You have to account for electricity (it runs 24/7) and the eventual failure of hard drives. 3. The "Maintenance Tax" This is the dealbreaker for most.
If a drive fails at AWS, you never know; they just swap it. buy own server
You choose the OS, the RAM, and the storage. If you want to run a Plex media server alongside a private cloud (like Nextcloud) and a home automation hub, you can do it without "per-app" fees. 2. The Financial Math You have to account for electricity (it runs