I Replaced Google Analytics with Plausible and My Site Got Faster
Google Analytics was slowing my site down and selling my visitor data. Plausible is privacy-first, lightweight, and self-hosted.
Guide
31 articles tagged "guide"
I Read 50 Blogs a Day Without Opening a Browser. Here Is How.
I was subscribed to 50 blogs via email. My inbox was chaos. FreshRSS lets me read them all in one clean interface.
I Created My Own URL Shortener and Ditched Bitly
Bitly is fine until they want $40 a month for custom domains and analytics. Shlink does the same thing on my server for free.
Pi-hole Blocked 25% of My DNS Queries. My Internet Got Faster.
I installed Pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi. It now blocks ads, trackers, and malware at the network level. Every device in my house is protected.
I Built My Own VPN with WireGuard and Headscale. Here Is Why You Should Too.
Tailscale is amazing but depends on their servers. Headscale lets you run the same thing on your own infrastructure.
Your Homelab Deserves a Dashboard. Here Is the Best One.
I had 15 services running and kept forgetting which port was which. Homarr gave me a single page to see everything.
I Digitized Every Recipe in My House and Now My Kitchen Talks to My Server
My grandmother's recipes were on handwritten cards. Now they are in a searchable, self-hosted recipe manager I can access from my phone while cooking.
I Replaced Gmail with My Own Email Server (And Survived)
Setting up a mail server is terrifying. You will mess up DNS. You will land in spam folders. And then it will work and you will feel unstoppable.
Google Docs but Private: Why I Self-Host CryptPad
I stopped editing documents on Google Docs after realizing they train AI on my content. CryptPad is encrypted, collaborative, and self-hosted.
We Replaced Slack with Mattermost and Saved $500 a Year
Slack wanted $12/user/month for the privilege of searching our own messages. Mattermost does everything Slack does on our server.
I Left GitHub and Hosted My Own Git Server. Here Is How.
GitHub is great until you want to own your code. Gogs is the lightest Git server ever written and it runs on a Raspberry Pi with 64MB RAM.
I Stopped Paying Calendly $16 a Month and Hosted My Own Scheduler
Calendly is convenient. But $16 a month for letting people book time on my calendar? I built the same thing with Cal.com for free.
Your Self-Hosted Server Will Die. Here Is How You Survive.
I lost 2TB of data because I thought 'it will be fine.' Then I built a backup strategy that actually works.
My House Got Smarter When I Stopped Using Smart Home Cloud Services
My smart home was dependent on the internet. When the ISP went down, my lights stopped working. Home Assistant fixed that.
I Run My Own ChatGPT on a Mini ITX PC and It Works
I got tired of paying OpenAI $20 a month and having my conversations on their servers. Now I run local LLMs on my own hardware.
We Stopped Losing Knowledge and Started Using BookStack
Our team had documentation scattered everywhere. Google Docs, Notion, Slack messages. BookStack gave us one place to keep everything.
I Finally Ditched LastPass and Never Looked Back
LastPass got breached. Then 1Password raised prices. I built my own password manager with Vaultwarden and it is actually better.
I Replaced Zapier with n8n and Saved $600 a Year
Zapier wanted $74 a month for the plan I needed. n8n does the same thing on my server for free. The math was simple.
Syncthing: The Best Way to Sync Files Without a Cloud Server
I needed my files on all my devices. I did not want to pay for Dropbox or trust Google. Syncthing syncs everything peer-to-peer.
Your Own Google Drive: Nextcloud All-in-One in 15 Minutes
I replaced Google Drive, Google Calendar, and Google Docs with one Docker container. My data, my server, my rules.
I Ditched Google Photos and Took My 40,000 Photos With Me
Google Photos stopped being free. Then they started scanning my images. I left and built something better with Immich.
Your Music Collection Deserves Better Than Spotify
I got tired of albums disappearing from Spotify. Navidrome let me take my music back and it sounds better too.
Your Media Server on Autopilot: Sonarr, Radarr, and the *arr Stack
I used to download things manually. Then I automated the entire pipeline and forgot what manual meant.
I Cancelled Netflix and Built My Own. Here Is Exactly How.
Netflix raised their prices again. I left and built a better version with Jellyfin. The only regret is not doing it sooner.
Docker Deep Dive: Networks, Volumes, and Compose Tricks I Wish I Knew Sooner
I used Docker for two years before I understood networks. Do not be me.
Your Self-Hosted Setup Without Monitoring Is Just Hope
I thought my services were fine. They were not. Here is how Uptime Kuma saved me from finding out the hard way.
Your First Reverse Proxy: Stop Using IP:Port Like a Caveman
You have services running on random ports. You connect by remembering numbers. There is a better way and it takes five minutes.
Stop Typing Docker Commands: Manage Everything with Portainer
I used to live in the terminal. Then I installed Portainer and realized I was just doing things the hard way.
I Put a Server in My Closet and Ditched the Cloud
I was paying $60/month for cloud VPS. Now everything runs on an ITX PC in my closet — and Cloudflare Tunnel makes it feel like a datacenter.
Getting Started with Self-Hosting: A Beginner's Guide
Take control of your digital life. Learn what self-hosting is, why it matters, and how to run your first service in 30 minutes.
Docker Compose for Beginners: Run Everything with One Command
Stop installing things manually. Learn how Docker Compose simplifies self-hosting so you can deploy services in seconds.