--- title: After self-hosting everything, here's what I still pay... description: A home lab enthusiast shares which cloud services they still pay for despite self-hosting most things: email hosting (too complex and spam-prone from... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/after-self-hosting-everything-here-s-what-i-still-pay-for-and-why-it-s-worth-it-nl7bhthv5 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: After self-hosting everything, here's what I still pay for and why it's worth it | daily.dev og:description: A home lab enthusiast shares which cloud services they still pay for despite self-hosting most things: email hosting (too complex and spam-prone from... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/after-self-hosting-everything-here-s-what-i-still-pay-for-and-why-it-s-worth-it-nl7bhthv5 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/nL7BhTHv5.png og:image:alt: After self-hosting everything, here's what I still pay for and why it's worth it og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # After self-hosting everything, here's what I still pay for and why it's worth it **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 3 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A home lab enthusiast shares which cloud services they still pay for despite self-hosting most things: email hosting (too complex and spam-prone from residential IPs), cloud AI (local models still lag behind for complex tasks), offsite backups (essential for the 3-2-1 rule), and Tailscale VPN (simplifies secure access without exposing services to the public internet). The conclusion is that some services complement rather than contradict a self-hosting philosophy. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### why is it hard to self-host my own email server without getting flagged as spam Major email providers use reputation-based filtering, so mail sent from a residential IP address with little sending history gets treated as spam by default. This makes self-hosted email unreliable even after proper setup, which is why many home lab users pay a third party to handle email despite self-hosting everything else. _Anyone weighing self-hosted email against a paid provider can compare real setups and trade-offs on daily.dev._ ### what is the 3-2-1 backup rule for a home NAS The 3-2-1 rule means keeping three copies of your data, on two different types of media, with one copy stored offsite. A NAS with a second drive covers the first two parts easily, but the offsite copy is essential because it protects against fire, theft, or ransomware that a local backup alone cannot survive. _Home lab builders refining their backup strategy can find more real-world setups on daily.dev._ ### is tailscale worth paying for instead of self-hosting a wireguard vpn Yes for many home lab users, because self-hosting WireGuard requires careful router configuration and ongoing security upkeep, while Tailscale took about five minutes to set up and removes the need to expose self-hosted services directly to the public internet. Even its free tier is often enough, but some users would pay for it regardless. _Developers deciding between DIY VPN setups and managed options like Tailscale can compare experiences on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I stopped self-hosting these 4 services after realizing maintenance wasn't worth it](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-self-hosting-these-4-services-after-realizing-maintenance-wasn-t-worth-it-trczentdi) · XDA Developers · 27 upvotes · 6 comments - [After months of self-hosting, I'd rather just pay for these 4 services](https://daily.dev/posts/after-months-of-self-hosting-i-d-rather-just-pay-for-these-4-services-qlqlo2ge7) · XDA Developers · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Replacing paid productivity apps with a self-hosted setup helped me save money, but I had to make some compromises](https://daily.dev/posts/replacing-paid-productivity-apps-with-a-self-hosted-setup-helped-me-save-money-but-i-had-to-make-so-9dmtqmijy) · XDA Developers · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Self-Hosted Alternatives: Control Your Data](https://daily.dev/posts/self-hosted-alternatives-control-your-data-rhen980vm) · Docker · 19 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#cloud](https://daily.dev/tags/cloud), [#self-hosting](https://daily.dev/tags/self-hosting), [#homelab](https://daily.dev/tags/homelab), [#tailscale](https://daily.dev/tags/tailscale) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/after-self-hosting-everything-here-s-what-i-still-pay-for-and-why-it-s-worth-it-nl7bhthv5) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"After self-hosting everything, here's what I still pay for and why it's worth it","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/after-self-hosting-everything-here-s-what-i-still-pay-for-and-why-it-s-worth-it-nl7bhthv5","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/after-self-hosting-everything-here-s-what-i-still-pay-for-and-why-it-s-worth-it-nl7bhthv5"},"datePublished":"2026-07-25T10:01:10.732Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:21:44.357Z","description":"A home lab enthusiast shares which cloud services they still pay for despite self-hosting most things: email hosting (too complex and spam-prone from...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ca17a681ef7cbcfce7ef73f2b7a27993?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ca17a681ef7cbcfce7ef73f2b7a27993?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/after-self-hosting-everything-here-s-what-i-still-pay-for-and-why-it-s-worth-it-nl7bhthv5","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"cloud,self-hosting,homelab,tailscale","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"After self-hosting everything, here's what I still pay for and why it's worth it"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/after-self-hosting-everything-here-s-what-i-still-pay-for-and-why-it-s-worth-it-nl7bhthv5#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"why is it hard to self-host my own email server without getting flagged as spam","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Major email providers use reputation-based filtering, so mail sent from a residential IP address with little sending history gets treated as spam by default. 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