About

DitchTheCloud is a resource for anyone who wants to take back control of their digital life. I write practical, no-nonsense guides about self-hosting services, finding privacy-respecting alternatives to big tech, and building your own infrastructure.

Why Self-Host?

Every service you rely on in the cloud is a service someone else controls. They can change the price, change the terms, shut it down, or hand your data to whoever asks. Self-hosting puts you back in the driver's seat.

It's not about being paranoid. It's about being practical. When you run your own services, you control the uptime, the updates, the data, and the cost. No surprises, no price hikes, no "we're sunsetting this feature."

What You'll Find Here

• Step-by-step self-hosting guides for popular services
• Comparisons of cloud services vs. self-hosted alternatives
• Home Assistant automations and smart home setups
• Hardware recommendations for home servers and off-grid setups
• Tips for security, backups, and maintenance

My Setup

I run everything on a mix of Proxmox VE, LXC containers, and a handful of dedicated devices. Home Assistant handles the smart home. Frigate watches the cameras. Everything important is backed up and redundant.

This site itself practices what it preaches — built with Astro, managed with Keystatic, source-controlled on self-hosted Gitea, deployed to Cloudflare Pages. No tracking scripts. No analytics that phone home. No monthly CMS bill.