I built a homelab.

Basically you buy some old enterprise server hardware (or, if you are smart unlike me, you build low-power machines from scratch!) and then you can run your own services.

Some fun stuff includes:

• Plex or Jellyfin or Emby - stream your own video library
• HomeAssistant - Control and automate all the smart things with little to no cloud connection!
• TrueNAS - file server storage for large share drives and local backups
• Grocy - Inventory management for groceries/supplies. Includes special features for batteries, chemicals/food with expiration dates, shopping list generation + barcode scanning, chore tracking (with automatic inventory of supplies like dish soap and laundry detergent), and recipes based on what you have on hand. Integrates with HomeAssistant
• PiHole or AdGuard Home - DNS-based adblocker. Any device connected to your network has a ton of advertising blocked at the network level, no plugins or installation required; devices simply can’t find the ad servers to connect with. (Can break stuff like Paramount+ or Hulu, etc but you can add exceptions)
• the “arr” suite - Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr/prowlarr - fill up your Plex library with ahem legal backups of legitimately purchased media automatically over the internet.
• OPNSense - free, professional grade firewall with support for network-wide VPN clients. Put your entire house behind a VPN, allow VPN access inside your network from anywhere (get the benefits of PiHole on the go!), block shady IoT devices from seeing anything else on the network (Chromecasts, shady smart switches, etc), the sky’s the limit with this one
• Fediverse instances - Run your own personal Lemmy or Mastadon instance!

And tons and tons of other stuff. It’s not cheap, it’s time consuming, and the wife hates the power bill. But if you’re into doing shit with computers, it’s a damn interesting rabbit hole