Streaming vs Self-Hosting Cost Compare

Live cost model for media subscriptions versus your own NAS-based setup. Adjust plans, selected services, one-time hardware costs, monthly operating costs, and see break-even over time.

Model settings

Time horizon (months)

Streaming annual price growth %

Self-host annual ops growth %

Display

Subtract estimated hardware resale value at end

Self-hosting costs

NAS / server hardware ($)

Hard drives ($ total)

Networking / UPS ($)

Other one-time ($)

Resale value at end ($)

Power / electricity per month ($)

VPN / DNS / domain / hosting per month ($)

Other recurring monthly ($)

Drive refresh / expansion reserve per year ($)

Optional reality checks

Your time cost per month ($ optional)

Household / shared users

Selected streaming monthly

Self-host monthly ops

Self-host upfront

Break-even month

Never

Cumulative cost over time

Streaming services

Snapshot table

Point	Streaming	Self-hosting	Difference