Self-Hosted Community Survey
Key Insights at a Glance
Here are the standout findings from our comprehensive survey of the self-hosting community.
Total Responses
850+
Community members surveyed
2025 Survey
Container Adoption
98.3%
Use containerization technology
Most Popular OS
Proxmox VE
Leading platform choice
🏆 #1 choice
60%
Regular Software Updates
Top Security Practice
43%
Use Two-Factor Authentication
Security Adoption
Community Highlights
Top Motivations
1 Fun/Hobby
31% 2 Privacy
17% 3 Independence from Third Parties
17% 4 Data Control
12% 5 Learning Experience
12% Experience Levels
1 1 - 3 years
30% 2 3 - 5 years
21% 3 5 - 10 years
19% 4 More than 10 years
13% 5 Less than a year
10% Explore Apps
Dive deeper into the applications and tools that are shaping the self-hosting landscape.
Browse through community-voted applications, discover new tools, and find the perfect solutions for your self-hosting needs.
Most Valuable Programs
The most popular and valuable self-hosted applications, ranked by the community
Explore MVPs
New in 2025
Apps that community members newly adopted in 2025
Discover New
Next to Deploy
What apps are community members planning to deploy next
View Plans
Missing Alternatives
Cloud services that need self-hosted alternatives
See Gaps
Technology Landscape
Key technologies and tools powering the self-hosting community
Container Tech
1 Docker Compose
88% 2 Docker
74% 3 LXC
30% Reverse Proxies
1 Nginx Proxy Manager
36% 2 Traefik
29% 3 Caddy
23% Expose Services
1 Yes
68% 2 Only with a VPN
26% 3 No
5% Proxmox VE
Top Host OS
42%
Hetzner
Top VPS Provider
26%
Raspberry Pi
Top SBC
94%
Custom-built
Top NAS
50%
Self-Hosting Duration
How long have you been self-hosting?
- 1 - 3 years264 30.5%
- 3 - 5 years185 21.4%
- 5 - 10 years163 18.8%
- More than 10 years109 12.6%
- Less than a year85 9.8%
- I started recently42 4.9%
- Forgot how long13 1.5%
- I haven't been self-hosting, but I am interested in this topic or plan to start doing it.4 0.5%
Audience Over Time
For whom do you host your services?
2023
2024
2025
Myself (Private)
202392.9%202497.9%202593.4%Family
202366.1%202469.3%202566.2%Friends
202335.6%202441.8%202536.3%Myself (Business)
202311.1%202411.2%202511.2%Work
20238.4%20248.1%20258.8%Other
20230.8%20240.5%20250.9%
Operating System Distribution
What is the primary host operating system?
- Proxmox VE251 30.1%
- Debian244 29.3%
- Ubuntu218 26.2%
- TrueNAS SCALE68 8.2%
- Unraid52 6.2%
Primary Motivation
What is your primary motivation for self-hosting?
- Fun/Hobby268 31.3%
- Privacy143 16.7%
- Independence from Third Parties142 16.6%
- Data Control107 12.5%
- Learning Experience107 12.5%
- Cost Savings62 7.2%
- Customization19 2.2%
- Other9 1.1%
Hardware Trends Over Time
Which devices do you use for self-hosting?
Hover over lines to see detailed trends
Devices Amount
Approximately how many devices do you use for self-hosting?
2024
2025
2-3
202443.5%202542.7%4-5
202423.4%202521.8%1
202417.3%202520.0%6-10
202411.0%202510.6%More than 10
20244.9%20254.2%
SBCs
Which SBCs do you use?
Most Popular
Raspberry Pi
94.4%
Orange Pi
Odroid
ZimaBoards
Other
Rock Pi
Pine64
Other (Esp)
Other (Beelink)
Le Potato
Banana Pi
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi Usage
Most Popular
Raspberry Pi 4
65.3%
Raspberry Pi 3
Raspberry Pi 5
Raspberry Pi Zero
Raspberry Pi 2
Raspberry Pi 1
Other
Raspberry Pi 400
Network Attached Storage (NAS)
Network Attached Storage (NAS) Usage
Most Popular
Custom-built
50.4%
Synology
QNAP
Other
ASUSTOR
Ugreen
Terramaster
Other (Unraid)
WD
Other (TrueNAS)
NAS Purpose
What do you use your NAS for?
2024
2025
File storage and sharing
202491.3%202589.6%Backup solution
202470.5%202558.7%Media server
202440.2%202555.9%Docker container host
202434.6%202536.3%Virtual machine host
202411.2%202515.1%Surveillance system
202411.0%202510.6%Other
20241.4%20250.9%
NAS Storage
How much storage do you have in your NAS?
2024
2025
11-20TB
202425.0%202524.9%21-50TB
202424.0%202524.4%5-10TB
202418.7%202521.8%More than 50TB
202415.6%202516.4%1-4TB
202415.6%202511.7%Less than 1TB
20240.6%20250.7%
VPS Provider
Which VPS provider(s) do you use?
Most Popular
Hetzner
26.0%
Other
Racknerd
netcup
DigitalOcean
Oracle
Linode
Hostinger
Strato
OVHcloud
Scaleway
IONOS
Vultr
Webdock
Contabo
Operating System Host
What is the primary host operating system or platform running directly on your self-hosting hardware?
Most Popular
Proxmox VE
42.2%
Debian
Ubuntu
TrueNAS SCALE
Unraid
Other Linux
OpenMediaVault
Other
I use Arch btw
Alpine
macOS
NixOS
Windows Server
Fedora
CentOS Stream/Rocky/Alma
FreeBSD
VMware ESXi
Other (Windows)
XCP-ng
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%202563.3%Linux
202370.1%202458.5%202558.7%MacOS
202327.9%202431.7%202533.5%Android
202343.2%202437.1%202528.4%iOS
202323.0%202422.5%202521.8%ChromeOS
202320241.4%20251.2%Other
20231.8%20240.8%20250.5%
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
28.4%
I use Arch btw
Debian
Fedora
LinuxMint
Other
Android
Other (NixOS)
Other (Pop!_OS)
OpenSUSE
Manjaro
Other (EndeavourOS)
Other (Bazzite)
Other (CachyOS)
RHEL
CentOS (Stream)
FreeBSD
Virtualization
Which virtualization technology do you use?
Most Popular
LXC
60.3%
KVM
VirtualBox
Hyper-V
VMware vSphere/ESXi
Other (Proxmox)
Other
bhyve
Other (Xen)
Container Usage Reason
What are your primary reasons for using containers?
Most Popular
Ease of deployment
92.4%
Isolation
Portability
Learning/Experimentation
Resource efficiency
Dependency Management
Version control
Scalability
Other
Container Technology
Which container technology do you use?
Most Popular
Docker Compose
87.6%
Docker
LXC
Docker Desktop
Kubernetes
Podman
Docker Swarm
Other
Container Helper
Which container helper tools do you use?
Most Popular
Portainer
40.8%
None
Watchtower
Dockge
Other
Cockpit
Lazydocker
Rancher
Coolify
Komodo
Cosmos
Dokku
Yacht
Umbrel
Caprover
Expose Services
Do you expose your self-hosted services to the internet?
Most Popular
Yes
68.3%
Only with a VPN
No
Expose Services Method
How do you expose your services?
Most Popular
Reverse Proxy
68.5%
Tailscale
Cloudflare Tunnel
Direct Port Forward
Pangolin
Headscale
Security Measures
What security measures do you implement for your self-hosted services?
Most Popular
Regular Software Updates
59.8%
Two-Factor Authentication for services
Fail2Ban
Hardware Firewall
CrowdSec
VLAN segmentation
Intrusion Detection/Prevention System (IDS/IPS)
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
None of these
Other
Reverse Proxy
Which reverse proxy do you use?
Most Popular
Nginx Proxy Manager
36.0%
Traefik
Caddy
Nginx
Pangolin
Swag
HAProxy
Zoraxy
Apache
Other
npm+
Varnish
Adblocker
Adblocker Pick
Select your favorite adblocker
891 responses matching filters
- Pi-Hole30434.1%
- AdGuard Home28732.2%
- None15717.6%
- Other667.4%
- Unknown485.4%
- Technitium242.7%
- Blocky50.6%
Authentication
Authentication Pick
Select your favorite authentication tool
891 responses matching filters
- None40445.3%
- Authentik21023.6%
- Unknown889.9%
- Authelia829.2%
- Other768.5%
- Keycloak202.2%
- Zitadel111.2%
Automation
Automation Pick
Select your favorite automation tool
891 responses matching filters
- Unknown44750.2%
- n8n20022.4%
- None12013.5%
- Node-RED859.5%
- ActivePieces151.7%
- Other141.6%
- Automatisch60.7%
- Huginn30.3%
- Apache Nifi10.1%
Bookmark Manager
Bookmark Manager Pick
Select your favorite bookmark manager
891 responses matching filters
- None43348.6%
- KaraKeep17019.1%
- Unknown11713.1%
- LinkWarden667.4%
- Other384.3%
- LinkDing273.0%
- Readeck222.5%
- Floccus121.3%
- Shiori60.7%
Database
Database Pick
Select your favorite database
891 responses matching filters
- Postgres35039.3%
- None16418.4%
- MariaDB14716.5%
- SQLite9610.8%
- Unknown697.7%
- MySQL414.6%
- MongoDB161.8%
- Other80.9%
Documentation
Documentation Pick
Select your favorite documentation tool
891 responses matching filters
- None24427.4%
- Obsidian22024.7%
- Other15417.3%
- Unknown829.2%
- BookStack697.7%
- Joplin606.7%
- Wiki.js343.8%
- Trilium Notes283.1%
File Sync
File Sync Pick
Select your favorite file sync tool
891 responses matching filters
- None24327.3%
- Nextcloud22425.1%
- Syncthing15817.7%
- Other889.9%
- Unknown748.3%
- FileBrowser748.3%
- Seafile303.4%
Firewall
Firewall Pick
Select your favorite firewall
891 responses matching filters
- None39844.7%
- Other20022.4%
- OPNsense15417.3%
- Unknown10011.2%
- pfSense394.4%
Git Server
Git Server Pick
Select your favorite git server
891 responses matching filters
- None40845.8%
- Gitea20422.9%
- GitLab10011.2%
- Unknown9410.5%
- Forgejo657.3%
- Other111.2%
- OneDev91.0%
Image Server
Image Server Pick
Select your favorite image server
891 responses matching filters
- Immich51157.4%
- None20923.5%
- Unknown697.7%
- Nextcloud505.6%
- Other333.7%
- Photoprism131.5%
- Ente60.7%
Media Server
Media Server Pick
Select your favorite media server
891 responses matching filters
- Jellyfin47753.5%
- Plex21824.5%
- None11512.9%
- Unknown475.3%
- Emby182.0%
- Other161.8%
Monitoring
Monitoring Tool Pick
Select your favorite monitoring tool
891 responses matching filters
- Uptime Kuma29032.5%
- None21123.7%
- Grafana18620.9%
- Other10812.1%
- Unknown728.1%
- Netdata242.7%
Password Manager
Password Manager Pick
Select your favorite password manager
891 responses matching filters
- Vaultwarden36140.5%
- None32736.7%
- Bitwarden768.5%
- Unknown657.3%
- Other556.2%
- KeeWeb50.6%
- Passbolt20.2%
Shell
Shell Pick
Select your favorite shell
891 responses matching filters
- Bash48654.5%
- Zsh22925.7%
- None728.1%
- Unknown525.8%
- Fish434.8%
- Other91.0%
Text Editor
Text Editor Pick
Select your favorite text editor
891 responses matching filters
- Nano27430.8%
- VSCode22725.5%
- Vim18921.2%
- None10511.8%
- Unknown414.6%
- Other364.0%
- Micro111.2%
- Emacs80.9%
VPN
VPN Pick
Select your favorite VPN
891 responses matching filters
- WireGuard56763.6%
- None10912.2%
- Other10712.0%
- OpenVPN576.4%
- Unknown485.4%
- IPsec30.3%