Self-Hosted Survey 2024

Self-Hosted Survey 2024 !

Preface

I created a survey about self-hosting and posted it on the r/selfhosted subreddit . On this page you can find the results.

AI-Generated Podcast: Survey Insights

Listen to the Google AI-generated podcast episode summarizing key findings from the 2024 Self-Hosted Survey. This unique audio experience offers a concise overview of the survey results.

Note: This podcast is generated by AI, including the voice and content (based on the survey data, lightly edited by me).

Overview Statistics

2.2K
Total Submissions 2024
2.1K
Total Submissions 2023
5 - 6 min
Avg. Interaction Time 2024
3 - 4 min
Avg. Interaction Time 2023
2024-09-28
Last Update

Survey Responses

Total Responses

2181

Average Daily

41.15

Median Daily

4

Peak Day

8/8/2024

Date Responses Visualization
8/7/2024 405
8/8/2024 651
8/9/2024 391
8/10/2024 166
8/11/2024 61
8/12/2024 41
8/13/2024 37
8/14/2024 36
8/15/2024 15
8/16/2024 13
8/17/2024 4
8/18/2024 9
8/19/2024 13
8/20/2024 5
8/21/2024 5
8/22/2024 5
8/23/2024 5
8/24/2024 4
8/25/2024 3
8/26/2024 4
8/27/2024 2
8/28/2024 122
8/29/2024 79
8/30/2024 17
8/31/2024 4
9/1/2024 1
9/2/2024 4
9/3/2024 3
9/4/2024 4
9/5/2024 2
9/6/2024 2
9/7/2024 1
9/8/2024 2
9/9/2024 2
9/10/2024 2
9/11/2024 0
9/12/2024 0
9/13/2024 0
9/14/2024 1
9/15/2024 1
9/16/2024 1
9/17/2024 0
9/18/2024 2
9/19/2024 2
9/20/2024 1
9/21/2024 2
9/22/2024 0
9/23/2024 3
9/24/2024 1
9/25/2024 1
9/26/2024 16
9/27/2024 29
9/28/2024 1

How long have you been self-hosting services?

Answer Option2023 Count2023 %2024 Count2024 %Change

I haven't been self-hosting

24
1%
12
1%
0%

I started recently

81
4%
77
4%
0%

Less than a year

205
10%
203
10%
0%

1 - 3 years

671
32%
626
29%
-3%

3 - 5 years

497
23%
489
23%
0%

5 - 10 years

339
16%
405
19%
+3%

More than 10 years

268
13%
284
13%
0%

Forgot how long

39
2%
33
2%
0%

For whom do you self-host?

Myself (Private)

2023 2069 (95.9%)
95.9%
2024 2118 (97.7%)
97.7%

Family

2023 1371 (63.6%)
63.6%
2024 1505 (69.4%)
69.4%

Friends

2023 779 (36.1%)
36.1%
2024 908 (41.9%)
41.9%

Myself (Business)

2023 230 (10.7%)
10.7%
2024 242 (11.2%)
11.2%

Work

2023 179 (8.3%)
8.3%
2024 180 (8.3%)
8.3%

Other

2023 28 (1.3%)
1.3%
2024 13 (0.6%)
0.6%

Note: Percentages sum to more than 100% as respondents could select multiple options.

What is your primary motivation for self-hosting services?

Top Motivation

Learning experience

35.3%

2nd Motivation

Privacy

34.7%

3rd Motivation

Cost Savings

16.0%

Learning experience 752 (35.3%)
35.3%
Privacy 739 (34.7%)
34.7%
Cost Savings 341 (16.0%)
16.0%
Customization 204 (9.6%)
9.6%
Other 53 (2.5%)
Other (All of the above) 22 (1.0%)
Other (Fun) 16 (0.8%)
Other (Control) 8 (0.4%)
Other (Hobby) 3 (0.1%)

How old are you?

< 20
88
20-29
583
30-39
563
40-49
218
50-59
60
60-69
5
38.7
Average

Rate your overall satisfaction with your self-hosting experience

Default ☆☆☆☆☆

☆☆☆☆☆ 2023: 222 | 2024: 90
★☆☆☆☆ 2023: 0 | 2024: 0
★★☆☆☆ 2023: 4 | 2024: 4
★★★☆☆ 2023: 101 | 2024: 89
★★★★☆ 2023: 969 | 2024: 1002
★★★★★ 2023: 828 | 2024: 996
2023
2024

Which devices do you use for self-hosting?

Single Board Computer

2023 1048 (48.0%)
2024 1033 (47.4%)

Dedicated server (self-build)

2023 1001 (45.8%)
2024 1012 (46.4%)

Small Form Factor Desktop

2023 855 (39.1%)
2024 986 (45.2%)

Rented Server (VPS)

2023 609 (27.9%)
2024 562 (25.8%)

Pre-build NAS

2023 527 (24.1%)
2024 511 (23.4%)

Dedicated server (pre-build)

2023 444 (20.3%)
2024 407 (18.7%)

Other Desktop

2023 272 (12.4%)
2024 287 (13.2%)

Cloud Server

2023 294 (13.5%)
2024 258 (11.8%)

Laptop

2023 220 (10.1%)
2024 209 (9.6%)

Mac (mini)

2023 65 (3.0%)
2024 88 (4.0%)

Other

2023 29 (1.3%)
2024 36 (1.7%)

Smartphone or Tablet

2023 10 (0.5%)
2024 30 (1.4%)

Note: Percentages may sum to more than 100% as respondents could select multiple devices.

Approximately how many devices do you use for self-hosting?

Total Responses

2113

Most Common

2-3 devices

1 devices: 17.3%
2-3 devices: 43.5%
4-5 devices: 23.4%
6-10 devices: 11.0%
More than 10 devices: 4.9%
Number of Devices Count Percentage
1 366 17.3%
2-3 918 43.5%
4-5 494 23.4%
6-10 232 11.0%
More than 10 103 4.9%

Which Single Board Computers (SBCs) do you use?

Most Popular

Raspberry Pi

SBC Count Percentage
Raspberry Pi 958 82.9%
Odroid 46 4.0%
Other 44 3.8%
Orange Pi 3 21 1.8%
Other (ZimaBoards) 17 1.5%
Rock Pi 15 1.3%
Pine64 12 1.0%
Orange Pi 5 10 0.9%
Banana Pi 8 0.7%
Atomic Pi 6 0.5%
LattePanda 6 0.5%
Other (Orange Pis) 6 0.5%
Le Potato 6 0.5%

Raspberry Pi Model Distribution

Raspberry Pi 4
694
Raspberry Pi 3
411
Raspberry Pi Zero
157
Raspberry Pi 5
153
Raspberry Pi 2
112
Raspberry Pi 1
53
Raspberry Pi 400
15
Other
10

NAS Brand Distribution

Synology
383 61.8%
QNAP
87 14.0%
Custom-built
68 11.0%
ASUSTOR
19 (3.1%)
Ugreen
13 (2.1%)
WD
10 (1.6%)
Terramaster
8 (1.3%)
Other
32 5.2%

If you use a NAS, what is its primary purpose?

Most Common Use

File storage and sharing

File storage and sharing 464 (91.3%)
91.3%
Backup solution 358 (70.5%)
70.5%
Media server 204 (40.2%)
40.2%
Docker container host 176 (34.6%)
34.6%
Virtual machine host 57 (11.2%)
11.2%
Surveillance system 56 (11.0%)
11.0%
Other 7 (1.4%)
1.4%

Approximate total storage capacity of your NAS

11-20TB: 25.0%
21-50TB: 24.0%
5-10TB: 18.7%
More than 50TB: 15.6%
1-4TB: 15.6%
Less than 1TB: 0.6%
Capacity Range Count Percentage
11-20TB 127 25.0%
21-50TB 122 24.0%
5-10TB 95 18.7%
More than 50TB 79 15.6%
1-4TB 79 15.6%
Less than 1TB 3 0.6%

OS Used for Self-Hosting

Linux 2024: 2054 (84.5%) | 2023: 2024 ( 82.9%)
Windows 2024: 191 (7.9%) | 2023: 237 ( 9.7%)
MacOS 2024: 43 (1.8%) | 2023: 37 ( 1.5%)
Something else 2024: 144 (5.9%) | 2023: 143 ( 5.9%)
2024 (Solid)
2023 (Transparent)

Regular OS Usage

Windows 2024: 1414 (30.5%) | 2023: 1552 ( 30.7%) ( -0.2%)
Linux 2024: 1252 (27.0%) | 2023: 1478 ( 29.2%) ( -2.3%)
Android 2024: 794 (17.1%) | 2023: 915 ( 18.1%) ( -1.0%)
MacOS 2024: 682 (14.7%) | 2023: 584 ( 11.6%) (+ 3.1%)
iOS 2024: 482 (10.4%) | 2023: 485 ( 9.6%) (+ 0.8%)
Other 2024: 16 (0.3%) | 2023: 39 ( 0.8%) ( -0.4%)
2024 (Top bar)
2023 (Bottom bar)

Linux Distributions for Self-Hosting

Most Popular

Debian

Top Distributions

Debian 1115 (38.6%)
Ubuntu 987 (34.1%)
Arch 103 (3.6%)
NixOS 87 (3.0%)
Others 600 (20.7%)
Distribution Count Percentage
Debian 1115 38.6%
Ubuntu 987 34.1%
Arch 103 3.6%
NixOS 87 3.0%
Fedora 76 2.6%
Alpine 70 2.4%
FreeBSD 69 2.4%
Other 61 2.1%
Other (Unraid) 53 1.8%
Rocky 48 1.7%
Other (Proxmox) 30 1.0%
RHEL 26 0.9%
LinuxMint 26 0.9%
CentOS (Stream) 25 0.9%
OpenSUSE 17 0.6%
Android 16 0.6%
Other (Synology) 14 0.5%
Other (DietPi) 13 0.4%
Other (AlmaLinux) 11 0.4%
Other (Slackware) 10 0.3%
Other (TrueNAS) 10 0.3%
Other (Raspberry) 8 0.3%
Other (Talos) 6 0.2%
Other (Pop!_OS) 4 0.1%
Other (Oracle) 4 0.1%
Gentoo 3 0.1%

Which Linux distribution do you use on a regular basis?

(On the host system, not container)

Ubuntu

2023 599 (35.8%)
35.8%
2024 396 (23.0%)
23.0%

Debian

2023 432 (25.8%)
25.8%
2024 312 (18.1%)
18.1%

Arch

2023 245 (14.6%)
14.6%
2024 244 (14.1%)
14.1%

Fedora

2023 92 (5.5%)
5.5%
2024 155 (9.0%)
9.0%

Android

2023 148 (8.8%)
8.8%
2024 119 (6.9%)
6.9%

Other (Pop!_OS)

2024 65 (3.8%)
3.8%

NixOS

2024 65 (3.8%)
3.8%

LinuxMint

2023 59 (3.5%)
3.5%
2024 59 (3.4%)
3.4%

Other

2023 172 (10.3%)
10.3%
2024 48 (2.8%)
2.8%

OpenSUSE

2024 29 (1.7%)
1.7%

RHEL

2024 28 (1.6%)
1.6%

Manjaro

2024 27 (1.6%)
1.6%

FreeBSD

2024 22 (1.3%)
1.3%

CentOS (Stream)

2024 12 (0.7%)
0.7%

Other (EndeavourOS)

2024 8 (0.5%)
0.5%

Elementary

2024 3 (0.2%)
0.2%

Other (Slackware)

2024 3 (0.2%)
0.2%

CentOS

2023 54 (3.2%)
3.2%

Note: Some distributions may only have data for one year if they were not included in both surveys.

Do you use a Hypervisor?

Most Popular

Proxmox

Hypervisor Count Percentage Distribution
Proxmox 919 43.1%
None 791 37.1%
Unraid 250 11.7%
TrueNAS 205 9.6%
OpenMediaVault 102 4.8%
ESXi 101 4.7%
XCP-ng 28 1.3%
Other (KVM) 20 0.9%
Other (Hyper-V) 17 0.8%
Other 9 0.4%

Do you container?

Yes 2024: 2037 (97.0%) | 2023: 2000 ( 94.2%)
No 2024: 62 (3.0%) | 2023: 124 ( 5.8%)
2024 (Top bar)
2023 (Bottom bar)

Containerization Technologies

Docker Compose 1721 (83.2%)
1721
Docker 1566 (75.7%)
1566
LXC 534 (25.8%)
534
Kubernetes 217 (10.5%)
217
Docker Desktop 137 (6.6%)
137
Podman 133 (6.4%)
133
Docker Swarm 68 (3.3%)
68
Other 24 (1.3%)
24
Other (Portainer) 6 (0.3%)
6
Other (Unraid) 3 (0.1%)
3

Why do you use containers?

Top Reason

Ease of deployment

Ease of deployment 1912 (93.0%)
93.0%
Isolation 1296 (63.1%)
63.1%
Portability 1167 (56.8%)
56.8%
Resource efficiency 793 (38.6%)
38.6%
Version control 554 (27.0%)
27.0%
Scalability 301 (14.6%)
14.6%
Other 46 (2.2%)
Other (Learning) 10 (0.5%)

Helper Programs Usage (2023 vs 2024)

Portainer 2024: 985 (40.4%) | 2023: 1150 ( 44.1%)
Yacht 2024: 25 (1.0%) | 2023: 40 ( 1.5%)
Watchtower 2024: 575 (23.6%) | 2023: 609 ( 23.4%)
Lazydocker 2024: 60 (2.5%) | 2023: 50 ( 1.9%)
Mistborn 2024: 1 (0.0%) | 2023: 2 ( 0.1%)
Coolify 2024: 23 (0.9%) | 2023: 6 ( 0.2%)
Dokku 2024: 8 (0.3%) | 2023: 18 ( 0.7%)
Caprover 2024: 6 (0.2%) | 2023: 8 ( 0.3%)
Umbrel 2024: 8 (0.3%) | 2023: 7 ( 0.3%)
Cloudron 2024: 4 (0.2%) | 2023: 3 ( 0.1%)
Other similar 2024: 89 (3.7%) | 2023: 76 ( 2.9%)
None 2024: 653 (26.8%) | 2023: 638 ( 24.5%)
2024 (Top bar)
2023 (Bottom bar)

Do you self-host a reverse proxy server?

2024 Results

Yes
1666
No, but I have
141
No
287

2023 Results

Yes
1629
No, but I have
120
No
350

Reverse Proxy Usage

Nginx Proxy Manager

2023 682 (40.7%)
2024 581 (33.7%)

Traefik

2023 420 (25.1%)
2024 510 (29.6%)

Nginx

2023 450 (26.9%)
2024 378 (21.9%)

Caddy

2023 192 (11.5%)
2024 304 (17.6%)

Swag

2023 93 (5.6%)
2024 89 (5.2%)

HAProxy

2023 92 (5.5%)
2024 82 (4.8%)

Other Proxies

Apache
2023: 69 (4.1%)
2024: 35 (2.0%)
Other
2023: 58 (3.5%)
2024: 24 (1.4%)
Other (Zoraxy)
2024: 11 (0.6%)
Other (Cosmos)
2024: 9 (0.5%)
Other (Cloudflare)
2024: 8 (0.5%)
Other (Pomerium)
2024: 4 (0.2%)
Varnish
2023: 4 (0.2%)
2024: 4 (0.2%)
Other (Synology)
2024: 3 (0.2%)
Tinyproxy
2024: 3 (0.2%)
Other (NPM Plus)
2024: 3 (0.2%)

Note: Percentages may sum to more than 100% as respondents could select multiple proxies.

Do you expose your self-hosted services to the internet?

93.8% Exposed
Yes: 67.2% (1423)
Only with a VPN: 26.7% (565)
No: 5.9% (126)

Do you host a mailserver?

🚫
No
1686 (80.8%)
📆
Planning to
170 (8.1%)
Yes
230 (11.0%)

Which mail server?

🐮
Mailcow
98 (31.8%)
💌
Other (Postfix)
44 (14.3%)
📨
Other (Stalwart)
25 (8.1%)
🐳
Other (Docker-Mailserver)
22 (7.1%)
📦
Mail-in-a-box
19 (6.2%)
📮
Mailu
16 (5.2%)
🍎
iRedMail
10 (3.2%)
Other
68 (22.1%)
📧
hMailServer
6 (1.9%)

Services Usage Comparison

Which of these services do you self-host?

🔹 Home Assistent
1173
2024: 1173 (54.1%)
1087
2023: 1087 (50.4%)
📺 Sonarr
1114
2024: 1114 (51.4%)
N/A
2023: N/A
🎬 Jellyfin
1110
2024: 1110 (51.2%)
1052
2023: 1052 (48.8%)
📸 Immich
893
2024: 893 (41.2%)
N/A
2023: N/A
📈 Uptime Kuma
893
2024: 893 (41.2%)
N/A
2023: N/A
🔒 Vaultwarden
823
2024: 823 (37.9%)
804
2023: 804 (37.3%)
📺 Plex
801
2024: 801 (36.9%)
N/A
2023: N/A
🚦 Pi-Hole
801
2024: 801 (36.9%)
N/A
2023: N/A
☁️ Nextcloud
752
2024: 752 (34.7%)
916
2023: 916 (42.5%)
📄 Paperless-Ngx
742
2024: 742 (34.2%)
N/A
2023: N/A
📊 Grafana
656
2024: 656 (30.2%)
708
2023: 708 (32.8%)
📚 Audiobookshelf
455
2024: 455 (21.0%)
N/A
2023: N/A
🚫 None
56
2024: 56 (2.6%)
226
2023: 226 (10.5%)
2024
2023

Do you have a Reddit account?

👍
Yes
1935 (92.2%)
👎
No
164 (7.8%)

Did you subscribe to r/selfhosted?

👍
Yes
1846 (88.2%)
👎
No
219 (10.5%)
🤔
I'm not sure
28 (1.3%)

Did you post/comment anything on r/selfhosted?

🤔
I'm not sure
89 (4.3%)
🙅‍♂️
No, never
919 (44.0%)
Yes, but rarely
701 (33.6%)
💬
Yes, frequently
67 (3.2%)
🗨️
Yes, occasionally
313 (15.0%)

Self-Hosting Hobby Satisfaction Comparison

Satisfaction Score: 0 2024: 0 (0.0%) | 2023: 1 ( 0.0%) ( -0.0%)
Satisfaction Score: 1 2024: 0 (0.0%) | 2023: 1 ( 0.0%) ( -0.0%)
Satisfaction Score: 2 2024: 1 (0.1%) | 2023: 1 ( 0.0%) (+ 0.0%)
Satisfaction Score: 3 2024: 4 (0.2%) | 2023: 15 ( 0.7%) ( -0.5%)
Satisfaction Score: 4 2024: 5 (0.3%) | 2023: 5 ( 0.2%) (+ 0.0%)
Satisfaction Score: 5 2024: 20 (1.0%) | 2023: 54 ( 2.6%) ( -1.6%)
Satisfaction Score: 6 2024: 65 (3.3%) | 2023: 75 ( 3.7%) ( -0.4%)
Satisfaction Score: 7 2024: 197 (10.0%) | 2023: 248 ( 12.1%) ( -2.1%)
Satisfaction Score: 8 2024: 518 (26.3%) | 2023: 602 ( 29.3%) ( -3.0%)
Satisfaction Score: 9 2024: 416 (21.1%) | 2023: 393 ( 19.1%) (+ 2.0%)
Satisfaction Score: 10 2024: 744 (37.8%) | 2023: 658 ( 32.1%) (+ 5.7%)
2024 (Top bar)
2023 (Bottom bar)

Likelihood to Recommend Self-Hosting

Rating: 0 2024: 22 (1.1%) | 2023: 38 (1.9%) ( -0.7%)
Rating: 1 2024: 25 (1.3%) | 2023: 23 (1.1%) (+ 0.1%)
Rating: 2 2024: 55 (2.8%) | 2023: 96 (4.7%) ( -1.9%)
Rating: 3 2024: 94 (4.8%) | 2023: 101 (4.9%) ( -0.2%)
Rating: 4 2024: 91 (4.6%) | 2023: 97 (4.7%) ( -0.1%)
Rating: 5 2024: 212 (10.8%) | 2023: 245 (12.0%) ( -1.2%)
Rating: 6 2024: 220 (11.2%) | 2023: 229 (11.2%) ( -0.0%)
Rating: 7 2024: 259 (13.2%) | 2023: 263 (12.9%) (+ 0.3%)
Rating: 8 2024: 342 (17.4%) | 2023: 319 (15.6%) (+ 1.8%)
Rating: 9 2024: 197 (10.0%) | 2023: 178 (8.7%) (+ 1.3%)
Rating: 10 2024: 450 (22.9%) | 2023: 454 (22.2%) (+ 0.7%)
2024 (Top bar)
2023 (Bottom bar)

Self-Hosting Expertise Level (1-100)

2023 Average

59.52

2024 Average

61.40

Rating 2023 Count 2024 Count Comparison
1 101 64
2 4 1
3 3 2
4 3 3
5 11 4
6 1 2
7 3 10
8 3 4
9 2 1
10 14 12
11 1 1
12 6 2
13 3 2
14 3 4
15 18 9
16 3 3
17 3 5
18 2 4
19 3 3
20 34 32
21 8 4
22 3 2
23 5 6
24 4 8
25 38 47
26 5 9
27 4 3
28 3 3
29 8 3
30 44 56
31 10 10
32 8 6
33 18 18
34 12 2
35 34 25
36 4 5
37 6 5
38 6 5
39 4 8
40 68 53
41 15 10
42 12 8
43 6 3
44 7 2
45 23 19
46 3 7
47 8 9
48 9 9
49 11 9
50 114 127
51 20 22
52 11 10
53 10 7
54 6 8
55 21 32
56 11 5
57 4 5
58 6 4
59 8 8
60 114 135
61 25 18
62 12 15
63 14 9
64 12 13
65 72 80
66 24 27
67 13 24
68 14 8
69 43 25
70 149 187
71 28 23
72 19 19
73 17 14
74 12 18
75 128 126
76 11 12
77 17 9
78 15 6
79 17 13
80 152 165
81 22 21
82 13 15
83 11 14
84 11 7
85 82 82
86 13 12
87 8 12
88 11 14
89 6 8
90 85 103
91 8 8
92 5 4
93 4 7
94 4 3
95 23 18
96 2 3
97 5 0
98 2 1
100 83 84

Did you participate in the 2023 survey?

No: 1616 (75.8%)
Not sure: 272 (12.8%)
Yes: 218 (10.2%)