The cloud is convenient until it isn't. You upload your photos, sync your contacts, click through the cookie banners. Then prices go up again or you read about a family that lost their entire Google account over a medical photo sent to a doctor. At some point, the question shifts from "why would I run this myself?" to "why aren't I?"

My guest this week is Alex Kretzschmar, head of DevRel at Tailscale, longtime host of the Self-Hosted podcast, and co-founder of Linuxserver.io. We cover what self-hosting really means in 2026, the apps worth running yourself like Immich and Home Assistant, why Docker Compose ties it all together, and how Tailscale lets you reach any of it from anywhere, without opening a single port. If you've been thinking about pulling your digital life back behind your own walls, this is your roadmap.

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Links from the show

Guest
Alex Kretzschmar: alex.ktz.me

Bitflip podcast: bitflip.show
Self-Hosted podcast (Alex's previous show): selfhosted.show
Perfect Media Server: perfectmediaserver.com
KTZ Systems on YouTube: youtube.com/@ktzsystems
Linuxserver.io (co-founded by Alex): linuxserver.io
"How Tailscale Works" blog post: tailscale.com/blog/how-tailscale-works
https://tailscale.com/: tailscale.com

Self-hosted apps discussed
Awesome Self-Hosted (GitHub list): github.com
Immich (Google Photos alternative): immich.app
Home Assistant: home-assistant.io
Open Home Foundation: openhomefoundation.org
Plausible Analytics: plausible.io
Umami Analytics: umami.is
Python integration for umami: pypi.org
Pi-hole: pi-hole.net
AdGuard Home: adguard.com
NextDNS: nextdns.io
Coolify: coolify.io
Docker + ufw: docs.docker.com

Storage, backup & filesystem
OpenZFS: openzfs.org
ZFS.rent (offsite ZFS replication): zfs.rent
Backblaze: backblaze.com
Hetzner Storage Box: hetzner.com
DigitalOcean: digitalocean.com

Secrets management mentioned
OpenBao (open-source Vault fork): openbao.org
HashiCorp Vault: hashicorp.com
Bitwarden: bitwarden.com
1Password: 1password.com

Hardware mentioned
Proxmox VE: proxmox.com
Minisforum MS01: minisforum.com
Zima Board / Zima OS: zimaspace.com

Other references
Cory Doctorow on "enshittification" (Cory's blog where he coined the term): pluralistic.net
Linus Tech Tips' WAN Show (Linus mentioned NAS-building going mainstream): linustechtips.com

Watch this episode on YouTube: youtube.com
Episode #546 deep-dive: talkpython.fm/546
Episode transcripts: talkpython.fm

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#546: Self hosting apps for Python people