Self-hosting basics: what it means and whether it’s for you
Self-hosting is when you run an app or service yourself instead of paying a hosted provider. Your data lives on hardware you control, and you access it over your home network (and sometimes the internet).
It sounds hardcore, but it doesn’t have to be. Self-hosting can be as small as one app on a spare computer, or as big as a home lab with monitoring and battery backup.
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Free vs. paid VPNs: What you're really trading off
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have gone from niche tools for corporate offices to household names for anyone looking to stay private online. But as you start looking for one, you’ll immediately run into a choice: do you pay $5–$10 a month, or do you grab one of the dozens of “free” versions available in the app store?
While a free app is always tempting, the old saying holds true—if you aren’t paying for the product, you probably are the product. When it comes to your digital privacy, the tradeoffs between free and paid services are significant, affecting everything from your connection speed to how your personal data is handled behind the scenes.
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