What is n8n? Workflow automation explained
n8n is a workflow automation tool you run on your own server. What it is, how it is pronounced, what a workflow looks like, and when to use it.
Docker & self-hosting
Run the software yourself, on your own server. Docker and Compose setups for the apps people most often self-host, with storage, TLS and backups covered.
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Tura: an agent harness that cuts tokens
Tura claims 77.5% fewer tokens than Codex CLI. Here is how the harness gets there, and how to check that claim against your own provider bill.
Self-hosted stock research agent on a VPS
Build a self-hosted stock research agent on a VPS: a market data feed, a DuckDB store, a systemd timer that fires at market close, and an LLM screen.
Self-host OpenTag for @agent mentions
Run OpenTag on a VPS so Slack and GitHub mentions reach your coding agent: TLS ingress, webhook signature checks, token scopes, and safe defaults.
Self-host OpenAnalytics on a VPS
The real footprint before you start: ClickHouse, Postgres, Valkey, 4 GB RAM, 25 GB free and four DNS records. Then the install, and what fills the disk.
Self-host OneCLI: one agent per person
OneCLI hands every person a sandboxed agent and keeps the keys in one gateway. Self-host it on a VPS: Docker Compose, PostgreSQL, and real sizing numbers.
Self-host LiveContext, an n8n alternative
LiveContext CE is a seven container Docker stack with a Java backend that wants 8 GB. Size it, pin the version, put Traefik in front, and back up both stores.
Self-host LinkSift, a yt-dlp web UI
LinkSift has no login and binds to localhost on purpose. Run it in Docker Compose, then put it behind Caddy with real auth or on a Tailscale node.
Self-host a file converter with HRConvert2
Run HRConvert2 on your own VPS so client files never touch a free converter site. Docker or Apache install, bubblewrap sandboxing, upload limits and cleanup.
Self-host Agentlas OS: agent hub on a VPS
Install Agentlas OS v1.2.0 on a Linux VPS: the pinned install, where state lives, how to point it at Ollama, and what an idle agent hub really costs.
Self-host agent-console for coding agents
Run the agent-console hub on a VPS so a laptop and every agent box report Claude Code and Codex token use to one place, reached over an SSH tunnel.
Portainer on a VPS: Docker in a browser
Install Portainer CE on a Docker VPS, turn an existing compose file into a Stack, and handle the socket mount, the 9443 certificate and UI drift.
What the n8n Sustainable Use License allows
The n8n Sustainable Use License in plain words: internal business purposes, consulting for clients, paid hosting, white labelling, and where Embed starts.
Managed Postgres vs self-hosting on a VPS
Managed Postgres or your own VPS: the four jobs that transfer, backups, upgrades, failover and monitoring, and how to work out where the cost crosses over.
Is self-hosting legal? What actually stops you
Self-hosting is legal. What stops you is your ISP contract, a blocked port 25, CGNAT, and licences like SSPL and BSL. Here is what each one really blocks.
Is self-hosting email still worth it in 2026?
Receiving mail on your own VPS is easy. Getting it delivered to Gmail is the hard part. What deliverability really demands, and when to relay instead.
How to self-host a website (home or VPS)
Pick home or a VPS first, then put a static site live on nginx: server block, DNS record, firewall rule and TLS certificate, and what changes for an app.
How big an LLM fits in your server RAM
Size an LLM for a CPU server without guessing: weights in bytes, KV cache growth with context, runtime overhead, and why fitting is not the same as usable.
What Can You Do With Tailscale? 8 Real Uses
Eight jobs people run over a tailnet: reach home, borrow a VPS exit IP, share or publish one service, and SSH with no open ports. One command each.
Run an SEO audit agent on your VPS
The seo CLI turns a spare VPS into an SEO audit box: a systemd timer runs the crawl, and your agent queries the results over a local MCP server.
Self-host the SandBase agent runtime
Run SandBase Harness v0.3.8 on your own VPS: tagged install, agent YAML, MCP servers, sandbox modes, and pointing the Anthropic SDK at your box.
Paritok token gateway: cheaper agent bills?
Paritok compresses the file reads and tool output your coding agent sends. The project claims 74% fewer tokens. Here is the mechanism and the break-even math.
Self-host open-kritt AI security scanning
Run open-kritt on a VPS: Docker Compose setup, pinning a release, SSH tunnel to the UI on port 5173, and the provider budget to set before your first scan.
Docker UIs That Work With Rootless Docker
Which container UIs work when the Docker daemon is rootless: Portainer, Dockge, Lazydocker, Cockpit, Komodo, and the socket path that breaks them.
Tailscale Funnel: ports, limits, bandwidth
Tailscale Funnel accepts only ports 443, 8443 and 10000. Here are the prerequisites, the bandwidth reality, and how to check yours is serving.
Install Discourse on a VPS with Docker
Install Discourse on a VPS with the official Docker launcher: RAM and swap, a real domain, SMTP, app.yml, the rebuild step, TLS and reverse proxies.
Authelia vs Authentik: which SSO for one VPS
Authelia is a YAML forward-auth portal with 2FA. Authentik is a full identity provider with a UI and Postgres. Here is which one a single VPS needs.
What XenForo needs on a VPS before you install
XenForo is licensed software, so the server comes first: the PHP version and extensions, MySQL, writable directories, and the nginx rewrite rule.
Self-host Hindsight agent memory on a VPS
Run Hindsight 0.10.2 on your own VPS with Docker: retain, recall and reflect behind loopback, an external Postgres, and the LLM choice that sets cost.
Run a Jev-style decision model on a VPS
Jev has no public weights. Build the same typed decisions on your own server with llama.cpp grammars or GLiNER2.5-Decide, and check the confidence.
Firebase alternatives you can self-host
Firebase Studio shuts down in March 2027 but Firestore stays. Compare PocketBase, Parse, Supabase and Appwrite by what each costs to run on a VPS.
VPS vs VPN: what is the difference?
A VPS is a computer you rent. A VPN is an encrypted tunnel for your traffic. What each one does, what each costs, and how one can host the other.
Self-hosted location tracking apps compared
Traccar, OwnTracks, Dawarich or Home Assistant: pick the self-hosted location tracker that fits, and keep the ingest endpoint off the open internet.
Build your own AI agent on a VPS
An AI agent is a loop around a language model that can use tools. Learn the concepts behind building one on your own VPS: the loop, tools, MCP, memory.
Run a UniFi controller on a VPS
Host the UniFi Network Application on a VPS: RAM sizing, Docker with MongoDB, Layer 3 adoption with set-inform, and the ports to keep private.
Ollama num_predict: cap the output length
num_predict caps how many tokens Ollama will write. The three places to set it, which one wins, and how to read done_reason in the response.
Host Ollama on a VPS: self-host an LLM safely
A 7B model wants 8 GB of RAM and gives 4 to 10 tokens per second on CPU. Host one on a VPS and call it at 127.0.0.1:11434/v1, with port 11434 kept closed.
What is an agent harness?
An agent harness is the program around the model: the loop, the tools, the permissions and the session state. How it differs from a model and a framework.
Proxmox at home vs renting a VPS
The real cost of a Proxmox box at home versus a rented VPS: hardware and power math, what each is better at, and the hybrid setup most people run.
WireGuard vs Tailscale vs Headscale
Tailscale is WireGuard plus a control plane. What that coordination server buys you, what it costs you, and which of the three belongs on your VPS.
What can you do with a VPS? 20 real uses
Twenty things people really run on a VPS, from websites and VPNs to photo storage, game servers and AI agents, with honest RAM needs for each.
wg-easy: WireGuard with a web UI in Docker
Run WireGuard behind the wg-easy web UI with Docker Compose: the ports, NET_ADMIN, the sysctls that matter, and QR code onboarding for phones.
Stalwart: an all-in-one mail server on a VPS
What Stalwart's single Rust binary replaces in a Postfix and Dovecot stack, what it cannot fix, and when a mailcow install is still the better call.
Self-hosted video conferencing on a VPS
The bandwidth math that decides your box size, plus Jitsi, BigBlueButton and Galène compared on RAM, open UDP ports and what breaks behind NAT.
Self-hosted Notion alternatives, compared
AppFlowy, Outline, Docmost, BookStack and Obsidian compared on the axes that actually decide it: databases, collaboration, mobile and hosting weight.
Self-host Planka: source-available Kanban board
Deploy Planka on a VPS with Docker Compose: Postgres, Traefik, the admin bootstrap variables, and the BASE_URL setting that breaks your logins.
Self-host an Outline VPN server on a VPS
Run the Outline VPN server, not the wiki app, on your own VPS. Install, access keys, the management API port, and what Shadowsocks does not hide.
Self-host mem0 for agent memory on a VPS
Run the mem0 memory server on your own VPS: the real RAM floor, a Compose file that binds to localhost, TLS in front of the API, and a fully local Ollama path.
Self-host KiroCrew on a VPS: always-on agent
Run KiroCrew as a pinned container on your own VPS so memory and schedules survive reboots. Docker, systemd, SSH access, backups and rollback.
Self-host Hister: your personal search engine
Run Hister on a VPS to search the full text of pages you visited and files you keep: binary and Docker installs, TLS, a login, and the MCP endpoint.
Self-Host ERPNext on a VPS with Docker
Run ERPNext on your own VPS with Docker: sizing, the eleven container stack, TLS, outbound email, version pinning, and a restore you have tested.
Self-host Chatwoot on a VPS with Docker
Deploy Chatwoot on a VPS with Docker Compose and Traefik: pinned tags, SMTP that actually sends, Postgres and uploads backups, and safe upgrades.
Self-host AFFiNE: a Notion-style workspace
Run AFFiNE on one VPS with Docker Compose: the four containers, pinned image tags, where your data lives, backups, and what 2 GB of RAM really buys.
Run MCP servers on a VPS for AI coding agents
Run Model Context Protocol servers on your own VPS so AI agents get real tools: stdio and remote HTTP transports, systemd, TLS, auth, and every failure mode.
Is Supabase free? Cloud limits vs self-hosted
Supabase has a real free plan: 500 MB of database and a project that pauses after a week idle. Compare it with self-hosting the stack on your own VPS.
Is SearXNG safe? What it actually hides
SearXNG swaps your IP for your server's IP at the search engines. Who really sees your queries on a public instance and on your own VPS, and where it stops.
Is Nextcloud free? Hub vs Enterprise
The Nextcloud server is free software with no licence fee. Here is what an Enterprise subscription really buys, and the costs you pay either way.
Give your AI agent SearXNG web search
Your SearXNG instance can be the search backend for an AI agent. JSON API setup, the trust boundaries, and the prompt injection surface it opens.
n8n AI agent: build one on your own VPS
Build a working AI agent in n8n: the AI Agent node, a Claude model credential, an HTTP Request tool, memory, a trigger, and the settings that cap cost.
Install Flarum on a VPS: PHP forum setup
Install Flarum on a VPS with PHP, Composer and MariaDB, serve only /public over TLS, and fix the mail and extension upgrade traps that break new forums.
Self-host HarnessRouter: one agent API
Run Codex, Claude Code and Hermes behind one self-hosted API. The exact Docker deploy, the loopback bind, the default login you must change, and TLS access.
The real Nextcloud limitations on a VPS
What Nextcloud is genuinely bad at on a VPS: many small files, the sync client on large trees, unconfigured cron, and the memory floor for office.
Self-hosted Firecrawl alternatives for a VPS
Draco, Hound and self-hosted Firecrawl compared on RAM, headless browser needs and API compatibility, with a pinned install and an MCP wire-up.
Self-host Paperclip on a VPS
Paperclip is the control plane over your AI coding agents. Install it on a VPS, then reach the UI over SSH or a tailnet instead of the public internet.
Run Nemotron 3.5 Lightning on a VPS
Run NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning with Ollama on your own server: the exact tag to pull, how much RAM it needs, and if CPU-only is fast enough.
Build your own OpenClaw-style AI agent
OpenClaw is a personal AI agent that runs commands on your own server. Here is how one is built, piece by piece, and why hardening comes first.
Running a vector database on your VPS
Your app and your index sit on the same VPS, so latency is not the problem. Compare pgvector, Qdrant, Chroma and brute force, and size the RAM correctly.
Harden a public SearXNG instance
Open SearXNG to other people safely: bind to localhost, get X-Forwarded-For and trusted_proxies to agree, enable the limiter, and lock down the JSON API.
Ollama temperature and sampling settings
Temperature does not make a model smarter. Here is what it does to the token distribution in Ollama, plus top_p, top_k, min_p, seed, and which place wins.
n8n vs Zapier vs Make: the self-host math
Zapier and Make bill per task. Self-hosted n8n bills a flat server cost. Work a real month of volume, find the crossover, and read the n8n license.
Self-hosted helpdesk and ticketing: how to pick
Which self-hosted helpdesk fits: FreeScout, osTicket, Zammad, GLPI or iTop, and how mail to ticket, agent count and SLAs decide it for you.
Run a Tor relay on your VPS
Set up a guard or middle Tor relay on a Linux VPS: torrc, bandwidth accounting that protects a metered plan, nyx monitoring, and the slow consensus ramp.
Ollama Cloud vs your own server: what changes
Ollama Cloud and a self-hosted Ollama share one CLI and one API. See exactly which settings change, and what leaves your machine on each path.
Webmin on Ubuntu 24.04: install and secure
Install Webmin on Ubuntu 24.04, then lock it down: SSH tunnel or IP allowlist, a real Let's Encrypt cert, two-factor, and Fail2ban on port 10000.
Uptime Kuma: self-hosted status monitoring
Run Uptime Kuma in Docker to monitor websites, ports, DNS and cron jobs, alert via email or Telegram, and publish a status page from a separate VPS.
The SSO tax in self-hosted software
Open source apps that keep OIDC and SAML in a paid tier: why maintainers price it that way, and the checklist to run before you install anything.
Self-hosted URL shortener with Shlink
Run your own URL shortener on a VPS with Shlink and Docker Compose: short domain DNS, Postgres, API keys, the web client, QR codes and click stats.
Self-hosted Trello alternatives compared
Planka, Vikunja, Focalboard, Wekan and Kanboard compared on RAM floor, database, SSO, Trello import and which of them are still maintained.
Self-hosted Slack alternatives compared
Mattermost, Rocket.Chat, Synapse and Zulip compared on RAM, database, mobile push, SSO, upgrades and licence, using each vendor's own sizing figures.
Self-hosted secrets managers compared
Which self-hosted secrets manager belongs on one VPS: OpenBao, Infisical, SOPS with age, systemd credentials, or a locked down env file, and what each costs.
Self-hosted n8n alternatives compared
Activepieces, Windmill, Node-RED, Automatisch and Huginn measured against n8n on licence, RAM, database, AI steps and the backup that breaks restores.
Self-hosted forum software compared
Discourse, Flarum, NodeBB and phpBB on a VPS: the RAM each really needs, the database it drags along, the spam story, and the migration path out.
Self-hosted error tracking: Sentry alternatives
Sentry self-hosted wants 16 GB RAM. GlitchTip runs in 512 MB. Compare RAM, disk growth, container count and upgrade pain before you pick one.
Self-hosted Dropbox alternatives, compared
Nextcloud, Seafile, Syncthing and object storage compared: sync topology, what each really costs on a small VPS, and why sync is not backup.
Self-Hosted Calendar: CalDAV on a VPS
Sync calendars across phone and laptop without Google. Set up a CalDAV server on your VPS with Radicale, TLS, discovery and client setup that works.
Self-hosted budgeting apps compared
Which self-hosted budgeting apps pull bank transactions automatically, which need manual import, and how Actual, Firefly III, Fava and Wallos compare.
Self-host a SimpleX chat server on a VPS
Run your own SimpleX SMP relay on a VPS: pinned install, the fingerprint clients need, ports, an unprivileged service user, backups, TLS, and its threat model.
Self-host openGym, a workout tracker
Deploy openGym on a VPS with Docker Compose: a pinned git tag, TLS before the first passkey, where the data lives, and the read-only MCP server.
Self-host OpenBot AI coworkers on a VPS
Self-host OpenBot so each AI coworker gets its own container and browser. How the gateway decides every action, and what that costs you in RAM.
Self-host LinkBreeze: a Linktree alternative
Run LinkBreeze on a VPS with Docker Compose and Caddy: pinned image tags, cookieless click tracking, and the one volume that holds your whole site.
Self-host Langfuse to trace your AI agents
Run Langfuse on your own VPS: the real resource floor, pinned image tags, TLS, ClickHouse retention before it fills the disk, and backups that work.
Self-host a disposable email inbox on a VPS
Catch every test email on a throwaway domain with Mailpit, read it in a web UI, and stop your staging app from ever mailing a real customer again.
Self-host Dify on a VPS with Docker Compose
Fifteen containers, 4 GiB of RAM minimum. Change the default passwords in .env before first boot, then claim the admin account at /install before anyone else.
Self-host Chaptarr for audiobooks on a VPS
Readarr retired in 2025. Chaptarr is the fork that runs audiobooks and ebooks in one instance: a Compose service, PUID and PGID, and the metadata break.
Route SearXNG engine requests via a proxy
Send SearXNG outgoing engine requests through a proxy or Tor: the outgoing settings.yml block, per-engine networks, timeouts, and when it makes results worse.
Run dsh headless on a VPS with systemd
Run dsh, the DeepSeek Harness, as a systemd service on a VPS: dedicated user, pinned version, Restart rules, journalctl logs, and an SSH tunnel to the UI.
Remote desktop on a Linux VPS
Run a real graphical desktop on your VPS with xrdp and XFCE, tunnel it over SSH instead of opening port 3389, and see where RustDesk fits instead.
Paperless-ngx on a VPS: self-host documents
Run paperless-ngx on a VPS with Docker Compose: the official Postgres stack, PAPERLESS_URL, the consume folder, OCR languages, HTTPS, and backups.
Ollama vs vLLM: which LLM server to run
Ollama is a convenience layer for one user, on CPU if needed. vLLM is a throughput engine for GPUs. Pick by workload, with the real commands for both.
Host a Minecraft server on a VPS
Run a Paper Minecraft server on an Ubuntu 24.04 VPS: RAM sizing, Java 25, a systemd unit, firewalls on 25565, safe world backups, and the exact errors.
Halcyon: your Jellyfin as a 90s video store
Halcyon rebuilds your Jellyfin library as a walkable 1990s rental store in the browser. The Docker command, the reverse proxy, and the honest caveats.
What PUID and PGID do in Docker Compose
PUID and PGID are not Docker settings. They are an entrypoint convention in linuxserver.io images. Why bind mount files land as 911:911, and how to fix it.
Cloudron vs CasaOS vs Coolify on a VPS
Cloudron vs CasaOS vs Coolify on a VPS: install commands, TLS, backups, cost, and resource overhead compared, so you pick the right self-hosting panel.
Self-hosted wiki: BookStack, Wiki.js, Outline
Three self-hosted wiki apps compared on setup weight, editing model, login options and search, with a clear pick for solo admins and for teams.
Self-host Actual Budget on your own VPS
Run Actual Budget on a VPS with Docker Compose: the data volume, why the browser needs HTTPS, your first budget file, bank imports, and backups.
Zabbix monitoring on Ubuntu 24.04
Install Zabbix 7.0 LTS on Ubuntu 24.04: add the repo, import the MySQL schema, wire up the nginx frontend and agent2, then fix every error the setup throws.
Vaultwarden on a VPS: self-host passwords
Self-host a Bitwarden-compatible password manager with Vaultwarden and Docker on a VPS: HTTPS-first, admin token, Fail2ban, tested backups.
Self-hosted AI video generator: the reality
What open video models really produce in July 2026, the VRAM class each one needs, what a five second clip costs on a rented GPU, and when to use an API.
Self-host Octop: a multi-user AI assistant
Deploy Octop on a VPS with Docker Compose pinned to a tag: per-user isolation, an OpenAI-compatible model backend, TLS, and why to skip the curl installer.
Self-host Matrix Synapse on a VPS
What it really takes to keep a Matrix Synapse homeserver alive on a VPS: sizing, Postgres, media retention, registration defences, and backups.
OnlyOffice vs Collabora on your own server
Which office server belongs next to Nextcloud: vendor RAM floors, what the free CODE and Docs builds limit, docx fidelity, and what fits a 2 to 4 GB VPS.
Self-hosted RSS: install FreshRSS on a VPS
Install FreshRSS on your own Ubuntu VPS with Apache, PHP and MariaDB: the release tarball, virtual host, cron refresh, and the mobile app API.
Is self-hosted storage cheaper than Dropbox?
A three year cost model at 1 TB, 4 TB and five seats: a Dropbox subscription against a storage VPS, offsite backup, a domain and your own hours.
Docker Compose basics for your VPS
Install Docker Engine and the Compose plugin on Ubuntu 24.04, write a real two-service compose.yml, dodge the ufw port-publishing trap, and back up volumes.
Docker Compose with multiple files
How compose.override.yaml loads on its own, what file order really merges, the ports trap that keeps a port open, and include for a dev and prod split.
DuckDB vs SQLite on a server
SQLite holds transactional application state. DuckDB answers analytics over Parquet and CSV. Why one VPS usually runs both, with a worked example of each.
Self-host Iva: a Telegram AI assistant
Run Iva, a self-hosted Telegram AI assistant, on a small VPS: no open ports, no domain, systemd user services and an Obsidian vault you back up.
Send mail from your self-hosted apps
Send mail from self-hosted apps without running a mail server. One SMTP relay at host level, SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and a fix for blocked port 25.
Self-host n8n on a VPS: Docker + HTTPS
Run n8n on a VPS with Docker Compose, Postgres, and HTTPS behind a reverse proxy: the WEBHOOK_URL and encryption-key traps, plus every error string.
Docker Compose cheat sheet for real servers
The Compose commands you reach for every day, grouped by job: lifecycle, applying changes, logs, shells, networks, volumes, and cleanup that is safe.
Restic vs BorgBackup: which one to run
Restic reaches S3 and object storage on its own. Borg wants its binary on the far end and pays that back with speed over SSH. How to pick, with commands.
Run Nextcloud on a VPS: Docker, TLS, backups
Run Nextcloud on your own VPS with Docker Compose, Postgres, Redis and a TLS reverse proxy, plus the backup and upgrade steps that keep your data recoverable.
Self-hosted recipe manager: Mealie on a VPS
Run Mealie on your own VPS with Docker Compose. Paste a recipe link and get clean steps, plus meal plans, shopping lists, nginx, TLS and backups.
Host an .onion site on your VPS
Run a v3 onion service on Ubuntu with tor and nginx bound to loopback, then close the leaks that link the address back to your public IP.
Vaultwarden vs Bitwarden self-hosted server
Bitwarden's standard server wants a dozen containers and 2 GB of RAM. Vaultwarden serves the same API in one. Here is which one belongs on your VPS.
Run a Tor bridge with obfs4 on a VPS
Run an obfs4 Tor bridge on one cheap VPS: torrc directives, port choice, firewall, the log lines that prove it works, and how users get your bridge.
Run a Tailscale subnet router on a VPS
Advertise a private network to your tailnet from a VPS: route approval, IP forwarding that survives a reboot, and the --accept-routes flag Linux needs.
Tailscale pricing and plans: what you really pay
Tailscale pricing is per user, not per device. See what a household and a five-person team pay, which plan limit you hit first, and when Headscale wins.
Self-hosted VoIP server: Asterisk and FreePBX
Run Asterisk or FreePBX on your own VPS: SIP trunks, RTP port ranges, the firewall rules that keep scanners out, and how toll fraud starts.
Self-hosted Git server: Forgejo, Gitea or cgit
Four ways to run a self-hosted Git server, ranked by RAM: bare repos over SSH, cgit, Forgejo or Gitea, and GitLab. See what a 1 GB VPS can host.
Self-hosted file managers compared
FileBrowser, Filestash, SFTPGo and Cloud Commander compared on scoping, share links, storage backends and auth, plus how to run one without risking your files.
Self-hosted AI image generator: real specs
The honest hardware ladder for running Stable Diffusion yourself: what a CPU VPS can do, what SDXL needs, ComfyUI install commands, and disk you should budget.
Self-host a WireGuard VPN on your VPS
Set up WireGuard on your own Linux VPS: key generation, wg0.conf, IP forwarding, NAT, AllowedIPs semantics, DNS, and the handshake failures that bite.
Self-host Supabase on a VPS with Docker
Run the official Supabase Docker stack on a server you own: the secrets you must replace, what the eleven services do, RAM needs, backups, and updates.
Self-host ntfy for server push alerts
Run ntfy on your own VPS behind TLS with Docker Compose. Lock topics with users and ACLs, then alert from cron and systemd OnFailure units.
Mailcow on a VPS: self-host email Gmail accepts
Test outbound port 25 before installing mailcow: a block strands mail in the queue until it bounces. Then set DNS that stops Gmail's 550 5.7.25 PTR rejection.
Fix SearXNG Rate Limits and 429 Errors
SearXNG 429 errors have two causes: your own limiter, or the engines blocking your server IP. Read the log, fix the right one, and stop guessing.
Searx vs SearXNG: is Searx dead?
Searx has taken no code commit since 2023 and SearXNG carries the project now. Check the status yourself, then see what changed for a new instance.
PhotoPrism vs Immich: which photo server?
Two self-hosted photo servers compared: the real RAM floors, the phone apps, the maps, and the exact backup commands each one needs on a VPS.
Is Vaultwarden Secure? A Hardening Pass
Vaultwarden encrypts every vault item in the client, so the server holds no plaintext. The real risks are your admin token and your backup file.
Ollama: fix context deadline exceeded
Ollama context deadline exceeded means a timeout fired before the model answered. Find which layer set it: your client, the model load, or nginx.
The arr stack in one Docker Compose file
Run Prowlarr, Sonarr, Radarr and qBittorrent from one Docker Compose file on a VPS, with the shared PUID, PGID and volume layout that keeps hardlinks working.
DeepSeek Harness on a VPS: keep it private
Install the DeepSeek Harness on a Linux VPS, pin the npm version, understand what a plugin can do, and reach the port 3080 web UI over an SSH tunnel.
Cloudflare Tunnel with no open ports
Run Cloudflare Tunnel on a VPS: named tunnel, credentials file, ingress rules, systemd service, then close 80 and 443 and bind the app to localhost.
Authentik: self-hosted SSO for your apps
Run Authentik on Docker Compose for one login across every app you host: the env values that matter, the akadmin bootstrap, and forward auth via Traefik.
Caddy Reverse Proxy on a VPS, Pinned to 2.11.7
Put two apps behind Caddy 2.11.7 with automatic HTTPS and a version hold, then fix the 431 errors and dropped headers that recent releases bring.
Self-host Rakazo: your own AI bot on a VPS
Run Rakazo on your own VPS: Node 22, pnpm, Postgres and Graphile Worker in Docker Compose, the sandbox provider choice, key handling, and honest sizing.
Self-hosted invoicing software compared
Invoice Ninja, InvoiceShelf, InvoicePlane, Kimai and ERPNext on one VPS: recurring billing, tax, client portal, payment gateways and licence terms.
Self-host Rocket.Chat with Docker Compose
Self-host Rocket.Chat on a VPS with Docker Compose: the single-node MongoDB replica set it requires, TLS, backups, and every failure mode fixed.
Hermes Agent hosting: a $5 VPS is enough
Hermes needs no GPU: the model runs elsewhere, so a small VPS is plenty. Run it as its own user with ProtectSystem=strict in systemd, and cover IPv6 in UFW.
Fix SearXNG CAPTCHA errors from engines
SearXNG engines answer a VPS with CAPTCHA pages more often than a home connection. Read the real error, then pick a fix that survives a restart.
Headscale: self-host your own Tailscale
Run your own Tailscale control server on a VPS. Install headscale from the official .deb, set server_url and restart it, then join your first node.
Is n8n free? Community vs enterprise limits
Self-hosted n8n is free under a fair-code licence with real limits. What you may do, which features need a paid key, and where cloud plans fit.
Immich self-hosting: 6 GB RAM and safe upgrades
The honest RAM number, port 2283 behind HTTPS, the exit 137 memory kill, and why Immich v3 will not start on a pgvecto.rs database. Restore steps included.
Jellyfin on a VPS: stream your own media
Run Jellyfin in Docker on a VPS to stream your own library: block storage, media permissions, direct play vs CPU transcoding, and safe remote access.
Share agent skills across repos without drift
Copy a skill into eight repos and the copies drift. Treat skills like dependencies: one shared repo, and a version each project pins and reviews.
Self-host music streaming on your own VPS
Run Navidrome on a VPS and stream your own music library to any phone. Storage sizing, Subsonic clients, offline sync, TLS, and safe backups.
Self-host the NetBird VPN server on a VPS
Run the NetBird mesh VPN on one VPS: DNS and TLS setup, the pinned quickstart script, setup keys for unattended peers, and how it compares to Headscale.
SearXNG vs Startpage vs DuckDuckGo vs Qwant
What each private search engine does with your query: index source, where it runs, what its privacy page says, and what breaks when you run SearXNG yourself.
Self-host a RustDesk relay server
Run RustDesk hbbs and hbbr on your own VPS: the Ed25519 key, pinned image tags, locked down ports, and the relay bandwidth your plan pays for.
Is Tailscale free? Free tier limits explained
Yes: Tailscale's free tier covers up to six users with unlimited user devices. See what a seat, a device and a tagged resource cost, and when Headscale wins.
What to self-host in 2026: 25 apps
A curated list of 25 self-hosted apps worth running in 2026, grouped by job, with what each one replaces, honest RAM and disk needs, and the gotcha to know.
How to connect two Tailscale tailnets
Reach across two tailnets with node sharing, user switching, a two-daemon VPS bridge or one tailnet with ACLs. See what each option exposes to the other side.
Hindsight vs mem0 for self-hosted agent memory
Hindsight 0.10.2 against mem0 2.2.1 for agent memory on a VPS: memory model, services you run, LLM cost, MCP, licence and what self-hosting drops.
SearXNG engines to enable and disable on a VPS
Which SearXNG engines survive a datacenter IP and which get CAPTCHAs, plus the settings.yml keys (disabled, timeout, weight, suspended_times) that act on it.
The SearXNG limiter and why it needs Valkey
The SearXNG limiter keeps its per IP counters in Valkey. Set up limiter.toml in a container or a source install, and see which sections actually matter.
Sonarr and Radarr behind a reverse proxy
Run Sonarr and Radarr behind nginx or Traefik with forward auth: the Allowed Hosts entries that stop Invalid Hostname errors, and why /api must skip login.
Best self-hosted AI agents in 2026
OpenClaw, Hermes, Dify, OpenHands, and Agent Zero compared: what each agent does best, what it needs, and how to run any of them safely on your own VPS.
Speaker Diarization on a VPS: Who Said What
Add speaker labels to a Whisper transcript on your VPS. Pick between pyannote and NVIDIA Nemotron, get past gated model 401 errors, and time it on your CPU.
Self-host SearXNG: your own private search
Run SearXNG on your own VPS with Docker Compose: settings.yml, the limiter, nginx with TLS, and a JSON search API your own scripts can call.
Connect Outlook to Self-Hosted n8n
Register a Microsoft Entra app for self-hosted n8n, fix the callback URL, and plan for the client secret expiry that later breaks your Outlook workflows.
Can You Run SearXNG on Windows?
Yes, through Docker Desktop and WSL2. Install the SearXNG container, bind it to localhost, set a secret key, and learn where a Windows PC stops being enough.
AI Agent Examples, and What Each One Needs
Seven AI agent examples people run on a VPS: what starts each one, what it can touch, the model it calls and how much server it needs, from our tested guides.
Connect Gmail to self-hosted n8n
Connect Gmail to self-hosted n8n behind a reverse proxy, then stop the seven-day Google token expiry that kills Gmail workflows a week after setup.
Is Ollama free? Local use vs Ollama Cloud
Ollama is MIT licensed and free to run on hardware you own. What costs money is Ollama Cloud and the machine with enough RAM to hold the model.
NetBird vs Tailscale: which mesh VPN to run
Both run WireGuard, so the choice is elsewhere: who runs the control plane, how you write access rules, how relays work, and what self-hosting NetBird takes.
Coolify vs Dokploy on a single VPS
Coolify drives servers over SSH while Dokploy runs on Docker Swarm. Learn where each control plane lives on one VPS or three, and how to back it up and leave.
Run Orca's coding agents on a VPS
Run Orca's coding agents on a VPS so they keep working when your laptop sleeps: orca serve on headless Ubuntu, under systemd and firewalled from the internet.
Erase a user's data from agent memory
A deletion request touches more than one table. Find every copy of a user's data in a self-hosted agent memory stack, delete it, and prove it is gone.
Push to GitHub and your own git server
Push one commit to GitHub and a bare repository on your own VPS at the same time: two push URLs on one remote, what mirror does, and what it does not copy.
Where Immich in Docker stores your photos
Immich splits originals, thumbnails, transcodes and the Postgres database across two host paths. Learn which folders are the only copy and how to move them.
Add Jellyfin to your arr stack
Add a Jellyfin service to an existing arr stack compose file: matching PUID and PGID, one media mount at the same path, and a port bound to localhost.
Is Docker free? Engine vs Desktop vs Hub
Docker Engine on a VPS is free. Docker Desktop holds the licence: free below 250 staff and $10M revenue. Docker Hub pull limits are the one cost a VPS meets.
Adopt UniFi devices to a VPS controller
Broadcast discovery stops at the first router. Here is how to point remote UniFi access points at a controller on your VPS, and keep port 8080 private.
Storage VPS or a managed storage box?
A managed storage box sells terabytes with no shell. A storage VPS sells root. Where the capability line falls, and what 19 % VAT does to the price.
An open model instead of a Claude plan
What the Claude plans cost, then the honest part: which open-weight model on a VPS you run yourself covers coding, long documents or drafting.
Git vs GitHub vs a self-hosted Git server
Git is a program that runs offline. GitHub is one remote. A VPS can hold a second. What separates them, and the SSH steps to add that remote.
SearXNG JSON API for Open WebUI search
Your SearXNG instance can feed web search to Open WebUI. Enable the JSON format, then hand the other container a URL it can actually reach.
Tailscale alternatives compared: 6 real options
NetBird, ZeroTier, Nebula, Netmaker, Headscale and Twingate, sorted by whether you can really self-host the control plane, and what breaks when you do.
Agent memory poisoning explained
Prompt injection ends with the session. Memory poisoning does not. How hostile text becomes a stored fact, and how to isolate, expire and review it.
Self-host Hyperswitch: demo to production
Your Hyperswitch stack is running on published default credentials with 5432 and 6379 open. Here is the work between that demo and real payments.
Self-hosted API mocking and testing on a VPS
Mock servers and API test runners do different jobs. Run both on your own box: WireMock stubs in git, Hurl suites in CI, and reports that survive a rebuild.
Self-hosted web analytics: the VPS options
Plausible, Umami, Matomo, GoatCounter and GoAccess on a small VPS: RAM, database choice, disk growth, reverse proxy setup and the ad blocker gap.
Build a RAG pipeline on your own VPS
Chunk, embed, store and retrieve on one VPS. A pgvector schema, HNSW sizing, a local embedding model, and the SQL that proves retrieval works.
Stateless MCP servers: what actually changed
MCP revision 2026-07-28 removed sessions and the initialize handshake. What that means for your reverse proxy, health checks, timeouts and auth.
Syncthing vs Nextcloud for file sync on a VPS
Syncthing is peer to peer with no server copy. Nextcloud is a server with accounts and links. Which one fits your VPS, and why neither is a backup.
Self-host an AI PR review agent on a VPS
Run an AI pull request reviewer on a VPS you control: self-hosted runner, diff-scoped prompts, path and size filters, inline comments, and the cost per PR.
Self-host Open Connector for AI agents
Run the Open Connector auth gateway on your own VPS so your agents never hold a SaaS token: pinned image, TLS origin, OAuth callbacks, backups.
How to learn AI agents, from scratch
A staged path for learning AI agents: concepts, a loop you write yourself, tools, memory, and safety, with one thing to build at every stage.
Listmonk: self-host your newsletter on a VPS
Install Listmonk on Ubuntu 24.04 with Postgres, config.toml, a systemd unit and TLS, then connect SMTP and understand what deliverability really costs.
The world's least efficient datacenter: a guide
A strictly hypothetical guide to the least efficient datacenter possible: one beloved server, RAID 0, heat as a strategy, and a monitor that watches itself.