作者分享自架服務方案，稱 SaaS 月費由 $400 降至 $40

Three years ago, I looked at my recurring software subscriptions and almost fell out of my chair: $400/month. Today, that number sits at $40/month, and the functionality gap is smaller than you'd think.

This is the playbook that got me there. Not "switch to free alternatives" — that's rarely enough. Real savings come from restructuring which categories of software stay in the cloud vs. which come home.

Where my $400 went (peak SaaS years)

I was paying for:

• Cloud file storage: Dropbox family + iCloud 2TB
• Email + calendar: Fastmail + Google Workspace (personal)
• Notes: Notion + Evernote (tried both, ended up paying for both)
• Photos: Google Photos + iCloud + Flickr
• Passwords: 1Password family
• Photo backup: Backblaze unlimited
• VPN: NordVPN 3-year plan
• Domain + email: Porkbun + Zoho mail
• Newsletters: Substack + several paid ones
• Streaming services: Spotify family
• Work tools: Slack (free tier), Trello (free)
• AI tools: ChatGPT Plus, Midjourney, GitHub Copilot
• Hosting: DigitalOcean droplet + Vercel hobby + MongoDB Atlas free tier

If your eyes went wide reading that list, you're not alone. I was the SaaS version of "subscription creep."

Where I cut

1. Cloud file storage: $20 → $0

This was the easiest win. I had:

• 200 GB in Dropbox (duplicates of photos)
• 800 GB in iCloud (mostly phone photos)
• 300 GB in Google Drive (work files)

Self-hosted alternative: Nextcloud on a single Synology NAS I already owned (4-bay, 8TB usable RAID-5). Total cost: $0/month (the NAS was already paid for).

Sync works on Mac (Nextcloud client), Windows, iOS, Android. Web UI is decent. Calendar + contacts built in.

Caveat: I still pay for Backblaze B2 ($5/TB/month, ~$7/month total) as an encrypted off-site backup. So total storage cost: $7/month vs $20. Not $0, but a 65% cut.

2. Photos: $35 → $7

This is where I went from "Google Photos is convenient" to "my photos are mine."

Self-hosted alternative: Immich (Google Photos clone, runs in Docker). It's been adding features fast — face recognition, map view, timeline, search, album sharing.

• Immich + Synology NAS: $0 (just electricity + storage)
• Backblaze B2 backup: $5/TB × 1.5TB of photos
• Phone upload: Syncthing (free, open source)

Caveat: My wife didn't love Immich at first (no Magic Eraser). I trained her on it. She uses it daily now.

Total: $7/month vs $35 (Google Photos 2TB + iCloud 2TB).

3. Email + calendar: $15 → $0

I was paying Fastmail $5/month for myself, plus Google Workspace (free personal) for extra.

Self-hosted alternative: Mailcow (mail server in Docker) on a small VPS ($5/month Hetzner).

Let me be clear: self-hosting email is hard. You'll deal with deliverability, spam filtering, DKIM/SPF/DMARC, IP reputation. If you don't have time to learn, this isn't for you.

I spent 2 weekends setting up Mailcow. After that, it just works. My domain email routes through my own server. SpamAssassin handles spam. DKIM + SPF are configured.

Risk: If my IP gets on a blacklist, mail doesn't get delivered. I monitor with Mail-Tester and MXToolbox weekly.

Caveat: For most people, this isn't worth the time. I just like owning my email.

Total: $5/month (VPS) vs $15.

4. Passwords: $5 → $0

I was on 1Password family plan.

Self-hosted alternative: Bitwarden self-hosted via Vaultwarden (Docker). Same functionality, same apps, same browser extensions.

• Self-hosted: $0 (run on NAS or VPS)
• Bitwarden cloud: still $0 for personal use (so actually this didn't save anything, but self-hosting gives data control)

Most people should use Bitwarden cloud (it's free for individuals). I self-host because I want my vault encrypted on my own hardware.

5. Notes: $20 → $0

I was paying Notion Plus ($10/month) + Evernote Premium ($10/month).

Self-hosted alternative: Joplin server + Obsidian (latter is local files, free).

• Obsidian: free for personal use (sync via iCloud / Syncthing / Dropbox)
• Joplin with Nextcloud sync: free
• Joplin with WebDAV sync (Nextcloud provides): free

Obsidian is markdown files on disk. I sync via Syncthing to all devices. No server needed.

Total: $0/month.

6. VPN: $4 → $0

Was paying NordVPN ($4/month on a 3-year plan).

Self-hosted alternative: WireGuard site-to-site between my VPS and home.

• $0/month (uses the same VPS for VPN)
• Or Tailscale: free for 100 devices (I use both)

Total: $0/month.

7. AI tools: $40 → $10

Hardest to cut. I was on:

• ChatGPT Plus: $20/month
• Midjourney: $10/month
• GitHub Copilot: $10/month

Now:

• ChatGPT Plus: still $20/month (don't want to give this up, no good self-hosted equivalent yet)
• Midjourney: gone, replaced with ComfyUI (local Stable Diffusion) for free
• GitHub Copilot: downgraded to Copilot free tier (limited)

So I went from $40 → $20, mainly because AI is still a market where the best models are cloud.

Note: For code completion, Tabby ML (self-hosted Copilot alternative) is good but still slower than Copilot for most languages. I'll switch when it catches up.

8. Streaming / subscriptions: $30 → $10

I cut:

• Spotify family ($16/month): downgraded to YouTube Music ($11/month single user)
• Various Substack creators: reduced from $50/year across many → $20/year across 2
• Various newsletters: cut 2/3, kept only the ones I actually read

The savings

(Note: not all $400 was cuttable. I left work-paid tools out, plus domain costs, plus a few essentials.)

Wait, my numbers don't add up to $400 — I was including costs that are unavoidable (domain ~$1/month, hosting for work). Let's say actual realistic personal SaaS bill: $300 → $60. Still 80% cut.

What I didn't cut (and why)

• ChatGPT Plus: no equivalent open-source yet for general reasoning
• Backblaze B2 backup: $7/mo is too cheap to self-replicate
• Domain registration: unavoidable ($12/year)
• AppleCare + iCloud minimum: I'm in Apple ecosystem
• GitHub Pro: $4/mo for private repos + Copilot integration

What's actually self-hosted now

Here's my full self-hosted stack:

• NAS (Synology DS920+): Docker host for ~25 containers
• VPS (Hetzner $5/mo): Mailcow + WireGuard + backups
• Containers: Nextcloud, Immich, FreshRSS, Joplin, Vaultwarden, Jellyfin, Calibre-Web, Paperless-ngx, Homarr, Uptime Kuma, Pi-hole, Traefik, Caddy

Each container solves a specific problem. None of them are doing anything magic. The maintenance tax is real — about 2 hours/month of updates + occasional debugging.

What I'd recommend to start

If you want to start small:

1. Files: Nextcloud on a NAS or even a Raspberry Pi 4 with external SSD
2. Photos: Immich (same Docker setup, point phone uploads at it)
3. Passwords: Bitwarden cloud (free for personal) — don't self-host until you have the time
4. VPN: Tailscale (free for 100 devices) or WireGuard if you're technical

These 4 already cover 60% of my savings. The rest is layered on top as you get comfortable.

The hidden costs

Self-hosting has hidden costs you don't see upfront:

• Time: 2 hours/month minimum for updates + monitoring
• Hardware amortization: NAS + UPS + maybe a small VPS
• Risk of failure: if the disk dies and your backup fails, you lose everything

The risk is real. That's why Backblaze B2 backup is non-negotiable for me.

When NOT to self-host

Self-hosting isn't always the right answer. Skip self-hosting if:

• You don't have a backup destination: don't put all your data on one disk
• You can't spare 2 hours/month: stick to cloud
• You're not comfortable with command line: the Docker setup is fine, but debugging requires it
• The data is too sensitive: some things (medical, financial records) belong with a regulated provider, not your home NAS

Was it worth it?

After 3 years: yes. Even with the time cost, I'm saving $120-150/month, which is $1,500-1,800/year. Over 3 years that's $5,000+. That's real money.

Plus, I have data ownership. I know exactly where my photos, files, and notes live. No vendor lock-in. If a service shuts down, I export and move.

The biggest surprise: I read more, manage my files better, and rely less on notifications because my tools don't push me. The result is calmer computing.

One-year check-in

12 months after the migration:

• Zero data loss incidents
• Backup verified quarterly, restoration tested once a year
• 2 hours/month maintenance budget holds
• Zero regrets

The "I should self-host more" feeling has stopped. I've found the level I'm comfortable with.

Final thought

$400 → $40 was a journey, not a switch. Start with 1 service. Make it work. Make it reliable. Backup the data. Then move the next one. Repeat.

You'll get there in 6-12 months, and you'll never go back to subscriptions you don't need.