TechFuel HQWorked examples
These are this calculator’s own outputs, computed with the same formula the tool runs in your browser — so you can see a real answer without touching a single input.
Default state — exactly what a first-time visitor sees before touching anything: the three seeded subscriptions (Google One 2TB, Plex Pass, 1Password Families) against the default $300 budget mini PC over a 5-year life
- Inputs: Subscriptions: Google One 2TB $9.99/mo, Plex Pass $6.99/mo, 1Password Families $5.99/mo. Hardware $300, lifetime 5 years, idle draw 15 W, electricity $0.13/kWh, maintenance $15/yr, Backblaze B2 $1.20/mo. (All values are the layout’s own defaults.)
- Result: SaaS / month $22.97 · Self-host / month $8.87 · Monthly savings +$14.10 · Break-even 1.3 yr (green) · 5yr timeline label “5yr: +$846”. The “← break-even” marker lands on the Year 1 row.
The scenario the page’s own FAQ #1 describes — same three default subscriptions, but the reader picks the $170 Beelink SEi12 N150 preset from the hardware dropdown instead of the $300 default
- Inputs: Subscriptions: Google One 2TB $9.99/mo + Plex Pass $6.99/mo + 1Password Families $5.99/mo = $22.97/mo. Hardware $170 (dropdown option “Beelink SEi12 N150 (~$170 new)”), lifetime 5 years, 15 W idle, $0.13/kWh, $15/yr maintenance, $1.20/mo backup.
- Result: SaaS / month $22.97 · Self-host / month $6.71 · Monthly savings +$16.26 · Break-even 9 mo (green) · “5yr: +$976”. This exactly reproduces the FAQ claim “Break-even is around 9 months” for a $170 mini PC against ~$23/mo of SaaS.
The full six-service bundle listed in the page prose (the $61.95/mo table), all six available as preset buttons, replaced with the same $170 mini PC — the heavy-SaaS reader the article is aimed at
- Inputs: Subscriptions from the preset chips: Google One 2TB $9.99/mo, 1Password Families $5.99/mo, Plex Pass $6.99/mo, UptimeRobot Solo $9.00/mo, Dropbox Plus $9.99/mo, Zapier Starter $19.99/mo. Hardware $170, lifetime 5 years, 15 W idle, $0.13/kWh, $15/yr maintenance, $1.20/mo backup (all defaults).
- Result: SaaS / month $61.95 · Self-host / month $6.71 · Monthly savings +$55.24 · Break-even 3 mo (green) · “5yr: +$3315”. This confirms the prose line “A $170 mini PC running this stack breaks even in under 4 months.” Note that no year row carries the “← break-even” marker here: break-even at 2.93 months is more than 6 months away from the Year-1 boundary (|12 − 2.93| = 9.07), so the ±6-month tolerance never fires.
How to use this calculator
Add each SaaS subscription you currently pay for — or use the presets for the most common services. Then set your hardware budget and the server’s idle power draw. The calculator shows your monthly savings, break-even timeline on a 5-year axis, and a year-by-year savings table.
The hardware cost is shown as a one-time upfront expense. Ongoing costs (electricity, backup storage, domain) are monthly. The break-even point is when cumulative SaaS costs exceed hardware + cumulative ongoing costs.
What self-hosting actually costs per month
The ongoing cost of a minimal self-hosted stack:
| Cost item | Typical amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | $1–4/mo | 10–30W idle × 24/7 at $0.13/kWh |
| Backblaze B2 backup | $0.60–2/mo | ~100–300GB after deduplication |
| Domain name | $1–1.25/mo | $12–15/yr amortized |
| Total ongoing | $3–7/mo | Before hardware amortization |
Compare that to common SaaS bundles:
| SaaS bundle | Monthly cost | Self-hosted equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Google One 2TB | $9.99 | Nextcloud + local storage |
| 1Password Families | $5.99 | Vaultwarden |
| Plex Pass | $6.99 | Jellyfin (no ongoing cost) |
| UptimeRobot Solo | $9.00 | Uptime Kuma |
| Dropbox Plus | $9.99 | Nextcloud |
| Zapier Starter | $19.99 | n8n |
| Total | $61.95/mo | ~$5/mo ongoing |
A $170 mini PC running this stack breaks even in under 4 months at that savings rate.
The real cost variables
Electricity rate matters more than most guides acknowledge. At $0.08/kWh (cheap US markets, parts of the South), a 15W mini PC costs $10.50/year. At $0.30/kWh (California, parts of Europe), the same box costs $39/year. Use your actual rate from your electricity bill.
Hardware lifetime determines how the upfront cost amortizes. A $300 mini PC used for 5 years costs $5/month in hardware amortization. Used for 7 years, $3.57/month. Buying used hardware at half the new price and running it the same duration halves that amortized cost.
What you’re replacing is the most important variable. Replacing $10/month in Google storage with a $800 server takes 6+ years to break even. Replacing $50/month in cloud subscriptions with a $200 mini PC breaks even in under 5 months. This calculator makes that math explicit so you can see whether your specific situation makes sense.
Services worth replacing vs ones to keep
The 12 best self-hosted apps guide covers this in detail, but the quick version:
Clear wins — services where self-hosting is dramatically cheaper and reliable:
- Vaultwarden → replaces 1Password Families ($5.99/mo), Bitwarden Premium ($1/mo)
- Jellyfin → replaces Plex Pass ($6.99/mo), no transcoding session limits
- Uptime Kuma → replaces UptimeRobot Solo ($9/mo)
- Immich → replaces Google One 2TB storage ($9.99/mo) if you have local storage
Context-dependent — self-hosting is viable but more effort:
- Nextcloud → replaces Dropbox/Google Drive, but requires maintenance
- n8n → replaces Zapier, saves $20+/mo but has a steeper setup curve
Not worth it for most — keep paying the SaaS:
- Email (deliverability problems from residential IPs, high maintenance)
- CDN / DDoS protection (not worth running your own)
- Calendar sync (too fragile, too little savings vs Fastmail at $3/mo)
Power usage and the Power & Cost Calculator
The electricity cost here uses the server’s idle watt draw 24/7. For a more complete picture of your full stack’s electricity cost — including peak load, multiple devices, and 3-year TCO vs cloud — use the Power & Cost Calculator and bring those numbers back here.
The break-even math changes significantly based on what you’re running. A 10W N100 mini PC is very different from a 150W tower server in electricity cost over 5 years.