I’ve been running a small homelab for a few years now, mostly just to tinker and escape the subscription treadmill. Over time I’ve collected a bunch of services that actually earn their keep, and this is a running list of the ones I’d recommend to someone starting out or looking to fill gaps in their setup.

Nothing fancy. Just stuff that works, runs quietly, and gives you back control of your own data.

Messaging & Team Chat

Matrix (Element) – Decentralised messaging that actually works. You can run your own homeserver and chat across the federated network, or keep it private to your lab. Works on phones, desktops, even IRC bridges if you’re feeling nostalgic.

Zulip – Different approach to group chat: conversations are organised by topic threads rather than channels. Makes it easier to follow multiple discussions without losing your place. Good for small teams or family groups.

Mattermost – If you want something that feels like Slack, this is the closest open-source match. Self-hosted, extensible with bots and integrations, and reasonably easy to set up.

Files & Collaboration

Nextcloud – The Swiss Army knife of self-hosting. File storage, calendar, contacts, office suite integration, even video calls if you install the right apps. It’s the first thing I’d recommend because it does so many things well enough that you can replace a dozen subscriptions with one install.

ownCloud – Similar to Nextcloud but more focused on file sync and share. Less bloat if that’s all you need.

OnlyOffice – Office suite that runs in the browser and plays nicely with Nextcloud or on its own. Handles .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx files without the drama that sometimes comes with LibreOffice Online.

Forums & Discussion

Discourse – Modern forum software that actually feels like using a modern app. Mobile-friendly, real-time updates, good moderation tools. Runs a bit heavy on resources but worth it if you care about the experience.

Flarum – If Discourse is too much, Flarum is the lightweight alternative. Fast, clean interface, extension ecosystem. Good for niche communities where everyone knows each other.

phpBB – Old school but reliable. If you want something that just works and doesn’t need constant updating, this is it. Ugly out of the box but infinitely themeable.

Media & Entertainment

Plex – The easiest media server to set up. Scans your library, pulls metadata, streams to pretty much anything. The catch is that some features are locked behind Plex Pass, but the free tier covers most people’s needs.

Jellyfin – Plex but fully open source and free. Less polished UI and fewer client apps, but no paywall for hardware transcoding or advanced features. I switched after getting tired of the Plex upsells.

Sonarr + Radarr – Automated TV show and movie management. They monitor RSS feeds, download new episodes when they’re available, and organise your library into a clean folder structure. Works with Usenet and torrents through NZBGet or qBittorrent.

Jackett – Acts as a bridge between Sonarr/Radarr and various torrent indexers. You configure it once and both apps can search across dozens of trackers without individual setup.

Development & DevOps

Gitea – Lightweight Git server that’s way easier to maintain than GitLab. Runs on a Raspberry Pi if you’re feeling modest. Good enough for personal projects and small teams.

Gitea Actions – CI/CD built into Gitea. Not as mature as GitHub Actions but perfectly serviceable for building and deploying your own projects.

Drone CI – Container-native CI platform. If you’re already running Docker, this fits naturally into your stack. YAML-based pipelines, easy to extend.

Portainer – Docker management UI that actually makes sense. Watch containers, inspect logs, manage networks and volumes without touching the command line. Essential if you’re not comfortable with docker commands.

Vaultwarden – Unofficial Bitwarden server. Self-hosted password management without the Bitwarden cloud dependency. Lightweight, well-maintained, and does exactly what you need.

Monitoring & Infrastructure

Prometheus + Grafana – The standard stack for metrics and visualisation. Prometheus scrapes your services, Grafana draws pretty graphs. Steep learning curve at first but once it’s running you’ll wonder how you lived without visibility into your lab.

Uptime Kuma – Simple, beautiful uptime monitoring. Ping your services, get notified when something goes down. Runs in a container, config lives in a single file. Perfect for homelab-scale monitoring where Prometheus would be overkill.

Caddy – Web server with automatic HTTPS. If you’re exposing services to the internet, Caddy handles certificates for you without the nginx-certbot dance. Much less headache.

Tailscale – Not self-hosted, but essential for a homelab. Zero-config VPN that lets you access your services from anywhere without port forwarding or exposing anything to the public internet.

Email & Calendar

This is the hard one. Self-hosting email is a rite of passage and also a massive pain. MX records, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, deliverability… by the time you’ve got it working properly you’ve spent a week wrestling with DNS.

Mailcow – If you’re going to do it, do it properly. Docker-based, includes everything: Postfix, Dovecot, Rspamd, SOGo. Heavy on resources but comprehensive.

Roundcube – Webmail client that just works. Pair it with any backend and you’ve got a decent email experience without touching a desktop client.

SnappyMail – Faster, lighter alternative to Roundcube. Modern interface, good mobile experience.

Security

Fail2ban – Simple but effective. Monitors login attempts and bans IPs that look malicious. Run it on anything exposed to the internet, even if it’s just SSH.

ClamAV – Antivirus for file servers and email gateways. Not going to stop targeted attacks but catches the casual malware scanning that hits every public-facing service.

Wazuh – Host-based intrusion detection and SIEM. More than you need for a homelab but impressive if you want to understand what’s actually happening on your machines.

Backups

BorgBackup – Deduplicating backups that are fast and space-efficient. Works over SSH, supports encryption, and the compression is excellent. My go-to for server backups.

Restic – Similar to Borg but with a different approach to deduplication and repository management. Also supports a wider range of backup targets including S3-compatible storage.

Rclone – Sync tool for cloud storage. Move backups between local disk and cloud providers, or use it as a backup target itself. Supports pretty much every service out there.

What I Didn’t Include

A few things that came up during writing but didn’t make the cut:

  • Home Assistant – Smart home stuff is its own rabbit hole. Maybe a separate post.
  • AdGuard Home – DNS-level ad blocking. Essential but again, deserves its own write-up.
  • Nextcloud + Collabora – I mentioned OnlyOffice above, but the Nextcloud integration with Collabora Online is worth noting if you need document editing.

The best homelab setup is the one you actually maintain. Don’t chase every shiny tool – pick a few things that solve real problems and run them well. A stable lab with five services is better than a fragile one with twenty.

This list will grow as I find more things worth running. If you’ve got recommendations, drop them in the comments.