, contracts, warranties, tax-related documents, reads text via OCR, and creates a searchable digital archive.

Imagine the paper documents in your home.

"Where is the warranty for the appliance I bought three years ago?"

"I want to check the documents for a service I previously contracted."

In such cases, you'd have to search through files lined up in closets or shelves one by one.

With Paperless-ngx, these documents can be made searchable.

This is more about saving "time spent searching for information" than saving on storage fees.

However, the biggest hurdle isn't the software.

It's the habit of continuously digitizing paper.

If you only scan for a few weeks and then start piling paper on your desk again, you'll have to search both the digital archive and the paper.

In other words, the success of Paperless-ngx depends more on operational rules than server performance.

In self-hosting, cases where "installing the software completes the task" are surprisingly rare.

Jellyfin Gains Attention Again After Plex Price Revision

In 2026, a symbolic event for self-hosting occurred in the media server world.

Plex raised the price of the new Lifetime Plex Pass to $749.99.

This announcement caused a significant stir in the self-hosting community.

On Reddit, a post introducing the price increase gathered many reactions, with comments like "At this price, I'll switch to Jellyfin."

Jellyfin is an open-source media server that allows you to stream movies, TV shows, music, etc., that you own from your home server.

The server and official client are free, and you can use it without registering an account with a central service provider.

If you're just playing your owned video library within your home, it's a very attractive option.

On the other hand, Plex offers convenience built over years, such as client apps, remote access, and metadata management.

With Jellyfin, you'll encounter more situations where you need to set up network configurations and external access methods yourself.

Here, too, the unique trade-off of self-hosting, "paying a fee or doing it yourself," emerges.

On social media, voices welcoming Jellyfin rose in response to Plex's price revision, with posts in the Jellyfin community joking about "the price rising from $0 to $0."

It sounds like a joke, but it symbolizes the current popularity of self-hosting.

What users dislike isn't necessarily paid services themselves.

The growing question is, "Do I have to keep paying ongoing fees to access data I own?"

Smart Homes Have Great Value in Local Operation

Home Assistant is a prime example of self-hosting that can't be explained by savings alone.

It integrates smart home devices from different manufacturers, such as lighting, sensors, air conditioners, and cameras, allowing automation centered on a local environment.

In cloud-based smart homes, if the manufacturer's server stops, the functions might become unusable.

Moreover, if the manufacturer discontinues the service, even functioning hardware might lose its smart features.

Home Assistant emphasizes "Local Control" and "Privacy."

For compatible devices, you can create a setup that communicates only within the home network and operates without an internet connection.

The spread of systems like Matter, Thread, Zigbee, and Z-Wave, which are based on local communication, is also a tailwind.

Looking at social media, Home Assistant users appreciate not only flashy features.

They support automation that naturally integrates into life, such as dimming lights, closing blinds, and transitioning the whole house to sleep mode when placing a smartwatch on a charger at night.

This is a bit different from simply "replacing cloud services cheaply."

The value lies in being able to design your own home system.

Is Self-Hosting Really Cheap?

Looking at all this, one might think, "I should just cancel all subscriptions and switch to a home server."

But the reality isn't that simple.

Self-hosting also incurs costs.

You'll need to purchase NAS, mini PCs, HDDs, or SSDs, and if you run them 24/7, you'll incur electricity costs.

The original article estimates that a small PC or 2-bay NAS operating at about 10W would consume around 88kWh annually.

However, the real significant cost isn't electricity.

It's management time.

Updating the OS or Docker.

Updating applications.

Monitoring storage capacity.

Checking backups.

Renewing certificates.

Responding to disk failures.

And most importantly, verifying "whether the backup can actually be restored."

Experienced self-hosters emphasize this part.

A user who posted on Reddit in 2026 reported running Immich, Jellyfin, Vaultwarden, Paperless-ngx, and others on a single used PC, reducing monthly fees.

However, they also mentioned that the setup, initially thought to be completed over a weekend, ended up taking about two weeks.

This episode well illustrates the essence of self-hosting.

You can save money.

But initially, it takes time.

And whether you find that time "troublesome" or "interesting" greatly changes your evaluation.

You Don't Need to Bring Everything Back Home

When self-hosting is highlighted, it's often discussed as a binary choice between "cloud vs. home server."

However, in reality, it's more reasonable to decide on a service-by-service basis.

Take photos, for example.

As the volume increases, cloud fees add up, so the benefits of self-hosting are relatively significant.

The same goes for videos.

For those who already have their own video library, Jellyfin becomes a strong option.

Paperless-ngx also holds great value in households that frequently search for documents.

On the other hand, password management is different.

With relatively low annual fees and significant impact if stopped, there is a rationality in deliberately choosing the cloud.

Self-hosting email is even more challenging.

Even if you can run the mail server itself, due to spam countermeasures and sender evaluation mechanisms, emails to major mail services may not be delivered correctly.

Services like Spotify or Netflix cannot be easily replaced with simple self-hosting.

That's because the core of the fee is not storage capacity but the right to use the content.

Even if you build a self-hosted music server, you won't suddenly gain access to tens of millions of songs you don't own.

So, the important thing is not to "quit everything."

It's about considering what you're paying for, one by one.

The Biggest Benefit Isn't "Cheapness" but Having an Exit

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