Why a Mini PC for Self-Hosting?

When people think about servers, they often imagine expensive racks, power-hungry machines, or pricey cloud instances. But for self-hosting, you don’t actually need any of that. A mini PC is more than enough to run a handful of containers, host a few apps, and act as your personal home server.

Here’s why it makes sense:

• Relatively cheap but capable
  You don’t need a gaming laptop or a workstation with a high-end GPU to self-host. A mini PC with decent specs, something with a few CPU cores and a modest amount of RAM, is usually enough to run your projects smoothly.

• Feels more personal than a VM
  With a mini PC, you can literally connect it to a monitor, set up the desktop environment how you like, and make it feel like your machine. It’s tangible and customizable in a way that spinning up a virtual machine in the cloud never will be.

• Bigger upfront cost, but cheaper long-term
  Yes, you’ll pay more at the start compared to just using a free cloud tier. But once you’ve bought the hardware, the only ongoing cost is electricity. And if you pick a low-power mini PC (I’ll recommend some later), you’ll barely notice it on your bill. You won’t even have to pay at all if you still live with your parents :D.

• Can double as an everyday computer
  You can use it like you would use any home computer. A mini PC can handle light coding, watching tutorial videos, or even some casual gaming. If you’re comfortable working on it directly, it can pull double duty as both your dev box and your server.

• The data is yours
  With a mini PC, your files, apps, and databases live on hardware you own. You’re not trusting a third-party provider with your data or worrying about surprise lockouts or sudden service shutdowns. You own the machine, so you own the data.

• Small footprint
  Mini PCs are compact and energy-efficient. They don’t take up much desk space, don’t sound like jet engines, and don’t hurt your electricity bill.

In short, a mini PC gives you the power of a server without the monthly bills of cloud hosting, while still keeping that personal feeling that you own it.

Raspberry Pis

Another very popular option for self-hosting is the Raspberry Pi or just any single-board computer. It’s small, compact, and extremely versatile. Beyond DevOps or self-hosting, it has GPIO pins that let you experiment with electronics, sensors, and DIY projects, making it a favorite for tinkerers and hobbyists.

That said, if your main goal is just to deploy and run personal projects, a mini PC is often the better deal. For roughly the same price, you’ll get more raw performance, more memory, and a smoother experience running multiple apps. Raspberry Pis are great for learning and experimentation, but mini PCs are better suited for being your “always-on” workhorse.

Old PCs / Laptops

Don’t overlook old PCs / laptops you already have lying around. If you’re not using one anymore, it can easily be repurposed as a self-hosting server. Simply install Linux, strip away the unnecessary bloat, and you’ll have a machine that can run containers, host apps, and even provide built-in battery backup during short power outages.

It might not be as power-efficient or compact as a mini PC, but if you already own one, it’s basically a free way to start self-hosting.