Self-Hosting Wallabag: Read-It-Later Alternative to Pocket

If you’ve ever used Pocket or Instapaper to save articles for later, you know the value of a good read-it-later service. But those services track your reading habits, inject ads, and can shut down features at any time. Wallabag gives you the same experience — save articles with one click, read them distraction-free, sync across devices — entirely on your own server. In this guide, we’ll set up Wallabag with Docker, configure it with PostgreSQL for reliable storage, and connect browser extensions and mobile apps for a seamless reading workflow. ...

February 15, 2026 · 6 min · Self Host Setup

selfhost-doctor: One-Command Health Check for Your Self-Hosted Server

Your self-hosted server is humming along — but is it actually healthy? Disk filling up? Docker containers silently unhealthy? SSH config wide open? SSL certs about to expire? selfhost-doctor answers all of that with one command. Quick Start curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bird/selfhost-doctor/main/selfhost-doctor.sh | bash That’s it. No installation, no dependencies, no API keys. Just a clean diagnostic report in your terminal. What It Checks selfhost-doctor runs through 7 categories of health checks: ...

February 15, 2026 · 6 min · Self Host Setup

Running Forgejo: Lightweight Gitea Fork for Code Hosting

Want to host your own code without relying on GitHub or GitLab? Forgejo is a community-driven fork of Gitea — lightweight, fast, and designed to stay free forever. It’s everything you need for private repos, CI/CD, and team collaboration on your own hardware. Why Forgejo Over Gitea? Forgejo forked from Gitea in 2022 after governance concerns. The key differences: Community-governed — no single company controls it Guaranteed free — committed to staying FOSS, no enterprise bait-and-switch Federation support — working toward ActivityPub integration (follow repos across instances) Same codebase — if you know Gitea, you know Forgejo Drop-in replacement — migrate from Gitea with zero data loss Prerequisites Docker and Docker Compose ~256MB RAM (runs great on a Pi) A domain (optional but recommended) Step 1: Setup mkdir -p ~/forgejo && cd ~/forgejo Step 2: Docker Compose Create docker-compose.yml: ...

February 13, 2026 · 4 min · Self Host Setup

Running Calibre-Web: Your Own eBook Library Server

If you have a collection of eBooks scattered across devices, Calibre-Web brings them together into a beautiful, self-hosted library you can access from anywhere. Think of it as your personal Kindle store — minus the DRM and data harvesting. Calibre-Web is a web-based frontend for the popular Calibre eBook manager. It gives you a clean, modern interface to browse, read, and download your books from any browser or eReader device. ...

February 12, 2026 · 6 min · Self Host Setup

Running LocalAI: OpenAI-Compatible API on Your Own Server

You’re already using OpenAI’s API for chat, embeddings, or image generation. But every request costs money, sends your data to a third party, and depends on their uptime. What if you could run the same API — same endpoints, same format — on your own hardware? That’s exactly what LocalAI does. What Is LocalAI? LocalAI is a drop-in replacement for the OpenAI API. It runs entirely on your server and supports: ...

February 12, 2026 · 6 min · Self Host Setup

Self-Hosted Backup Strategy with Restic and Rclone

You’re running a home server with important data — photos, documents, databases, configurations. What happens when a drive dies? When you accidentally rm -rf the wrong directory? When ransomware hits? Restic + Rclone is the gold standard backup combo for self-hosters. Restic creates fast, encrypted, deduplicated snapshots. Rclone syncs them to any cloud provider. Together, they give you enterprise-grade backups for free. The 3-2-1 Backup Rule Before we start, understand the rule that prevents data loss: ...

February 12, 2026 · 7 min · Self Host Setup

Self-Hosting Actual Budget: Open-Source Finance Tracking

Mint is dead. YNAB costs $99/year. Your bank’s budgeting tools are terrible. Actual Budget is the answer — a fast, privacy-first budgeting app you can self-host for free. Originally a paid product, Actual was open-sourced in 2022 and is now maintained by a thriving community. It’s one of the best self-hosted finance tools available, with envelope budgeting, bank sync, and a beautiful UI that works on desktop and mobile. Why Actual Budget? Envelope budgeting — assign every dollar a job (YNAB-style) Bank sync — automatic transaction imports via GoCardless (free for personal use) Fast — local-first architecture, syncs in the background Multi-device — access from any browser, sync across devices Import — migrate from YNAB, Mint, or any CSV/OFX/QFX export Reports — spending trends, net worth, cash flow charts Rules — auto-categorize transactions 100% private — your financial data never leaves your server Prerequisites A Linux server with Docker and Docker Compose ~128MB RAM (very lightweight) A domain or local IP for access Step 1: Create the Project Directory mkdir -p ~/actual-budget && cd ~/actual-budget Step 2: Docker Compose Setup Create docker-compose.yml: ...

February 12, 2026 · 6 min · Self Host Setup

Self-Hosting Grafana + Prometheus: Complete Monitoring Stack

If you’re running a home server, you need visibility into what’s happening. Grafana + Prometheus is the gold standard monitoring stack — and it’s completely free to self-host. In this guide, you’ll set up Prometheus to collect metrics and Grafana to visualize them with beautiful dashboards. By the end, you’ll have real-time monitoring of your server’s CPU, memory, disk, network, and any Docker containers you’re running. What You’ll Build Prometheus — time-series database that scrapes metrics from your services Grafana — dashboard and visualization platform Node Exporter — exposes hardware/OS metrics to Prometheus cAdvisor — exposes Docker container metrics Prerequisites A Linux server (Ubuntu, Debian, or similar) Docker and Docker Compose installed Basic terminal knowledge ~512MB RAM for the full stack Step 1: Create the Project Directory mkdir -p ~/monitoring && cd ~/monitoring Step 2: Docker Compose Configuration Create docker-compose.yml: ...

February 12, 2026 · 5 min · Self Host Setup

Setting Up Dozzle: Real-Time Docker Log Viewer

Running a bunch of Docker containers but hate switching between docker logs commands? Dozzle gives you a beautiful, real-time web UI to view logs from all your containers in one place. No database, no agents, no configuration — just deploy and go. Why Dozzle? Zero config — point it at Docker and it works Real-time streaming — logs appear instantly, no polling Multi-container view — watch several containers side by side Search and filter — find what you need fast No storage — doesn’t store logs (uses Docker’s own log driver) Tiny footprint — ~10MB RAM, single binary Multi-host — monitor remote Docker hosts from one dashboard Dark mode — easy on the eyes during late-night debugging Prerequisites Docker and Docker Compose That’s it. Seriously. Step 1: Deploy Dozzle Create docker-compose.yml: ...

February 12, 2026 · 5 min · Self Host Setup

5 Best Self-Hosted Discord Alternatives for Your Community

Discord is everywhere — gaming communities, dev teams, study groups. But it comes with baggage: data harvesting, Nitro upsells, and zero control over your data. If you’re already self-hosting, why not host your chat too? Here are the 5 best self-hosted Discord alternatives you can deploy today, ranked by feature completeness, ease of setup, and community size. 1. Revolt — The Closest Discord Clone Best for: Communities that want a Discord-like experience without the surveillance. ...

February 11, 2026 · 5 min · Self Host Setup