What every security-first company should self-host in 2025
In 2025, security-first companies should give serious thought to self-hosting when dealing with applications that demand extensive customization, strict protection of sensitive information, and compatibility with legacy systems.
Self-hosting is a declaration of independence for those users who do not trust cloud servers. It's an opportunity to take back control over business information and create an ecosystem for company data. In this blog post, you will learn what self-hosting truly is and why it's better to opt for self-hosted solutions.
What is self-hosting for security-centric companies?
Self-hosting is the practice of running and maintaining your software on hardware that you control, rather than paying a monthly fee to use a third-party's cloud platform, commonly known as "Software-as-a-Service".
In the digital world, self-hosting is like owning a home. It's a powerful move to take direct ownership of the infrastructure with your digital life: the data you create, the applications you use, and the platforms you rely on to communicate and conduct business.
For security-first companies, self-hosting means:
- Data sovereignty & privacy. Sensitive data (customer info, financial records, intellectual property, health data, etc.) never leaves company-controlled systems.
- Reduced supply-chain risk. You control software updates, dependencies, and integrations, reducing reliance on the security posture of SaaS vendors.
- Custom security controls. You can configure encryption, authentication, and access policies exactly as needed.
- Compliance & auditability. With the help of self-hosting, it is easier to meet strict regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.) when you control data storage and processing.
- Resilience & continuity. You stay independent from vendor lock-in, outages, or sudden policy changes.
What applications you need to host to build your security-centric ecosystem
Hosting everything you need for business processes on-premises is a straightforward way to your independence from third-party service providers. Anything involving identity, secrets, intellectual property, sensitive communications, or compliance-relevant data should be self-hosted by default. For less sensitive tools (analytics, marketing, public websites), cloud/SaaS can still be safe if carefully vetted. Here is our list of applications any security-first company should host on premises:
- Communication and collaboration tools. Not all business messengers are available as self-hosted solutions, and even fewer are open-source. Virola Messenger, Rocket.Chat and Mattermost are the ones you can securely host on your infrastructure. Self-hosted business messengers support video and conferencing, file sharing, and screen sharing features. They are essential not only for internal communication, but also for customer service.
- Data storage. NextCloud is an open-source and self-hosted alternative to Dropbox and GoogleDrive. However, business messengers like Virola Messenger can also be used for data storage, since all files, as well as chat conversations, are stored without any limitations and can be easily found with the help of a search function.
- Security monitoring and data back-ups. Wazuh is an open-source cybersecurity platform that integrates SIEM and XDR capabilities in a unique solution
- Identity and access management. Instead of relying on cloud SaaS, you can run self-hosted identity and access management (IAM) on your own server. If you prefer hosting the applications on-premises, the following IAM will work for you: Keycloak (by Red Hat), Authelia and Authentik.
- Task management tools. Such tools allow creating a pool of tasks, assigning them to team members, and monitoring their progress. Such self-hosted business messengers as Virola and Mattermost offer task boards to create, assign, and track issues. Virola provides an integrated Task board, while with Mattermost, this feature is available as a plugin. However, in case you are looking for more powerful features, you can use OpenProject or WeKan as an alternative to cloud task management tools.
Conclusion
Self-hosting critical tools isn't just a technical choice; it's a strategic investment in privacy, compliance, and resilience. In 2025, for security-first organizations, it is important to host applications that process valuable company data on premises.
Of course, not every app must be on-premise, but anything involving secrets, intellectual property, or regulated data should default to self-hosting. In a landscape of growing cyber-threats and unpredictable vendors, companies that proactively own their infrastructure will be far better positioned to protect their customers, teams, and future.