I do not self-host because I think every SaaS product is bad. I self-host because owning the shape of the system changes the kinds of things I can build. When the stack is mine, I can connect odd pieces together, keep services around for weird long-term experiments, and avoid the slow creep of platform decisions made for someone else's priorities.
There is also a practical side to it. Self-hosting forces a clearer understanding of failure, storage, access, backups, and trust boundaries, which turns out to be valuable even when I later use managed infrastructure. The point is not purity. The point is competence and optionality.
I still use hosted tools where they make sense, but I try to default toward owning the parts that matter to my workflow and archives. If a project becomes important, I want the option to keep it alive on my terms instead of hoping a pricing page or roadmap does not change under me.