I run services at home, but I'm not sure which label fits. Self-hoster? Homelabber? Both communities overlap, but the goals are different, and I'm somewhere in between.

The Difference

Both groups run services on their own hardware. The overlap is obvious. The goals diverge.

Homelabbers want a lab. They experiment with enterprise-grade setups at home. Think multi-node Kubernetes clusters, VLANs, Proxmox, enterprise networking gear, and complex monitoring stacks. The goal is learning by replicating what companies run in production.

Self-hosters want control over their data and services. They pick tools that work without constant maintenance. A Raspberry Pi running Docker Compose. Simple reverse proxy. Services that run. The goal is owning your stuff without the headaches.

Where I Stand

I work at a company with large-scale Kubernetes infrastructure.

Recreating that at home isn't appealing. I deal with containerized deployments, service meshes, and automation during work hours. Spending weekends on the same thing holds no appeal.

My goal aligns more with self-hosting. I want my services running without babysitting them. I bring work knowledge home though. Sometimes my solutions are more complex than what most self-hosters need.

Example: Walheim

Walheim is a project I built to deploy Docker Compose services with a kubectl-like experience. (source code)

Most self-hosters use Portainer or SSH and run docker-compose up. That works fine. I wanted something closer to the Kubernetes workflow I use at work, without running Kubernetes.

It's overkill for home use. It scratches an itch.

The Middle Ground

I want something between the simplest possible setup and enterprise architecture. A 10-node K3s cluster isn't worth it to me (though I've thought about it).

My goals:

• Services that work reliably
• Tooling that fits my mental model from work
• Learning something different from my day job
• No maintenance overhead

The Tension

If you work in infrastructure, you might feel the same pull. You know how to build complex systems, but maintaining them at home is another matter.

Self-hosters might say I'm overcomplicating it. Homelabbers might say I'm not going far enough. They'd each have a point.

Final Thoughts

Labels don't matter much. I run services at home. Some are simple, some are more complex than they need to be. I learn things, break things, and occasionally fix them.

If you're somewhere in between, pick what works for your time, hardware, and interest level.