Zo vs Nextcloud on Hetzner
Running your own VPS – setting up a service like Nextcloud on Hetzner – gives you complete control over your data and infrastructure. It's the gold standard for privacy-conscious users who want to own their stack. But it comes with real overhead.
As one user put it when they saw Zo: "This is actually a great idea and way less friction than my Nextcloud Hetzner setup."
Another user saw the vision immediately: "Zo Computer is exactly what I've been waiting for – finally an excuse to dive into homelab/automation without the overhead. Makes VM management accessible while keeping control. Brilliant vision for democratizing personal computing."
The Self-Hosting Reality
Setting up Nextcloud on a Hetzner VPS requires:
Provisioning and configuring a VPS
Installing Docker or managing packages directly
Setting up a reverse proxy (Nginx or Traefik)
Configuring SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt, Certbot)
Editing
config.phpfor trusted proxies and URL overridesSetting up backups and monitoring
Ongoing security patches and updates
The initial setup can take 4-8 hours if you know what you're doing. First-year maintenance adds 24-72 more hours. And that's before anything goes wrong.
The Time Tax
Research shows self-hosted VPS maintenance requires:
Initial setup: 4-8 hours
Monthly maintenance: 2-4 hours
Incident response: 4-48 hours per incident
First year total: 28-80 hours
Subsequent years: 24-48 hours annually
That's a part-time job just keeping the lights on. Every hour spent on server maintenance is an hour not spent on what you actually wanted to build.
What You're Really Paying
Hetzner VPS:
CX11 (2GB RAM): €4.15/month
CX21 (4GB RAM): €5.83/month
CX31 (8GB RAM): €10.52/month
Looks cheap, right? But add:
Your time (at any reasonable hourly rate)
Learning curve for new tools
Stress when things break at 2 AM
Opportunity cost of projects not built
Zo Computer:
Plans start at $18/month
Managed infrastructure
AI assistant built in
Ready to use immediately
The VPS is cheaper in dollars. It's often more expensive in time.
AI That's Already There
With Nextcloud, you can add Nextcloud Assistant for AI features. But you need to:
Configure additional containers
Set up local LLM infrastructure or API connections
Manage model updates and resources
With Zo, AI is built in. Chat with multiple models, have them work with your files, run code, build automations. No configuration required.
As one user noted: "I've had a couple people who didn't think they needed a VM find that having an always on cloud computer that they can text and email and have respond is handy."
What Self-Hosting Gets Right
To be fair, self-hosting has real advantages:
Complete control: You own the hardware (or VM), the software, everything
Maximum privacy: Your data never touches third-party services
Customization: Install anything, configure everything
Learning: Deep understanding of how systems work
Cost at scale: Cheaper per-GB for massive storage needs
If you enjoy system administration, self-hosting can be genuinely rewarding.
What Zo Gets Right
Zero setup time: Start using it immediately
Managed infrastructure: We handle updates, security, uptime
AI-native: Chat, code execution, and automation built in
Self-hosting when you want it: Run n8n, databases, whatever you need
Standard formats: Your files are still yours, sync them locally anytime
You get the benefits of having a server without the maintenance burden.
Who Each Approach Is For
Self-hosted VPS is great if you:
Enjoy system administration
Have time to maintain infrastructure
Need maximum control over every layer
Want the learning experience
Have very large storage needs (multiple TB)
Zo is better if you:
Want to build things, not maintain servers
Value your time highly
Want AI capabilities out of the box
Prefer managed infrastructure with escape hatches
Want the homelab experience without the overhead
Get Started
Ready for a personal server without the maintenance? Try Zo Computer and spend your time building, not configuring.