I wrote a free, no-BS guide for developers who want to self-host their own dev tools instead of paying for SaaS subscriptions.

What it covers:

  • Initial server setup and security hardening (SSH keys, UFW, fail2ban)
  • Setting up Nginx as a reverse proxy
  • Self-hosting 7 specific services: uptime monitor, SSL checker, website change detector, API toolkit, QR generator, and more
  • Backup strategies
  • Full cost breakdown ($5/month total)

Why I wrote it: I was spending $150+/month on various dev tools and monitoring services. Most of them are trivially simple to self-host. The guide walks through everything step by step, no prior sysadmin experience needed.

Link: The No-BS Self-Hosting Guide for Developers (2026)

It is completely free, no email gate, no signup required. Just the guide.

Feedback welcome — what services would you add to the stack?

  • Pika@rekabu.ru
    3·
    6 hours ago

    I’m not a dev to need these tools, but this is beautiful. A simple guide with an elegant welcome page, right under IP address, so even the greedy registrars and DNS hosters don’t get a buck.

    This is the Internet at its self-hosted beauty.

    • devtoolkit_api@discuss.tchncs.deOP
      1·
      2 hours ago

      Thank you! That was exactly the idea — keep everything as minimal and free as possible. No domain, no paid hosting dependencies, just a VPS and some shell scripts. Glad it resonated even if the tools aren’t your daily drivers.

    • devtoolkit_api@discuss.tchncs.deOP
      1·
      2 hours ago

      Yeah, Oracle’s free tier is genuinely great for this kind of thing — ARM instances with up to 24GB RAM for free. The only catch is availability can be spotty in popular regions. If you get a Out of capacity error, just keep trying at off-peak hours.