Derek Jones A digital life free of subscriptions?
I consider myself a seasoned self-hoster. I don't write code or do any kind of scripting in any of the languages used; I'm just not that bright! But I don't mind getting my hands a little mucky in the terminal when things go a bit bonkers, which they sometimes do.
I use a self-hosting platform called Yunohost. I've had it in place now for about five years, and I pay no subscriptions to anyone. Well, that’s a bit of a fib; I have recently started paying 10 euros a month to the folks at Yunohost because they do such a good job.
When you install the platform, you get a free domain; mine is casper.nohost.me, which I use to test various apps before releasing them out on their own domain later.
What do I host?
File management & sharing: Nextcloud, with Collabera & Nextcloud Office (a full office suite)
Password management: Vaultwarden (Uses Bitwarden clients)
Music: Navidrome (There are some fantastic clients for this server app)
Photos: Piwigo (Phone auto-uploading, galleries, and sharing)
Accounts: Invoice Ninja (Free community edition, server app, and clients)
Websites: WordPress , and now trying out Pure Blog
Email: Comes with a full email stack
That's my digital life in a nutshell. All of the above apps have a mobile app, or are mobile-friendly. You can see all the stuff that I self-host here
Now, I'm not saying that it's all been plain sailing; yes, there is the odd hiccup, sometimes when an app gets updated, but these issues are always fixable. There is a full backup and restore service included witht the platform, and a good and reliable collection of apps to put on your server, oh, and the forum community is excellent.
In summary
I pay absolutely no subscriptions to anyone. (Well, not quite). The 10 euros to Yunohost is voluntary, but for the work the community does, I feel it's the right thing to do. I'm being economical with the truth, again. I do pay yearly for a couple of domain names. There are no direct debits or standing orders being paid to anyone other than Yunohost and my domain registrar. And if I want to disappear...? I just pull the plug...!