Self-Hosted Cloud Storage in 2026: Why I Stopped Paying for Dropbox

说明与用途

作者用自托管的 Nextcloud 替代付费 Dropbox，获得 16 TB 免费存储空间，无月费，完全掌控数据。

问题

High cost and lock‑in of commercial cloud storage plans.

结果

After ~$200 upfront and $10/year domain renewal, the author achieved 16 TB of usable storage with no monthly fees, saving $120/year compared to Dropbox Plus and eliminating lock‑in.

工作流

• Acquire used Dell OptiPlex 7060 (~$90) and two 8 TB Seagate Ironwolf drives (~$45 each).
• Install Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS headless.
• Deploy Nextcloud Hub 9 in Docker.
• Register a .com domain (~$10/year) via Cloudflare Registrar.
• Set up Cloudflare Tunnel for remote access (free).
• Mount Nextcloud WebDAV on Windows using ScsDriver (~$5.5 lifetime).

证据

In 2023, I paid $120/year for Dropbox Plus (2 TB). In 2024, I paid the same. In 2025, I finally got fed up and switched to self-hosted Nextcloud on a used Dell OptiPlex + two 8 TB HDDs.

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Setup cost: $180 for the OptiPlex + 2x 8 TB HDD. Break-even vs Dropbox Plus: 1.5 years.

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The one that stuck: 1. Hardware: Dell OptiPlex 7060 (used, $90 on eBay) + 2x 8 TB Seagate Ironwolf ($45 each)

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Total: ~$200 upfront, $10/year.

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