Stop Paying for Tools: Self-Serve Instead

I strongly hold the belief that there are tools you simply shouldn't pay for—especially if you're running an engineering-heavy software shop. Sure, there are benefits to paying for certain third-party software, but that’s not what we’re talking about today. My focus is on those cases where it doesn't make sense to drop a fortune on specific tools.

Let’s be real for a moment: behind all these companies with massive marketing budgets are developers just like you—developers likely using the same open-source tools that you could be using to achieve the exact same thing. Yet, somehow, they’ve sold you on the idea that they’ve done it better. Spoiler alert: they haven’t. Now before you go diving into implementing an entire RFC spec from scratch, hear me out.

Here are some tools I personally don’t think you should be paying for:

1. Authentication as a Service

Think Okta, Auth0, OneLogin, etc. Yeah, I know, you've got requirements for SSO with SAML, OIDC, OAuth2, username/password, magic links—the whole deal. But, honestly, a simple open-source library could save you the headache, and you’d be just fine.

Example Alternatives: If you're using Next.js, next-auth is more than enough and supports major authentication methods like username/password, OIDC, SAML, magic links, and more.

Casbin has also put together a list of awesome auth libraries to help you get started: Casbin Awesome Auth .

2. Task Automation Tools

Zapier, Integromat, Workato—these are tools you can easily replace with open-source solutions like Airflow. They make task automation sound like some unattainable feat, but with the right setup, you can do it all yourself.

Example Alternatives: Google Workflow is both cheap and language-agnostic while also scaling workloads easily. There's also Google Composer, which builds upon Airflow (another proof that big tech relies heavily on open source, rebrands it, and tries to sell it to you as a novel solution). Check out this awesome list of workflow engines: Awesome Workflow Engines .

3. LLM Inference

Now, this one’s a bit tricky. I appreciate the stability of using something like ChatGPT for certain use cases, but there are roadblocks. The reality is, you can run inference yourself.

Example Alternatives: llama.cpp, Hugging Face Inference API are excellent options for running inference locally or at scale.

4. LLM Embeddings

Why pay for embedding services when you could be generating embeddings yourself? Depending on your use case, this can be achieved with open-source libraries.

Example Alternatives: llama.cpp, Hugging Face Inference API, FastEmbed, Sentence Transformers are great choices. Depending on your vector size, Sentence Transformers and FastEmbed are solid for certain use cases. You can also opt for llama.cpp, Ollama (which wraps around llama.cpp), or Hugging Face’s API.

5. Container Orchestration

Not everyone needs Kubernetes. In most cases it's an overkill. There are simpler and easier ways to do container orchestration in-house without putting too much workload on your engineering team.

Example Alternatives: Docker Swarm is a solid choice, or you can opt for a self-hosted PaaS like CapRover.

6. Vector Databases

Alert buzzword trap. Don’t get sucked into the hype. Vector databases often don’t provide enough value to justify their cost.

Your existing database—whether it’s Postgres, MongoDB, or another—can handle these workloads just fine. Often, it’s as simple as installing a plugin. No steep learning curve, and you’re good to go.

7. Monitoring Tools

Datadog, New Relic, or Splunk? You can achieve the same level of monitoring with open-source tools like Prometheus and Grafana. They’re highly customizable and cost-effective with the right setup.

8. CI/CD Pipelines

CircleCI, TravisCI, GitLab CI—they all charge you to automate something you can build yourself. Open-source options like Jenkins or GitHub Actions allow you to create robust CI/CD pipelines that don’t come with ongoing licensing costs.

9. Logging and Observability

Flashy tools like Splunk or LogDNA might look appealing, but open-source solutions like the ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) or Graylog can handle your log aggregation and observability needs just as well.

10. API Gateways

Managed API gateways like AWS API Gateway or Kong Enterprise cost a fortune, but you can set up a self-hosted API gateway using open-source solutions like Kong (open-source version) or Tyk. These tools offer high performance, scalability, and control over your API traffic—without the big price tag.

11. LLM Monitoring Tools

Now, this one really gets me frustrated. There are so many LLM monitoring tools out there that only add unnecessary complexity to what should be a simple abstraction. Take FlashApply, for instance. Anytime a call is made for inference or embeddings, we track the user ID, LLM provider, token usage, and additional metadata. We then aggregate this data to see which users or parts of the code make the most calls so we can optimize accordingly. Why would I spend $45 a month for something I can build myself? It’s just not worth it.

Enterprise vs. Self-Serve: What’s the Real Cost?

Let’s break it down:

Enterprise Solutions: You’ve seen this before. There’s no visible pricing. You’ve got to schedule a demo and endure back-and-forth emails just to figure out what it’ll cost you. It’s all subscription-based with costs that adds up over time.

Self-Serve/Open Source: Active communities. You pick the library or binary that fits your need. Set it up using Docker or your package manager of choice—whether it's npm, Yarn, RubyGems, or something else. You read a few docs, make some tweaks, and boom—you're up and running. You're in control, and it costs you next to nothing, just a bit of your time.

For most of these tools, setup takes just a few minutes. Some are as simple as running yarn install, gem install, or downloading a package. Others may take a bit more effort upfront, but you only spend that time once and don't have to worry about it again. The best part? You're not locked into any contract.

Final Thoughts

This approach isn't for everyone. It doesn’t always make sense to replace everything with open-source solutions. But what I’m saying is this: trust in your technical abilities where it makes sense, and you can save a ton of money.

At the end of the day, you’ve got the skills and the resources to manage much of your tech stack yourself. Don’t fall for the enterprise solution marketing machine—rely on your team, take control, and cut the unnecessary costs.

Big thanks and shoutout to the Reddit r/selfhosted community for helping to make some of these transitions possible.

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