Articles
News, tips, and deep dives into the self-hosting ecosystem.
Lenovo ThinkCentre M720q vs M920q vs Dell OptiPlex Micro: Best Used SFF for a Homelab
ThinkCentre M720q vs M920q vs OptiPlex 7060 Micro for Proxmox: RAM ceilings, VT-d, NICs compared, and which one actually earns its price gap.
Self-Hosting Is Worth It (For This Kind of Person)
Whether self-hosting pays off has almost nothing to do with the math and almost everything to do with your temperament. Here's how to tell which kind of person you are before you spend a dollar.
BookStack vs Outline vs Wiki.js: Which Self-Hosted Wiki for Your Homelab?
A self-hosted wiki comparison for homelabs: BookStack, Outline, and Wiki.js, judged on what they actually cost you in dependencies, RAM, and setup time.
Prebuilt NAS vs DIY: Should You Buy a Synology or Build Your Own?
Synology and UGREEN sell convenience. A DIY build sells capability per dollar. Here's the real cost of each once drives are in, and which one is actually right for a budget homelab.
Mini PC RAM Upgrades for a Homelab: What to Buy and What Actually Fits
RAM is the cheapest upgrade that makes a homelab mini PC useful. Here's how much you actually need, what your machine will really accept, and which kits to buy without wasting money.
Homelab vs. Cloud: Break-Even Calculator for Your Own Numbers
Does self-hosting beat paying for cloud services? A break-even calculator with labelled example figures: enter your hardware cost, running cost, and the subscriptions you would replace.
Homepage vs Glance: Which Homelab Dashboard Should You Run?
Homepage vs Glance for a homelab dashboard: YAML service tiles and live widgets vs a single-binary, widget-first feed board. I run both; here's where each wins.
Used Enterprise SSDs for Homelabs: Are eBay Data Center Drives Worth the Risk?
Used data center SSDs on eBay look like an absurd deal. Here's what you actually get, what the endurance numbers really mean, and when a new consumer drive is the smarter buy.
Best Budget Managed Switch for VLANs (Homelab, 2026)
The 2026 shortlist of the best budget managed switches for homelab VLANs: the $25 hero pick, a cheaper rival, and upgrade tiers for PoE and 2.5G networking.
TP-Link TL-SG108E vs Netgear GS308E: Which Budget VLAN Switch Should You Buy?
TL-SG108E or GS308E for homelab VLANs? Real differences in VLAN capacity, price, warranty, and expansion, plus which one wins for IoT isolation.
TrueNAS vs Unraid vs OpenMediaVault: Which Should You Run in 2026?
TrueNAS is free but wants matched drives and 8GB+ RAM. Unraid takes mismatched drives for $49-$149. OpenMediaVault is free and lightest.
Best UPS for a Homelab in 2026 (Sizing, Picks, and Runtime Numbers)
The 2026 guide to picking a UPS for a homelab: how to size one by watts instead of VA, which units are worth buying, runtime estimates from a calculator, and how to wire up automatic shutdown.
My Homelab Stack: Everything I Run
A tour of my homelab stack: the hardware and the services I run, grouped by job, with a calculator for working out your own monthly cost.
Best Self-Hosted Password Managers in 2026 (Vaultwarden vs KeePassXC vs Passbolt vs Bitwarden)
Vaultwarden vs Passbolt vs KeePassXC vs official Bitwarden. I run Vaultwarden and used KeePassXC for about a year; Passbolt and Bitwarden are researched, not run.
Rack Server vs Tower Server vs Mini PC for a Homelab
I run two HP DL380 Gen9 rack servers. What rack gear buys you (iLO, ECC, drive bays), what it costs in noise and power, and when a tower or mini PC fits better.
Self-Hosting Meets Real Life: What's Actually Worth Running at Home
Not everything belongs in a container. An honest, category-by-category look at what self-hosting actually pays off at home and what you should just keep paying for.
Portainer vs Dockge vs CLI: Managing Docker Containers in Your Homelab
A practical comparison of the three ways to manage Docker in a homelab: Portainer, Dockge, and the plain command line. Which one to pick based on how you actually run your stack.
Low-Power Homelab: Run 15+ Services on Under 25 Watts
Build a homelab that idles under 25W while running 15+ services. Hardware picks, container density tips, power budget table, and honest trade-offs.
Self-Hosting Immich: How iCloud 'Optimize Storage' Silently Wrecks Your Photo Backup
Running Immich for photo backup? iCloud Optimize Storage can quietly back up 3MP thumbnails instead of originals. How to audit your library and fix it.
Start Here: Your Reading Order from Zero to a Working Homelab
Not sure where to begin? This is the reading order through Budget Homelab, from your first mini PC to a fully self-hosted stack.
How Much Does a Homelab Actually Cost? (Power, Hardware, Time)
Year-one total cost of ownership for a budget homelab: hardware, electricity, time, storage, recurring fees, and the upgrade spiral. With example figures you can replace with your own.
WireGuard vs Tailscale: Which Remote Access Solution for Your Homelab?
A direct comparison of WireGuard and Tailscale for homelab remote access. Which one to run based on your setup, your patience for configuration, and how often you actually need to get in.
Best GPU for a Self-Hosted AI Homelab (Used 3060 vs 3090 vs P40 vs Arc)
A practical buyer's guide to GPU selection for local LLMs: the used 3060 12GB, 3090, P40, and Intel Arc compared on VRAM, noise, power draw, and real inference speed.
Best Mini PC for Home Assistant in 2026 (HAOS, Containers, and Heavy Add-ons)
The opinionated 2026 buyer's guide to mini PC hardware for Home Assistant: five picks across price tiers, real performance notes, and the accessories that make the whole thing work.
Nginx Proxy Manager vs Caddy vs Traefik: Which Reverse Proxy for Your Homelab?
A direct comparison of the three most common reverse proxies for self-hosting. Which one to pick based on how you actually run your homelab.
Homelab Security Basics: What You Need to Lock Down
The practical security checklist for homelabs: what actually matters, what's overkill, and what most guides skip entirely.
Mini PC vs Old Server vs Raspberry Pi: What to Buy for Your First Homelab
A direct comparison of the three hardware paths for a first homelab: mini PC, used enterprise server, and Raspberry Pi. Cost, power, noise, and what each one is actually good at.
Plex vs Jellyfin: Which Should You Self-Host?
An honest comparison of Plex and Jellyfin for self-hosted media: where each one wins, where each one loses, and which to pick for your homelab.
How to Build a Homelab on a Budget (Full 2026 Build Under $300)
How to build a homelab on a budget: a real, working build covering hardware, setup, and what you can actually run, with a full parts list, under $300 total.
Best Used Mini PCs for a Homelab Under $200 (2026)
The best refurbished and used mini PCs for running Proxmox, Docker, and self-hosted services without spending new-hardware money. Real picks with current pricing.
Beelink vs MINISFORUM: Best Budget Mini PC for Self-Hosting
A direct comparison of Beelink and MINISFORUM mini PCs for homelab use. Which brand builds the better budget self-hosting machine in 2026?
Homelab Backup Strategy: 3-2-1 Without the Hassle
A practical backup strategy for your homelab that actually gets done: what to back up, where to put it, and how to automate it without overcomplicating it.
Best Self-Hosted Apps for Beginners: Start With These 5
The five best apps to self-host first, chosen for low complexity, high value, and real impact on your privacy and monthly bill.
Why Your Homelab Needs a Reverse Proxy
A reverse proxy puts your services behind a single entry point with HTTPS and clean domain names. Here's why it matters and how to set one up with Nginx Proxy Manager or Caddy.
Proxmox Cluster: Running High Availability at Home
Proxmox clustering lets VMs migrate between nodes automatically if one goes down. Here's how it works, what you actually need to set it up, and whether it's worth the complexity.
How to Set Up VLANs in a Homelab: Isolate IoT on a $25 Switch
Set up homelab VLANs on a $25 managed switch: tag VLANs, configure trunk ports, route between networks, and isolate untrusted IoT devices. Exact config included.
Setting Up a VPN Kill Switch for Your Homelab
A VPN kill switch blocks all traffic if the VPN connection drops. Here's how to implement one for specific containers or your whole server, and why it matters.
Best Open-Source Alternatives to Google Workspace
Google Workspace costs $72-$216/user/year. These self-hosted alternatives cover email, docs, calendar, and storage, and they run on hardware you already own.
Best Mini PCs for a Homelab 2026: Every Tier, $80-$475
Every homelab mini PC tier from $80 to $475, with processor TDP from spec sheets and example power costs, and the picks that handle Proxmox and Docker well.
Homelab Power Usage: How to Measure and Reduce It
Your homelab runs 24/7, and that adds up on your electric bill. Here's how to actually measure what you're using and cut it without cutting your setup.
Replacing Google One With a Home Server: Is It Actually Worth It?
Google One keeps raising prices. Here's what it actually takes to replace it with a self-hosted alternative, and whether the trade-offs make sense.
Running Kubernetes at Home: Is K3s Worth It?
K3s makes Kubernetes small enough to run on a Raspberry Pi. But should you? Here's an honest take on when home Kubernetes makes sense and when Docker Compose is the better call.
NAS vs. Direct-Attached Storage for Homelabs
A NAS isn't always the right answer for homelab storage. Here's when direct-attached storage wins, when it doesn't, and how to decide which one you actually need.
Self-Hosting Your Password Manager: A Vaultwarden Deep-Dive
Vaultwarden is a self-hosted Bitwarden server that runs on almost nothing. The full setup walkthrough, backup strategy, and honest trade-offs before you trust it with your passwords.
The Hidden Costs of Homelab Nobody Tells You About
Electricity and hardware get all the attention. Here's the full list of what a homelab actually costs, including the things most guides skip.
How to Monitor Your Homelab with Prometheus and Grafana
Prometheus scrapes metrics. Grafana makes them pretty. Together they give you dashboards that actually tell you what's happening on your homelab.
How to Build a Complete Homelab for Under $500 in 2026
How to allocate a $500 homelab budget across compute, storage, and networking. Covers which mini PC to buy, what to skip, and what to add first when you have room to grow.
The Homelab Subreddit Hardware Buying Guide
What r/homelab and r/selfhosted actually recommend for hardware, and what the forum consensus gets right and wrong for budget builds.
Homelab Storage Options: NAS vs DAS vs Raw Drives
How to think about storage for your homelab: the tradeoffs between a NAS, direct-attached storage, and drives in your server, with real recommendations.
How Much Does a Homelab Cost Per Month? A Calculator With Example Numbers
A homelab's monthly cost is power, hardware amortization, domain, and fees. Use this calculator with labelled example figures, then replace them with your own wattage and rate.
Docker vs Proxmox: Which Should Your Homelab Use?
Docker on bare metal vs Proxmox: a direct comparison of both approaches, when to pick each, and when running both on the same machine is the right call.
Don't Use .local for Your Homelab Domain
Using .local for your homelab DNS zone conflicts with mDNS (Bonjour/Avahi). Here's why resolution breaks intermittently and what to use instead.
Why You Shouldn't Open Ports on Your Router (and What to Use Instead)
Port forwarding is the obvious way to reach a homelab from outside, and it exposes every forwarded service to the internet. Here is why to avoid it and what to use instead.
The Budget Homelab Starter Stack: 5 Services That Cover 90% of Your Needs
Skip the overwhelm. These five self-hosted services cover file sync, password management, reverse proxying, remote access, and document storage.
Self-Hosting vs. the Cloud: When It Actually Makes Financial Sense
A clear-eyed breakeven analysis of self-hosting versus cloud subscriptions, with real costs, real trade-offs, and an honest answer for different situations.
What Is a Homelab? A Plain-English Intro for Beginners
A homelab is a server you run at home. Here's what that actually means, what people do with them, and how to figure out if you need one.
Why Self-Hosting Matters More Than Ever in 2026
Cloud services keep getting more expensive and less private. Here's the cost, privacy, and time case for building your own homelab this year, with the trade-offs included.