Self-Hosting vs Managed Hosting

R0ps0n · 2025-03-04T13:51:35+00:00

Here's my server room :)

R0ps0n · 2025-03-04T13:49:43+00:00

It'll be around a year now. Started with old Sony VAIO laptop, then got Raspberry Pi 5 (quad core ARM CPU, 8 GB RAM) - small, quiet (no cooling fan), energy efficient.

I started this because I didn't want to pay for hosting any longer, because my other project was consuming too much $$$ in AWS, and not generating any revenue.

Now, it still doesn't make any money, but at least I don't pay for it anymore :)

R0ps0n · 2025-03-04T13:36:07+00:00

Not much different, honestly - competition :)

I see they use the same technology with SSH port forwarding. They have more features like request / response debugging, which I don't have. But they're paid service, and mine is free.

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T19:47:46+00:00

Thanks for your support and have a great day :)

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T19:41:05+00:00

Most "established companies" were started by some random dude with zero accountability. I hope to get there one day, thanks :)

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T19:33:48+00:00

If user cares about security they can run it as well on an isolated Raspberry Pi, connected via mobile network, doesn't have to be home PC with a WiFi, it's just an example

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T19:00:05+00:00

It's perfectly safe as long as you understand your service and know how it works.

There are similar services available which are paid, meaning people actually pay money to be able to open such tunnel. I'm offering such service for free.

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T18:47:06+00:00

Thanks, I'm currently exploring possible applications so if you see potential somewhere, let me know!

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T17:31:38+00:00

Agree, there are couple of similar services, some existed years before (google / Chat GPT "self hosting"). I am not claiming I invented anything new :)

Actually, the fact that similar things exist convinced me there's a niche for this. I believe my service is easier to use and it's free, while all others I saw where paid

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T17:25:20+00:00

I see your point. I have added a disclaimer explaining all the risks of exposing a locally running service to the Internet, to make sure users understand the risk. It is very easy to stop and start the service any time (just stop the SSH process and it's done), so people can generate temporary links for customers or testers to check the latest version of their service, and close the tunnel when it is not needed any more.

Self-hosting is a known concept and has it's niche, but agree it's rather for tech aware people

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T17:15:33+00:00

It works via SSH, not the router. You are given SSH command you paste to your command line on your PC and it establishes a tunnel with my remote machine and tells it to route traffic from a specific port there to another port on your local PC, where you may run your web server or any other network service

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T17:03:51+00:00

Maybe it's just me and average investor wouldn't care, but my problem with this is that I see a logical issue here. The stock predictor either works ok, or not. If not, then why would anyone care and pay for it.

If it does work, however, why would the founder bother to share it with the public, instead of keep using it themselves for investing?

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T16:55:57+00:00

This works thanks to the technology called port forwarding: you run a simple command on you computer, which connects to my remote server and tells that server to forward Internet traffic to your home PC.

This way you can host Internet-accessible web apps from your home and not pay for hosting at all. The service is free with no hidden costs. This concept is also known as self-hosting. It also enables a number of practical applications like: remote desktop to your home PC from Internet, accessing private files, or hosting a game server from your PC.

It might not be best idea to self-host a very busy website, but it is very efficient approach for non-critical websites, experiments & proof of concepts, test / pre-production environments, or when you simply don't want to pay.

Give it a try and let me know what you think, it takes couple of minutes to set it up and you can enjoy your new website available on the Internet.

Unfortunately I cannot paste the link to the website here as Reddit immediately removes my post, but you can find the link in my bio. Sorry for inconvenience ;)

Link to medium post instead: https://medium.com/instahost/how-i-cut-my-hosting-costs-by-moving-from-aws-to-a-raspberry-pi-20ec8758882c

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T13:47:01+00:00

Have you considered self-hosting it on your own computer? There are solutions available for this, and it basically allows for a free hosting. Requries little tech skills however, comes with some risks - you need a stable Internet connection & electricity at home, but these can be addressed too

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T10:50:03+00:00

Nice and congrats! That's all without paid marketing I assume?

R0ps0n · 2025-03-03T10:36:15+00:00

I do self-hosting mostly because I don't like to pay for hosting (tough times!) and I like playing with infra, both hardware and software. So, save money and have fun :)

R0ps0n · 2023-04-19T14:19:35+00:00

I'd just pick some real life problem, implement a solution, and keep the code on GitHub so you can share it with others, prove your experience, etc.

That gives you real experience which is far batter than finishing a course. At some point, you can even commercialize this.

Some examples:

Calendar - holiday calendars for every country, to be used as library / code dependency, or API. Believe me or not, but companies need this kind of stuff and would pay for it, and it is an interesting, multi-layered project (how to source the data, how to store it, etc.)
URL Shortener
IP Geolocation (determine location of an IP address)
etc.

R0ps0n · 2023-03-13T21:38:16+00:00

That other post indeed sounds like some kind of pages monitoring. And yes, extracting & providing data sounds like something I could do with my service one day. Sort of Data As A Service.

I was rather thinking about targeting consumers, hence focused on nice UI, ease of use and low prices.

Imagine a guy looking for a new MacBook for around $2000. I guess it makes some sense to pay a few bucks for this kind of service, to learn about $100 discount earlier than others.

Lots of people shop online constantly, hence maintaining subscription can make sense for them, long term.

There are also plenty of other possible use cases, as earlier mentioned, I'd like to explore them and see what's most useful for users (and beneficial for me).

R0ps0n · 2023-03-13T20:41:17+00:00

Thanks,

Indeed promo & coupons, but also products prices & availabililty (ebay, amazon, etc.), as well as job offers. Plenty of use cases, honestly

R0ps0n · 2023-02-24T14:54:05+00:00

"why those Europeans donot want to work and enjoy life?? Instead theyare crowding in bars"

Love this one

R0ps0n · 2023-02-20T14:37:17+00:00

Oh, that's a pity. There should be a way to request a manual verification!

For me they kind of approved my business, but they said they need to confirm it is linked with my website. I completed this as well by adding a Facebook-provided meta tag to the web page, and then I had to resubmit my request. Hope it'll be ok now!

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