shouldiselfhost?they tell you if you can — we tell you if you should
THE DECISION LAYER FOR SELF-HOSTING100 APPS UNDER COVERAGEPROTOCOL v1NO VENDOR HAS EVER PAID FOR A RATING
RECENT ACTIONS 1PASSWORDNOT REALLY·ACTIVECAMPAIGNKINDA·ACUITY SCHEDULINGYES·ADOBE ACROBATYES·ADOBE LIGHTROOMNOT REALLY·AIRTABLEYES·AMPLITUDEYES·ANYLISTNOT REALLY·ASANAKINDA
§
FILES-DOCS
Microsoft 365 Personal logo

Should I self-host Microsoft 365 Personal?

$1.99/mo · Basic · alternative: ONLYOFFICE Docs
RATING
NOT REALLY
OUTLOOK
NOT ASSIGNED
RATIONALE

$1.99/mo including 100GB and real Office compatibility. OnlyOffice self-hosts well, but nothing self-hosted opens a tracked-changes .docx from a lawyer with guaranteed fidelity. Keep paying.

WHAT YOU LOSE
01

Office format fidelity when documents leave your house

02

1TB OneDrive at the family tier is absurdly cheap storage

WHAT YOU'RE PAYING FOR

Word/Excel/PowerPoint · OneDrive storage · Outlook mail

Self-Hosting Facts
1 app per panel · Microsoft 365 Personal
Assumes 1 seat on 1 always-on box you already run
Amount per month% of sub *
Subscription$1.99
VPS share1.0050%
Storage + backup0.000%
Your hours · 30 min @ $2010.00503%
Self-hosted all-in11.00553%
Effective markup0.2×
Setup · 15 min measured$5.00 once
Break-evennever
VERDICT
NOT REALLY
OUTLOOK
NOT ASSIGNED

* Percent of the subscription price. Your time is priced at the slider's rate — $0/h ("my homelab time is free and I love it") is a legitimate position. Every number is derived from the record, never hand-written. Price source, checked 2026-08-07.

Runs comfortably on a real VPS (2 GB+).

01
ALTERNATIVES
Ranked alternatives
01ONLYOFFICE Docs logo
ONLYOFFICE DocsThe Word, Excel and PowerPoint half of an office subscription, as a server your own file app hands documents to.
ONLYOFFICE/DocumentServer · ★ 6,800 · 20d
ONLYOFFICE Docs running from the boot-verified compose file
ONLYOFFICE Docs, running from the compose file on this page — screenshot from our verified instance, not marketing material.
02
EVIDENCE
PROTOCOL
v1
VERIFIED BY
zernonia
REVIEWED
10 AUG 2026
SETUP MEASURED
15 MIN
AI ASSISTANT
CLAUDE-CODE · STATED
FULL TIMED LOG
# Microsoft 365 Personal — verdict log

- **Date:** 2026-08-10
- **Verdict:** NOT REALLY — keep paying
- **Protocol:** v1 (2GB reference env, Docker preinstalled, AI assistant: claude-code)

## Why no compose file

- This verdict is decided by economics/capability, not setup effort — the rubric doesn't require a timed install to conclude the subscription should stay (or that the replacement's cost lives elsewhere, e.g. GPUs, egress, or an installer script).

## The call

$1.99/mo including 100GB and real Office compatibility. OnlyOffice self-hosts well, but nothing self-hosted opens a tracked-changes .docx from a lawyer with guaranteed fidelity. Keep paying.
03
HISTORY
10 AUG 2026UNRATED → NOT_REALLYInitial verdict: $1.99/mo including 100GB and real Office compatibility.