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 | $4.99 | Vaultwarden |
| Plex Pass | $4.99 | Jellyfin (no ongoing cost) |
| UptimeRobot Pro | $7.00 | Uptime Kuma |
| Dropbox Plus | $9.99 | Nextcloud |
| Zapier Starter | $19.99 | n8n |
| Total | $57.95/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 ($4.99/mo), Bitwarden Premium ($1/mo)
- Jellyfin → replaces Plex Pass ($4.99/mo), no transcoding session limits
- Uptime Kuma → replaces UptimeRobot Pro ($7/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.