Self-Hosted Survey 2025
An in-depth look at the tools, trends, and motivations driving the self-hosting community. Discover what your peers are building.
Key Insights at a Glance
Total Responses
600+
Using Containers
98.5%
Most Popular OS
Proxmox VE
Self-Hosting Duration
How long have you been self-hosting?
- 1 - 3 years 185
- 3 - 5 years 138
- 5 - 10 years 120
- More than 10 years 77
- Less than a year 59
- I started recently 32
- Forgot how long 9
- I haven't been self-hosting, but I am interested in this topic or plan to start doing it. 3
Audience Over Time
For whom do you host your services?
2023
2024
2025
Myself (Private)
202395.9%202497.9%202596.8%Family
202363.6%202469.3%202566.9%Friends
202336.1%202441.8%202537.3%Myself (Business)
202310.7%202411.2%202511.0%Work
202320242025Other
202320242025
SBCs
Which SBCs do you use?
Most Popular
Raspberry Pi
93.3%
Orange Pi
4.7%
Other
4.0%
Odroid
4.0%
ZimaBoards
3.6%
Other (Esp)
1.2%
Rock Pi
1.2%
Le Potato
0.8%
Banana Pi
0.8%
Pine64
0.8%
ASUS Tinker
0.4%
Operating System Distribution
What is the primary host operating system?
- Proxmox VE 251
- Debian 244
- Ubuntu 218
- TrueNAS SCALE 68
- Unraid 52
Primary Motivation
What is your primary motivation for self-hosting?
- Fun/Hobby 188
- Privacy 115
- Independence 89
- Learning Experience 79
- Data Control 74
- Cost Savings 53
- Other 16
Hardware Trends Over Time
Which devices do you use for self-hosting?
Devices Amount
Approximately how many devices do you use for self-hosting?
2024
2025
2-3
202443.5%202542.8%4-5
202423.4%202522.3%1
202417.3%202520.0%6-10
202411.0%202510.5%More than 10
20242025
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi Usage
Most Popular
Raspberry Pi 4
64.7%
Raspberry Pi 3
38.3%
Raspberry Pi 5
28.9%
Raspberry Pi Zero
17.9%
Raspberry Pi 2
6.4%
Raspberry Pi 1
4.7%
Other
0.9%
Raspberry Pi 400
0.4%
Network Attached Storage (NAS)
Network Attached Storage (NAS) Usage
Most Popular
Custom-built
51.5%
Synology
32.9%
QNAP
7.3%
ASUSTOR
5.1%
Other
3.6%
Ugreen
3.3%
Terramaster
2.9%
Other (Unraid)
1.8%
WD
1.5%
Other (TrueNAS)
1.1%
ZyXEL
0.4%
NAS Purpose
What do you use your NAS for?
2024
2025
File storage and sharing
202491.3%202592.4%Backup solution
202470.5%202559.6%Media server
202440.2%202555.6%Docker container host
202434.6%202534.3%Virtual machine host
202411.2%202513.4%Surveillance system
202411.0%202511.2%Other
20242025
NAS Storage
How much storage do you have in your NAS?
2024
2025
21-50TB
202424.0%202524.9%11-20TB
202425.0%202524.6%5-10TB
202418.7%202522.4%More than 50TB
202415.6%202517.3%1-4TB
202415.6%202510.1%Less than 1TB
20242025
Operating System Host
What is the primary host operating system or platform running directly on your self-hosting hardware?
Most Popular
Proxmox VE
42.7%
Debian
41.5%
Ubuntu
37.1%
TrueNAS SCALE
11.6%
Unraid
8.8%
Other Linux
5.3%
OpenMediaVault
4.9%
Other
4.4%
Alpine
4.1%
I use Arch btw
3.9%
macOS
3.6%
Windows Server
3.2%
NixOS
3.2%
Fedora
2.9%
CentOS Stream/Rocky/Alma
2.7%
FreeBSD
2.4%
VMware ESXi
1.5%
Other (Windows)
1.2%
XCP-ng
0.5%
OpenSUSE
0.2%
Void Linux
0.2%
Operating System Regular Usage
Which operating system(s) do you use on a regular basis for personal computing?
2023
2024
2025
Windows
202373.4%202466.5%202564.0%Linux
202370.1%202458.5%202559.4%MacOS
202327.9%202431.7%202534.2%Android
202343.2%202437.1%202527.4%iOS
202323.0%202422.5%202522.7%ChromeOS
202320242025Other
202320242025
Linux Distribution
If you use Linux for personal computing (your daily desktop/laptop), which distribution(s) do you use? (On the host system, not container)
Most Popular
Ubuntu
29.7%
Arch
21.3%
Debian
21.3%
Fedora
17.5%
LinuxMint
13.1%
Other
8.5%
Android
4.4%
Other (NixOS)
2.9%
OpenSUSE
2.3%
Manjaro
2.0%
Pop
1.8%
RHEL
1.2%
CentOS (Stream)
0.9%
Other (Bazzite)
0.9%
FreeBSD
0.6%
Container Usage Reason
What are your primary reasons for using containers?
Most Popular
Ease of deployment
92.1%
Isolation
60.8%
Portability
50.3%
Learning/Experimentation
41.6%
Resource efficiency
35.9%
Dependency Management
24.3%
Version control
22.1%
Scalability
13.0%
Other
2.0%
Adblocker
Adblocker Pick
Select your favorite adblocker
- Pi-Hole36.3%
- AdGuard Home32.2%
- None20.1%
- Other7.9%
- Technitium3.0%
- Blocky0.5%
Bookmark Manager
Bookmark Manager Pick
Select your favorite bookmark manager
- None55.1%
- KaraKeep24.0%
- LinkWarden8.3%
- Other4.3%
- LinkDing3.5%
- Readeck2.4%
- Floccus1.5%
- Shiori0.9%
Database
Database Pick
Select your favorite database
- Postgres43.0%
- None19.5%
- MariaDB18.6%
- SQLite10.1%
- MySQL5.6%
- MongoDB2.1%
- Other1.2%
Firewall
Firewall Pick
Select your favorite firewall
- None52.0%
- Other24.6%
- OPNsense18.2%
- pfSense5.1%
Git Server
Git Server Pick
Select your favorite git server
- None51.2%
- Gitea26.0%
- GitLab11.8%
- Forgejo8.1%
- Other1.8%
- OneDev1.1%
Image Server
Image Server Pick
Select your favorite image server
- Immich61.3%
- None27.0%
- Nextcloud5.6%
- Other3.3%
- Photoprism1.9%
- Ente0.9%
Monitoring
Monitoring Tool Pick
Select your favorite monitoring tool
- Uptime Kuma34.5%
- None26.1%
- Grafana22.6%
- Other14.0%
- Netdata2.8%
Password Manager
Password Manager Pick
Select your favorite password manager
- Vaultwarden42.3%
- None41.5%
- Bitwarden9.6%
- Other6.1%
- KeeWeb0.5%
Shell
Shell Pick
Select your favorite shell
- Bash55.8%
- Zsh28.1%
- None10.0%
- Fish5.6%
- Other0.5%
VPN
VPN Pick
Select your favorite VPN
- WireGuard66.5%
- None13.0%
- Other13.0%
- OpenVPN7.3%
- IPsec0.2%