{ "categories": [ { "name": "Environment", "charts": [ { "title": "Primary Purpose", "description": "Most respondents self-host for personal purposes.", "labels": ["Personal", "Enterprise", "Both"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3417,8,656] } ] }, { "title": "Unique Users", "description": "Nearly 50% of all setups serve only one to two people.", "commentary": "Only respondents who selected 'Personal' in the previous question were prompted with this question.", "labels": ["1 user","2 users","3 users","4 users","5 users","6 users","7 users","8 users","9 users","10 users","11-20 users","21+ users"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [1123,854,513,401,346,200,171,170,109,86,77,19] } ] }, { "title": "Reasons for Self-Hosting", "description": "Similar to prior years, hobby and privacy remain the top motivators for self-hosting.", "labels": ["Hobby","Privacy","Cost","Convenience","Education","Flexibility","Business","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3862,3520,2596,2584,2474,2374,525,106] } ] }, { "title": "Hardware Options", "description": "Pre-built devices and affordable low-powered hardware like the Raspberry Pi are the most popular hardware options due to their simplicity and low cost.", "labels": ["Consumer hardware","Low-powered device","Custom build","Cloud VPS","Desktop PC","Enterprise hardware","Server cluster","Laptop","Mobile device","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2358,2039,1542,1394,1295,817,560,429,94,78] } ] }, { "title": "Network-Attached Storage", "description": "NAS devices are most popular among users who self-host for media streaming purposes.", "labels": ["Deploy","Don't Deploy"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2768,1313] } ] }, { "title": "Sensitive Data", "description": "18% of respondents avoid self-hosting sensitive information for security and backup reasons.", "labels": ["Don't Avoid","Avoid"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3373,708] } ] }, { "title": "Operating Systems", "description": "Linux-based distributions and platform-specific operating systems are significantly more popular than their counterparts.", "commentary": "Based on user feedback, an additional question will be included in future surveys allowing users who select 'Linux' to specify their preferred distribution/flavor.", "labels": ["Linux","Proxmox","Home Assistant OS","Raspberry Pi OS","TrueNAS","Unraid","DiskStation Manager","Windows Desktop","Windows Server","BSD","Open Media Vault","macOS","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3317,1832,1199,979,774,412,398,373,232,229,204,199,340] } ] }, { "title": "Backup Strategies", "description": "Most users have some form of backup strategy, though 34% store their data in only a single location.", "labels": ["Onsite","Cloud","Offsite","None","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3054,2100,1029,542,51] } ] }, { "title": "Cloud Storage Providers", "description": "Cloud storage subscriptions are divided between enterprise-level services and widely-used consumer offerings.", "commentary": "'Other' consists of providers with fewer than 50 responses, which includes less popular options like Azure, Amazon, and OVH.", "labels": ["Backblaze","Google Drive","Hetzner","Microsoft OneDrive","iCloud","Proton Drive","Dropbox","Cloudflare R2","BorgBase","Mega","pCloud","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [613,514,371,277,215,165,96,70,68,63,51,942] } ] } ] }, { "name": "Containers", "charts": [ { "title": "Container Population", "description": "Nearly all respondents deploy containers in some capacity.", "labels": ["Deploy","Don't Deploy"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3932,149] } ] }, { "title": "Containers vs Bare Metal", "description": "Respondents strongly prefer container deployments when the option is available.", "labels": ["Containers","Depends","Bare Metal"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2720,1041,174] } ] }, { "title": "Container Orchestration", "description": "Nearly 25% of container users employ orchestration platforms like Kubernetes for deployment.", "labels": ["No","Yes"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3024,910] } ] }, { "title": "Container Platforms", "description": "Docker and LXC remain the most common methods for containerization.", "labels": ["Docker","LXC","Podman","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3637,1256,446,142] } ] }, { "title": "Management Software", "description": "Just over half of the respondents who deploy containers use external software to manage them.", "labels": ["Use","Don't Use"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2022,1908] } ] }, { "title": "Management Platforms", "description": "82% of respondents use only one of three popular management platforms to deploy containers.", "commentary": "'Other' consists of platforms with fewer than 50 responses, which includes less popular options like Arcane, Cloudron, and YunoHost.", "labels": ["Portainer","Dockge","Komodo","Coolify","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [1336,425,308,60,385] } ] }, { "title": "Update Methodology", "description": "Respondents tend to avoid automated container updates due to the potential for breaking changes, among other reasons.", "labels": ["Manual","Depends / Both","Automatic"], "commentary": "This question was mistakenly deployed as multi-select. Subsequent surveys will limit respondents to a single response.", "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [1855,1658,600] } ] } ] }, { "name": "Networking", "charts": [ { "title": "Firewalls", "description": "Non-ISP firewalls are popular among respondents who cited privacy and control as reasons for self-hosting.", "labels": ["Non-ISP","ISP"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2393,1686] } ] }, { "title": "Remote Access", "description": "Respondents predominantly use VPNs and reverse proxies to access services outside their LAN.", "commentary": "'Other' consists of platforms with fewer than 50 responses and primarily consists of specific options already captured by the categories above (tunnels, ZeroTier, etc.).", "labels": ["VPN","Reverse Proxy","Forwarded Ports","Only via LAN","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2902,2716,721,510,273] } ] }, { "title": "Reverse Proxies", "description": "NGINX and Traefik together (including their various implementations) account for 62% of all reverse proxy usage.", "commentary": "'Other' consists of proxies with fewer than 50 responses, which includes less popular options like Zoraxy and Tailscale.", "labels": ["NGINX Proxy Manager","Traefik","Caddy","Cloudflare Tunnels","NGINX","Pangolin","HAProxy","Apache","SWAG","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [842,751,598,563,528,290,128,97,95,131] } ] }, { "title": "Registered Domains", "description": "88% of survey respondents use a custom domain to access their services (internally or externally).", "labels": ["Custom Domain","No Domain"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3586,495] } ] }, { "title": "Domain Registrars", "description": "Cloudflare is the most popular domain registrar among respondents.", "commentary": "'Other' consists of 350+ unique registrars with fewer than 50 responses. While Cloudflare's DNS services are also popular, the survey asked respondents to select Cloudflare only if they had purchased their domain from them.", "labels": ["Cloudflare","Namecheap","Porkbun","OVH","GoDaddy","DuckDNS","Squarespace","Netcup","IONOS","Hetzner","Gandi","Strato","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [1423,651,523,246,124,113,97,85,84,82,62,57,863] } ] } ] }, { "name": "Software", "charts": [ { "title": "E-mail", "description": "Given its complexity, most respondents avoid self-hosting e-mail.", "labels": ["Don't Self-Host","Self-Host"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3516,562] } ] }, { "title": "E-mail Components", "description": "Sending and receiving are equally popular among respondents.", "commentary": "380 respondents self-host both receiving and sending functionality, while only 275 self-host all three.", "labels": ["Sending","Receiving","Client"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [482,469,331] } ] }, { "title": "Database Deployment", "description": "Containerization has made deploying databases trivial and greatly increased their popularity compared to other deployment methods.", "labels": ["Container (Separate)","Container (Shared)","Bare Metal (Shared)","Bare Metal (Separate)"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3430,883,349,342] } ] }, { "title": "Media Streaming", "description": "Jellyfin leads in media streaming, while AudioBookshelf (audiobooks, podcasts) and Navidrome (music) are also popular among respondents.", "commentary": "'Other' consists of media servers with fewer than 50 responses, which includes less popular options like Ampache, Subsonic, and Lightweight Media Server.", "labels": ["Jellyfin","Plex","AudioBookshelf","Navidrome","Kodi","Emby","Subsonic","PeerTube","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2487,1219,840,656,237,149,81,74,268] } ] }, { "title": "File Storage and Syncing", "description": "Traditional tools like Nextcloud and Syncthing remain user favorites for managing and accessing files.", "commentary": "'Other' consists of platforms with fewer than 50 responses, which includes less popular options like copyparty, FileRun, and system protocols (SMB, NFS, etc.).", "labels": ["Nextcloud","Syncthing","Synology","FileBrowser","FileBrowser Quantum","Seafile","SFTPGo","ownCloud","Resilio","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [1236,1058,550,481,207,118,90,83,53,488] } ] }, { "title": "Authentication", "description": "Respondents' authentication preferences are divided between legacy identity platforms (Authelia, authentik) and newer solutions (Pocket ID, Pangolin).", "commentary": "'Other' consists of platforms with fewer than 50 responses, which includes less popular options like OAuth2 Proxy, Active Directory, and Cloudflare Zero Trust.", "labels": ["Authelia","Pocket ID","authentik","Pangolin","Keycloak","Tinyauth","Zitadel","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [390,310,268,241,158,111,46,737] } ] }, { "title": "Note-Taking / Documentation", "description": "Although popular self-hosted note-taking platforms are available, respondents strongly prefer the functionality of the non-self-hosted Obsidian platform.", "commentary": "'Other' consists of platforms with fewer than 50 responses, which includes less popular options like HedgeDoc, Standard Notes, and TiddlyWiki.", "labels": ["Obsidian","Nextcloud Notes","BookStack","Joplin","Trilium","Memos","Wiki.js","Docmost","Outline","AFFiNE","SilverBullet","DokuWiki","Logseq","MkDocs","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [1041,321,303,268,182,167,156,141,132,101,99,93,89,75,568] } ] }, { "title": "Git", "description": "Gitea and Forgejo (a popular fork of Gitea) account for 78% of respondents' deployed Git platforms.", "commentary": "'Other' consists of platforms with fewer than 50 responses, which includes less popular options like cgit and vanilla Git.", "labels": ["Gitea","Forgejo","GitLab","Gogs","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [849,613,302,18,101] } ] }, { "title": "Home Automation", "description": "63% of respondents deploy software for smart home or home automation purposes.", "labels": ["Deploy","Don't Deploy"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2548,1516] } ] }, { "title": "Game Servers", "description": "Just 32% of respondents self-host a game server.", "labels": ["Don't Host","Host"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2765,1316] } ] }, { "title": "Games", "description": "Minecraft is the most popular self-hosted game server, accounting for 37% of responses.", "labels": ["Minecraft","Valheim","Satisfactory","Factorio","Terraria","Palworld","Foundry VTT","Project Zomboid","7 Days to Die","ARK","V Rising","Counter-Strike","Space Engineers","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [1041,214,212,208,163,131,107,84,69,68,66,60,53,315] } ] }, { "title": "Favorite Software", "description": "This year's list of favorite software span 340 apps across 3,678 responses.", "commentary": "The chart omits software with fewer than 20 responses, which spans 313 applications across 867 responses.", "labels": ["Home Assistant","Jellyfin","Immich","Plex","Vaultwarden","Nextcloud","Audiobookshelf","Paperless-ngx","*arr","FreshRSS","Pi-hole","Actual Budget","Navidrome","RomM","Syncthing","Homepage","Mealie","n8n","Gitea","Miniflux","Emby","Proxmox","Pangolin","Glance","Karakeep","Komodo","AdGuard Home"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [588,522,429,208,152,118,94,85,81,52,50,42,41,41,32,29,29,29,28,27,26,25,25,24,22,22,20] } ] } ] }, { "name": "Demographics", "charts": [ { "title": "Age Range", "description": "88% of respondents are between 20 and 50 years old.", "labels": ["12-19 years-old","20-29 years-old","30-39 years-old","40-49 years-old","50-59 years-old","60-69 years-old"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [125,1210,1532,844,287,53] } ] }, { "title": "Gender", "description": "Although representation of other genders has increased, males still constitute 94% of respondents.", "labels": ["Male","Female","Non-Binary","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3839,77,77,21] } ] }, { "title": "Career Field", "description": "Self-hosters are more likely to work in technology-related fields.", "labels": ["Technology","Non-Technology"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [3227,778] } ] }, { "title": "Mobile OS", "description": "67% of respondents use Android as their primary mobile OS, while 32% use iOS.", "commentary": "GrapheneOS (45) was the most popular selection among the 'Other' responses.", "labels": ["Android","iOS","Other"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2715,1295,62] } ] }, { "title": "Donations", "description": "59% of respondents have not made a donation to a self-hosted project in the last year.", "labels": ["Haven't Donated","Donated"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [2393,1657] } ] }, { "title": "Education", "description": "Respondents tend to be more educated than the general population.", "labels": ["Bachelor's Degree","Master's Degree","Some college","HS Diploma / GED","Associate's Degree","Doctorate","No formal schooling","VoTech Program"], "datasets": [ { "label": "Number of Responses", "data": [1607,893,655,293,221,122,109,46] } ] } ] } ] }