TechFuel HQSelf-Hosted
Self-hosted software put to a decision: measured comparisons, honest verdicts, and working setups — Docker managers, backups, auth, media, and AI.
Self-hosting in 2026 is not a hobby corner anymore — it is the default answer to subscription creep, and the hard part has moved. Installing an app takes one compose file; the real work is deciding which app, what it costs to keep running, and when the self-hosted route genuinely beats the service you are replacing.
That decision layer is what this section is for. The comparisons here get measured on real hardware where measurement is possible, and every verdict says who it is for and who it is not. Where a number matters — idle RAM, watts, break-even months — we publish the number and the method, not an adjective.
Start Here
Self-Hosting Essentials: What to Self-Host First and Why
Six self-hosted services in the right order, with real hardware needs: Pi-hole, Uptime Kuma, Jellyfin, Nextcloud, Immich, and Home Assistant.
TutorialDocker Compose Starter Stack for the Homelab (2026)
The Docker Compose stack I run: Nginx Proxy Manager, Portainer, Uptime Kuma, Watchtower, and Gitea, with working compose files and a shared proxy network.
ToolSelf-Hosting Break-Even Calculator
Add your SaaS subscriptions, hardware budget, and electricity rate to see exactly when self-hosting pays for itself, month by month, over a 5-year projection.
The Decision Layer
Komodo vs Portainer vs Dockge: Best Docker Manager (2026)
The 2026 verdict: Dockge for simplicity, Komodo for uncapped open source, Portainer only if paywalled SSO/RBAC fits. Licensing, features, who each is for.
HomelabCaddy vs Nginx Proxy Manager vs Traefik in 2026
The three homelab reverse proxies compared: Caddy, Nginx Proxy Manager, and Traefik on HTTPS automation, Docker discovery, licensing, and which to pick.
ComparisonRestic vs Borg vs Kopia: Which Backup Tool (2026)
restic vs Borg vs Kopia on verified 2026 docs: restic has had compression since v0.14.0, and where the backup lands decides the tool.
ComparisonAuthelia vs Authentik: Which Self-Hosted SSO (2026)
Authelia vs Authentik on verified 2026 docs: Authelia is OpenID-Certified but still in open beta, and only one of them publishes a hardware minimum.
ComparisonVaultwarden vs Bitwarden: Which Self-Hosted Server?
Vaultwarden vs Bitwarden is a server choice, not an app choice: same official clients, standard vs lite vs Vaultwarden, and the trade-offs that decide it.
ComparisonJellyfin vs Emby: What Free Actually Gets You (2026)
Jellyfin vs Emby on verified 2026 docs: Jellyfin forked Emby 3.5.2, free Emby caps native apps at one minute but not the browser, and migration is unsupported.
HomelabBeszel vs Netdata vs Glances: Homelab Monitoring
Lightweight homelab monitoring compared: Beszel, Netdata, and Glances on footprint, history, and alerts — plus where Uptime Kuma fits, and which to run.
TutorialsSelf-Hosted Photo Library 2026: Immich vs PhotoPrism vs Ente
Picking one self-hosted photo library to replace Google Photos in 2026. Real version numbers, hardware footprints, license costs, and a verdict per use case.
Apps Worth Running
Paperless-ngx Docker Setup with OCR and Auto-Tagging (2026)
Full Paperless-ngx Docker Compose setup with PostgreSQL, Redis, Tika, and Gotenberg. OCR every document, auto-tag by rule, and search your whole paper history.
Tutorialn8n Self-Hosted on Docker (2026 Setup Guide)
Set up n8n on Docker with persistent storage, HTTPS via Nginx Proxy Manager, queue mode for reliable runs, and automatic backups. Replace Zapier yourself.
TutorialNextcloud AIO Setup on Docker (2026 Guide)
Deploy Nextcloud All-in-One in Docker: Postgres, Redis, Nextcloud Office, Talk, and auto backup. Replace Dropbox, Google Drive, and Docs with a stack you own.
TutorialUptime Kuma Docker Setup, and Where to Actually Run It (2026)
Uptime Kuma in Docker Compose, plus the part most guides skip: a monitor that lives inside the network it watches cannot tell you that network went down.
HomelabSelf-Hosted Read-It-Later Apps: Life After Pocket (2026)
Pocket shut down and took the article text with it. The self-hosted read-it-later apps that actually store what you save: Readeck, wallabag, linkding, Shiori.
AI in the Stack
Ollama vs llama.cpp on an RTX 5080: Measured (2026)
Same GPU, both servers benched: llama.cpp decodes 2-6% faster (more on gpt-oss, via different conversions), Ollama prefills 4-7% faster. One model won't port.
TutorialOllama in Docker with GPU: Stop Installing CUDA Inside WSL2 (2026)
Ollama with NVIDIA acceleration in Docker, on native Linux and WSL2, plus Open WebUI. Why the CUDA install everyone does inside WSL is unnecessary.
TutorialsHow to Self-Host a Local LLM on a Single RTX 5060 in 2026
Run a private LLM on a $300 RTX 5060. VRAM tradeoffs, software stack picks, Windows + Linux setup, real tokens/sec numbers, and an honest verdict.
DataRTX 5080 Local LLM Throughput: Measured Tokens/Second Dataset
Measured decode and prefill tokens/second for gpt-oss 20B, Qwen 2.5 14B and 7B, and Llama 3.2 3B on a retail RTX 5080, with VRAM and load times. CC BY 4.0.