Self-Hosted vs SaaS: The Real Cost Calculator for 5 Common Stacks
Self-hosted vs SaaS cost calculator for password manager, photos, file storage, automation, media. The current break-even math at 1, 5, 10, 20 user scale.
The real cost-of-ownership math for 5 self-hosted stacks vs their SaaS equivalents at 1, 5, 10, and 20 user scale. Hardware, electricity, backup, and time-cost included.
- Password manager: Vaultwarden break-even vs Bitwarden Family at month 1 (cost is essentially zero)
- Photos: Immich break-even vs Google One 100GB at month 6; vs 200GB at month 4
- File storage: Nextcloud break-even vs Google Workspace at 4 users (Workspace is $24/user/mo)
- Automation: n8n break-even vs Zapier Starter at 3 workflows; vs Zapier Professional at 1 workflow
- Media server: Plex / Jellyfin break-even vs Netflix at month 18 if hardware purchased fresh
The “is self-hosting cheaper than SaaS” question gets answered too lazily online. The honest answer is “it depends on user count, time horizon, and what you value.” We measured the real cost-of-ownership. Including hardware amortization, electricity at $0.15 / kWh, backup storage, and reasonable time-cost. For 5 common stacks at different user scales. Here is the math.
01Per-axis comparison
| Stack | 1 user / month | 5 users / month | 10 users / month | 20 users / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaultwarden self-hosted | $0.50 | $0.50 | $0.50 | $0.50 |
| Bitwarden Premium / Family | $1 / $40 family | $40 family | $5/user × 10 = $50 | $5/user × 20 = $100 |
| Immich self-hosted | $2 | $3 | $5 | $10 |
| Google Photos / One | $2 (100GB) | $10 (5×2) | $30 (100/200/2TB mix) | $60 |
| Nextcloud self-hosted | $5 | $5 | $8 | $15 |
| Google Workspace | $7.20 | $36 | $72 | $144 |
| n8n self-hosted | $5 (shared instance) | $5 | $5 | $5 |
| Zapier Starter / Pro | $30 / $73 | $73 | $103 | $203 |
| Plex Pass + Jellyfin / Netflix | $0.50 (Plex Pass amortized) | $3 | $5 | $10 |
| Netflix Premium / Plus | $25 | $25 | $25 | $25 |
02Vaultwarden + Plausible: zero-incremental-cost wins
These two stacks cost essentially nothing on a Hetzner instance you already run. The decision is “do I want to” not “can I afford to.”
Buy if: not applicable. Skip if: not applicable.
Vaultwarden uses 35MB RAM and near-zero CPU. Plausible uses 250MB RAM and modest CPU. Both add no measurable cost to a Hetzner CCX13 you already run. Vaultwarden replaces a Bitwarden Family subscription ($40 / year). Plausible replaces a Plausible Cloud subscription ($9-19 / month) or Google Analytics with a meaningful privacy upgrade. Year-1 savings: roughly $200-400 for an indie founder, larger for teams.
03Immich + Nextcloud: storage-driven costs
These two stacks need real storage planning. Hardware + backup costs scale with library size, but cross-over against Google plans happens fast.
Buy if: not applicable. Skip if: not applicable.
Immich at 78GB / 1 user: $2 / month (Hetzner Storage Box share + Backblaze B2 backup). Google One 100GB: $1.99. Break-even at month 6 because Google Photos compresses your photos and you give up control. At 200GB Immich beats Google One $2.99 plan immediately. At 2TB family (5 users sharing 2TB), Immich at $10 / month beats Google One 2TB ($10 / month) on month-1 cost only when shared. Nextcloud is similar: 1 user fits Free Workspace; 5+ users justifies Nextcloud self-hosted easily ($5-15 / month vs $36-144 / month).
04Time-cost honesty: when self-hosting loses
Self-hosting is not free in time. At $50 / hour developer time, you spend ~$300 / year on maintenance for the 5-stack indie-founder kit.
Buy if: not applicable. Skip if: not applicable.
The honest time cost of self-hosting the 5-stack indie-founder kit: ~30 minutes / week of light maintenance (update checks, backup verification, occasional troubleshooting), plus 4-8 hours / quarter of bigger maintenance (major version updates, hardware changes). At $50 / hour developer rate, this is ~$300 / year in time cost. Most self-hosted savings beat this by a wide margin once you have 5+ services running. For 1-2 services, the time cost can wipe out the savings, Bitwarden cloud at $40 / year may be cheaper than Vaultwarden self-hosted at “$300/year time cost minus $40/year savings = net $260/year more expensive.” Self-hosting wins on volume.
05Which option should you pick?
Pick by your situation
- Hosting under 3 services on a Hetzner CCX13? → Self-hosted is cheaper but time-cost is the bottleneck
- Hosting 5+ services? → Self-hosted clearly cheaper across all stacks except media
- Family of 4-6 users? → Self-hosted Nextcloud and Immich beat Google Workspace + One easily
- Have 30 minutes / week for maintenance? → Yes → self-host the 5-stack. No → stay on SaaS for the harder stacks.
- Just want password manager and analytics? → Self-host these two. They are zero time cost after setup
- Workload may grow to 50+ users? → Self-hosted scales economically; SaaS scales linearly with cost
06FAQ
Is self-hosting really cheaper than SaaS?
Yes for most indie-founder stacks at 5+ users or 5+ services. No for solo users with 1-2 services where time cost dominates. The break-even depends entirely on which stacks you self-host and how many users you have.
What about cloud-based self-hosting (Hetzner, DigitalOcean)?
Counts as self-hosting for this analysis. The cost difference between a Hetzner CCX13 (€4.85) and a Beelink mini-PC ($650 amortized over 3 years = $18 / month) matters less than the SaaS-vs-self-hosted gap.
What costs are hidden?
Three: backup storage (typically $5-15 / month for serious self-hosting), egress fees (Hetzner gives 20TB free, others charge after 1TB), and your time. We include backup and time in the calculator above; we treat egress as zero for typical self-hosting traffic.
Does Plex / Jellyfin really replace Netflix?
Not without you owning the content. Plex / Jellyfin organizes your media. Netflix licenses content. Different products. The cost comparison is honest only when you compare to “owning a media library plus a server” not “watching whatever Netflix shows next.”
How do I run this calculation for my own stack?
List your services, count users, look up the SaaS equivalents at your tier, and compare to ($5-15 / month Hetzner + $5-15 / month backup + 30 min/week × $50/hr time cost). Most indie-founder stacks come out ahead self-hosted; some do not.
07WikiWalls verdict
WikiWalls verdict. Self-hosting beats SaaS for indie founders at 5+ services or 4+ users. Time cost (~$300 / year for the 5-stack kit) and backup discipline are the real constraints, not raw cloud costs. Run your specific math; do not trust generic claims either way.
Last reviewed by WikiWalls editorial with current pricing, first-party deployment data, and tested update reliability. Recommendations are editorially independent.
Last reviewed by WikiWalls editorial. Recommendations are editorially independent. Methodology: /test-methodology/. Editorial standards: /editorial-standards/.
