--- title: "I ditched Plex, Google Photos, and iCloud for self-hosted alternatives, and Pangolin made it actually work" url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-plex-google-photos-and-icloud-for-self-hosted-alternatives-and-pangolin-made-it-actuall-tcnk0edem source_url: https://www.xda-developers.com/ditched-plex-google-photos-icloud-for-self-hosted-alternatives type: article source: "XDA Developers" published: 2026-06-10T14:04:57.011Z updated: 2026-07-02T02:15:10.770Z tags: ["jellyfin", "self-hosting"] reading_time: 12 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: 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. # I ditched Plex, Google Photos, and iCloud for self-hosted alternatives, and Pangolin made it actually work **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 12 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A technology journalist shares how they replaced Plex Pass, Google One, and Apple One with self-hosted alternatives — Jellyfin, Immich, and Nextcloud — saving $30/month. The key challenge was remote access: CGNAT blocked direct exposure, so they deployed Pangolin (an open-source WireGuard-based reverse proxy) on a rented VPS to make all three services accessible from anywhere. The setup worked well, but the author is candid about the tradeoffs: maintenance overhead, manual updates, backup responsibility, and occasional troubleshooting replace the convenience that paid subscriptions provide. The conclusion is balanced — self-hosting makes sense if you already run hardware and the subscription costs outweigh the added work. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [5 self-hosted apps that replaced my expensive paid subscriptions without feeling like a downgrade](https://daily.dev/posts/5-self-hosted-apps-that-replaced-my-expensive-paid-subscriptions-without-feeling-like-a-downgrade-uqtqgverj) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I replaced a VPN with my own VPS, and it works perfectly with some added benefits](https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-a-vpn-with-my-own-vps-and-it-works-perfectly-with-some-added-benefits-sm1kxpptf) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I replaced Cloudflare Tunnel with Pangolin, and finally own my whole ingress path](https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-cloudflare-tunnel-with-pangolin-and-finally-own-my-whole-ingress-path-h4z6wg0nm) · XDA Developers · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [I replaced Tailscale with Pangolin for remote access, and it was much easier than I expected](https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-tailscale-with-pangolin-for-remote-access-and-it-was-much-easier-than-i-expected-zhudbuvn4) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [I don't use Tailscale or Nginx to access my home lab remotely, here's what I use instead](https://daily.dev/posts/i-don-t-use-tailscale-or-nginx-to-access-my-home-lab-remotely-here-s-what-i-use-instead-kysdzy8la) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#jellyfin](https://daily.dev/tags/jellyfin), [#self-hosting](https://daily.dev/tags/self-hosting) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-plex-google-photos-and-icloud-for-self-hosted-alternatives-and-pangolin-made-it-actuall-tcnk0edem)