r/selfhosted Recommends: Essential Self-Hosted Tools of 2024

The r/selfhosted community on Reddit continues to be one of the most valuable resources for self-hosting enthusiasts. Over the last few months, we've been reading through posts and comments to understand which tools people actually use and recommend. This list is based on real discussions and experiences shared within the community. Whether you're a seasoned self-hoster or just getting started, these tools represent the best of what the self-hosted community has to offer.

📸 Photography & Videos

• Immich: High performance self-hosted photo and video management solution.
• Frigate: NVR with realtime local object detection for IP cameras

🎬 Media Servers

• Plex: Docker container for Plex Media Server
• Emby: Personal media server with apps on just about every device
• Jellyfin: Free Software Media System that puts you in control of managing and streaming your media

📖 Books & Audio

• Audiobookshelf: Self-hosted audiobook and podcast server
• Kavita: Digital library manager specializing in comics, manga, and ebooks
• Libation: Tool for managing and organizing an Audible audiobook library
• Calibre-web: Web app for browsing, reading and downloading eBooks stored in a Calibre database
• Plappa: Audiobook client for Jellyfin and AudioBookShelf

🎵 Music

• Navidrome: Open source web-based music collection server and streamer
• Lidarr: Music collection manager for Usenet and BitTorrent users

📺 Streaming & Broadcasting

• ErsatzTV: Stream custom live channels using your media library
• iSponsorBlockTV: Skip sponsor segments in YouTube videos playing on a YouTube TV device
• Steam Headless: Remote game streaming server.
• YoutubeDL-Material: Self-hosted YouTube downloader with web interface
• Piped: Open-source alternative frontend for YouTube

📆 Project Management & Collaboration

• Plane: Modern issue tracking and project management tool
• Leantime: Lean project management system for small teams

✏️ Note Taking

• Haptic: Privacy-focused markdown note-taking
• MoeMemos: Quick and simple note creation
• Joplin: Feature-rich note-taking and to-do application
• Paperless-ngx: Smart document management system
• Silverbullet: Note-taking and personal knowledge management tool

🔖 Bookmark & Link Management

• Hoarder: AI-powered bookmark management
• Linkding: Self-hosted bookmark organization
• Linkwarden: Comprehensive bookmark management

🤑 Financial & Resource Management

• Actual Budget: Open-source privacy-focused personal budgeting tool
• VoucherVault: Secure digital voucher storage
• Spoolman: Manage your 3D printer filament spools and monitor their usage.
• Tandoor: Recipe management system
• Maybe: The OS for your personal finances
• Wallos: Open-Source personal subscription tracker

💻 Development Tools

• Gitea: Open-source Git service that provides a lightweight and easy-to-install platform for managing Git repositories
• ByteStash: Open-source tool for managing and storing code snippets
• n8n: Powerful workflow automation platform
• Appsmith: Platform to build internal tools
• Storyteller: Framework designed for creating executable specifications in .NET applications

💽 Container & Virtualization

• Harbor: Centralized registry for managing container images, Helm charts, and other artifacts in containerized environments
• Docker Compose: Run multi-container Docker applications
• OrbStack: WSL and Docker Desktop alternative to run Docker containers and Linux machines
• What's up Docker: Notifies when new versions of your Docker containers are available
• Proxmox: Open-source virtualization platform for managing virtual machines (VMs) and containers
• ZimaOS: Lightweight cloud-optimized operating system designed for managing cloud workloads and services

🗼Networking & Remote Access

• Tailscale: Zero-config VPN for secure networks
• WireGuard: Fast, modern VPN tunnel
• RustDesk: Open-source remote desktop solution
• Guacamole: Clientless remote desktop gateway
• WarpGate: Access and management of remote servers over various protocols
• Nexterm: Open source server management software for SSH, VNC & RDP

🏠 Automation

• Home Assistant: Comprehensive home automation platform
• Zigbee2MQTT: Open-source bridge that enables Zigbee devices to communicate with your MQTT server

🔢 Monitoring & Management

• Beszel: Server monitoring platform that includes Docker statistics, historical data, and alert functions.
• Glance: Powerful tool for managing disk and server images in OpenStack

📁 File Sync & Transfer

• Syncthing: Peer-to-peer file synchronization tool
• Mobius Sync: Syncthing for iOS
• LocalSend: Open-source cross-platform alternative to AirDrop for file transfer between devices

🔐 Security

• Bitwarden: Password manager
• Vaultwarden: Open-source alternative to Bitwarden, a popular password manager.
• AdGuardHome: Network-wide ad and tracking blocker
• Pi-hole: Network-level advertisement and tracker blocking
• Passat: Open-source password manager

🛠️ Authentication & Access Management

• Authentik: Open-source identity and access management (IAM) solution
• Endlessh-go: Open-source SSH tarpit designed to frustrate and slow down automated attacks on SSH servers
• Supertokens: Open source alternative to Auth0 / Firebase Auth / AWS Cognito

Getting Started

For those new to self-hosting, consider starting with:

1. A simple media server (Jellyfin/Plex)
2. Basic password management (Vaultwarden)
3. Document management (Paperless-ngx)
4. File synchronization (Syncthing)

As you become more comfortable, you can expand into more complex services like Home Assistant or container management.

Infrastructure Considerations

Success in self-hosting requires attention to:

• Regular backups
• Security best practices
• Resource management
• Network configuration
• Update maintenance

The self-hosting ecosystem is more vibrant than ever in 2024. Whether you're concerned about privacy, interested in learning, or just want more control over your digital life, there's never been a better time to start self-hosting. Each tool mentioned here represents a step toward digital sovereignty, and the community continues to grow and innovate.

Remember to start small, scale gradually, and always prioritize security and backups. The journey to self-hosting mastery is ongoing, but the rewards of data ownership and privacy make it worthwhile.