Small apps, massive impact on my productivity.
I used to be a SaaS junkie. Notion for notes, Calendly for scheduling, Bitly for link shortening, and a dozen other subscriptions I barely used. Then my credit card got hit with $200+ in monthly charges, and I had an epiphany: most of these tools do simple things that I could just... host myself.
So I did. And honestly? It's been liberating.
I'm not talking about running a massive homelab with enterprise-grade hardware. These are tiny, lightweight tools that run on a $5 DigitalOcean droplet or even a Raspberry Pi. They start in seconds, use minimal resources, and best of all—they're mine. No subscriptions, no data mining, no sudden "we're pivoting!" announcements.
Here are six self-hosted tools that have genuinely saved me time, money, and sanity every single week.
1. Uptime Kuma – Because Downtime Costs Money
What it does: Monitors your websites, APIs, and services with a beautiful dashboard.
I have a few side projects and client sites I manage. Before Uptime Kuma, I'd find out about downtime when a client texted me, which is... not ideal. Now I get instant notifications via Discord, Slack, or email the moment something goes down.
The dashboard is gorgeous—think modern, dark-mode-friendly status pages. Setup takes literally 5 minutes with Docker:
docker run -d --restart=always -p 3001:3001 -v uptime-kuma:/app/data --name uptime-kuma louislam/uptime-kuma:1
Why it saves me: Catches issues before clients do. That alone is worth its weight in gold.
Resource usage: ~100MB RAM. Barely noticeable.
2. Shlink – URL Shortener That Doesn't Spy on You
What it does: Self-hosted URL shortener with analytics.
I used to use Bitly until I realized I was paying $30/month for a service that's basically just redirects and click tracking. Shlink does the exact same thing, looks professional, and gives me complete control over my data.
Custom short domains? Check. Click analytics? Check. QR code generation? Check. API for automation? Check.
I use it for everything from YouTube video links to newsletter CTAs. Having my own branded short links (like mysite.link/promo) looks way more professional than bit.ly/3xK9pQw.
Why it saves me: $360/year in Bitly costs, plus I own all my analytics data.
Resource usage: ~50MB RAM. Lightning fast.
3. Rallly – Scheduling Without the Calendly Tax
What it does: Like Doodle or Calendly, but self-hosted and beautiful.
Calendly charges $10-15/month per user for basic scheduling. Rallly does the same thing for free, with a clean UI that doesn't look like it's from 2010. Create polls for meeting times, share a link, and let people vote on availability.
Perfect for:
- Team meetings across timezones
- Finding time for client calls
- Planning social events
- Literally any group scheduling
No accounts required for participants. They just click, vote, and you're done.
Why it saves me: About 2 hours every week coordinating meeting times via email ping-pong.
Resource usage: ~150MB RAM.
4. Plausible Analytics – Google Analytics Without the Guilt
What it does: Privacy-friendly, lightweight website analytics.
Google Analytics is overkill for most sites and comes with a mountain of privacy concerns. Plausible gives you the metrics that actually matter—page views, referrers, bounce rates, devices—in a simple, clean dashboard.
It's GDPR-compliant by default, doesn't use cookies, and the script is only 1KB (Google Analytics is 45KB+). Your visitors will thank you, and your site will load faster.
I run it in Docker and point all my projects to it. One instance handles analytics for a dozen sites without breaking a sweat.
Why it saves me: Clear insights without the bloat. Plus, sleeping better knowing I'm not feeding the Google machine.
Resource usage: ~200MB RAM for the full stack.
5. Linkwarden – Bookmarks That Actually Work
What it does: Self-hosted bookmark manager with full-text search and archiving.
Bookmarks in your browser? Good luck finding anything after you've saved 500 links. Linkwarden not only organizes your bookmarks but archives the full content of pages, so even if a site goes down, you still have it.
Tags, collections, full-text search, browser extensions, and automatic screenshots. It's like having a personal internet archive that actually understands organization.
I use it for:
- Research articles I'll "read later" (and actually do)
- Design inspiration
- Code snippets and documentation
- Saving Twitter threads before they vanish
Why it saves me: I can actually find things I saved. Revolutionary concept, I know.
Resource usage: ~300MB RAM.
6. Excalidraw – Whiteboarding Without the Subscription
What it does: Self-hosted collaborative whiteboard for sketching ideas.
Yes, Excalidraw has a free version online, but self-hosting it means your diagrams, architecture sketches, and brainstorming sessions stay private. Plus, no account required, no rate limits, and it works offline.
I use it constantly for:
- System architecture diagrams
- Explaining concepts to clients
- Quick wireframes
- Flowcharts for documentation
The hand-drawn aesthetic makes everything look approachable rather than corporate and stuffy. And because it's just a static site, hosting costs are basically zero.
Why it saves me: Faster than opening Figma, more permanent than a physical whiteboard, and my team can collaborate in real-time.
Resource usage: ~10MB. It's a static site.
The Setup (It's Easier Than You Think)
All of these run perfectly on a single $6/month VPS. Here's my stack:
- Server: Hetzner Cloud or DigitalOcean droplet (2GB RAM, 1 CPU)
- Reverse proxy: Caddy (automatic HTTPS, incredibly simple config)
- Container management: Docker Compose
- Backups: Automated daily snapshots to Backblaze B2
Total monthly cost: ~$7 (server + backup storage)
Total setup time: Maybe 3 hours for all six tools, including learning curve.
The Real Benefits
Beyond the money saved (easily $500+/year in subscriptions), self-hosting these tools gives me:
Control. No one can change pricing, kill features, or shut down the service overnight.
Privacy. My data stays on my server. Period.
Speed. These apps are lightweight and fast. No bloated SaaS overhead.
Learning. I've become much more comfortable with Docker, reverse proxies, and server management.
Peace of mind. When I open these tools, they work. No maintenance windows, no surprise UI redesigns, no "we're sunsetting this feature" emails.
Should You Self-Host?
Look, self-hosting isn't for everyone. If you're terrified of the terminal or don't want to spend a few hours learning, stick with SaaS. No judgment.
But if you:
- Pay for multiple subscriptions that do simple things
- Care about privacy and data ownership
- Want to learn practical dev-ops skills
- Enjoy tinkering (even a little bit)
Then start with one tool. Just one. Pick the easiest (Uptime Kuma or Excalidraw), follow a tutorial, and see how it feels.
You might surprise yourself. And you'll definitely save money.
These six tiny tools have saved me hundreds of dollars, countless hours, and endless frustration with bloated SaaS products. They're reliable, fast, and completely under my control.
Self-hosting isn't about running a datacenter in your closet. It's about taking back ownership of the digital tools you use every day.
Try one. You might not go back.
What self-hosted tools do you swear by? Let me know in the comments
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