How to Choose Your First Self-Hosted Stack (App Selection Only)

This page is app selection only

For what self-hosting means, first weekend, and first 30 days, use What is self-hosting. This guide only helps you shortlist apps under real constraints.

Start with constraints, not feature charts

Write down: RAM/disk budget, who gets paged, acceptable downtime, mobile needs, license comfort, and hours/month for updates. Constraints shrink the field faster than "best of" lists.

Five-point shortlist score

Score candidates on: license fit, runtime you can debug, Docker/Compose support, backup/restore story, maintainer activity in the last 90 days. No recent security discussion → treat as experimental.

Prefer boring deployment year one

Compose + pinned tags + one reverse proxy. Avoid exotic one-click boxes until you understand volumes and networks. Pin anything holding secrets or family data.

Respect data gravity

Photos/media grow; notes stay small. SSD for databases, HDD/object for bulk. Separate volumes so a full library disk does not take down Postgres.

Prove restore before you trust

Dummy project → backup → destroy → restore → time it. Calendar the next drill. See Restore drill playbook.

One-page runbook

Update command, backup command, secrets location, proxy hostname, break-glass access. Offline copy for emergencies.

Opinionated first rack order

1) Proxy + TLS 2) Password vault 3) Optional photos after backups exist 4) Small status page. Skip mail/Matrix/public forges until the first rack is boring.

[Add real environment data here]
Host RAM/disk:
First app shortlist:
Proxy choice:
Backup target:

Related reading

See What is self-hosting, Docker Compose hardening, Automatic SSL certificates, Vaultwarden vs password SaaS, and Open-source licenses quick guide.