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Best Docker Containers for Beginners

Building a home lab or a personal server is one of the best ways to learn Docker. Here is our curated list of the best, most useful, and easiest-to-deploy Docker containers for 2025.

1. Dashboards & Organization​

Start here. You'll need a place to organize all your services.

  • Homepage: Modern, fast, and highly customizable dashboard. Configured via YAML.
  • Dashy: Feature-rich dashboard with a UI editor.
  • Dockge: A reactive, self-hosted manager for Docker Compose stacks. Great alternative to Portainer for simple setups.

2. Privacy & Security​

  • Pi-hole: Network-wide ad blocking. Essential for any home network.
  • AdGuard Home: A powerful alternative to Pi-hole with a modern UI and encrypted DNS support.
  • Nginx Proxy Manager: The easiest way to expose your services to the web with free SSL certificates.

3. Media & Files​

  • Jellyfin: The Free Software Media System. A true open-source alternative to Plex.
  • Nextcloud: Your own private cloud. Store files, contacts, calendars, and photos.
  • Immich: High-performance self-hosted photo and video backup solution. Google Photos alternative. (Highly Recommended)

4. Development Tools​

  • NocoDB: Turns any database into a smart spreadsheet. Airtable alternative.
  • Gitea / Forgejo: Lightweight, self-hosted Git service. GitHub alternative.
  • n8n: Workflow automation tool. Connect your apps and automate tasks. (Check out our n8n guide).
  • Uptime Kuma: A fancy self-hosted monitoring tool. Track if your services are up or down.

5. Knowledge Management​

  • Obsidian LiveSync: Self-hosted backend for syncing Obsidian notes.
  • Wiki.js: A modern and powerful wiki app built on Node.js.

How to Run These?​

Almost all of these can be run with a simple docker-compose.yml file. We are building a library of ready-to-use templates.

Browse Templates on Hostim.dev

Don't have a server yet? You can deploy any of these containers on Hostim.dev in seconds.