Running my own VPS and leveraging AI has completely changed the way I work. They’ve made it easier for me to take an idea and actually see it through. As a UX/UI and product designer I’ve always understood what it takes to build a product, but for most of my career I was on the design and strategy side. The devs did the magic behind the scenes.
When I went freelance I didn’t have that luxury anymore. I needed access to the same tools dev teams were using. Analytics, automation, CMSs, even something as small as link shorteners. Suddenly I realised how much of that is paywalled. You pay extra to deploy on Replit. You pay analytics companies to host your data. You pay to shorten links. It adds up fast.
That’s when I tried running my own VPS.
At first I had no idea what I was doing. I started with n8n, accidently deleted all of my workflows at least twice, always just before showing someone how ‘cool’ this stuff was. But once I figured out the basics of Docker and got a few things running, it clicked. I could install open source tools that would have cost me hundreds.
I’ve now got:
- n8n for automation
- Plausible for analytics
- Kutt for branded link shortening
- A headless CMS when I need it
- Self hosting my experiments
And the best bit? I can do it all myself.
That freedom has been huge. I can take an idea, spin it up, and get feedback within a week. I don’t have to wait for a dev to give me a hand or try to bribe someone into working on a side project.
If you’re a designer reading this, especially in product or UX/UI, I’d honestly say: learn the basics of running a VPS. Even if you just get comfortable in the terminal, you’ll unlock a new level of autonomy. Pair that with AI tools helping you figure out commands when you’re stuck, and suddenly you’re working as if you had a whole team behind you.
For me, it’s been the biggest unlock outside of design itself. It’s made me braver with experiments, it’s saved me money, and it’s taught me a lot more about the products I design.
Sometimes the most powerful design tool isn’t Figma. It’s your own server.
