free · switching from hamachi and lan vpns
Stop asking your friends to install a VPN
Hamachi got a whole generation playing Minecraft together, and Radmin and Tailscale carry that idea today. All of them share the same tax: every single friend has to install the client, make an account, join your network and keep the whole stack working. You become tech support for the evening.
Self Hostd moves the work to your side, once. Your server gets a real public address on our relay; friends type it into Multiplayer and press join. There is nothing for them to install or update, and no virtual network for anyone to fall out of.
Where LAN VPNs are strong
- They work for anything, not just Minecraft: any game or app that can see a LAN can cross a VPN mesh.
- Tailscale in particular is an excellent, generous free product if your group is small, fixed and comfortable installing things.
- No game-specific setup on the server side; you simply share your LAN.
What an address does that a VPN cannot
Friends install nothing
They open Minecraft, add your address under Multiplayer and join. The half-hour voice call walking someone's little brother through a VPN client stops being part of hosting.
No member cap
Free Hamachi stops at five people in a network. An address has no such number: your player limit is whatever your PC and your upload can carry.
An address you can share publicly
A VPN address only works for people inside your network. yourname.na.hostdservers.com works for anyone you give it to, which is what lets a private server grow into a community one.
Guests reach the game, not your network
A VPN mesh puts every player inside a shared network with your machine. Our relay forwards exactly one thing: the Minecraft connection. Your home IP stays private too, because players only ever see the hostdservers.com address.
The toolkit comes free
Live console in the browser, control from Discord, twice-weekly off-site backups and crash diagnosis in plain English, none of which a VPN was ever meant to provide.
Side by side
| Hamachi / LAN VPNs | Self Hostd (free) | |
|---|---|---|
| What friends must do | Install the client, create an account, join your network | Type an address into Multiplayer |
| Player limit | Five per network on free Hamachi; varies elsewhere | No cap from us; your hardware sets the limit |
| What guests can reach | A shared virtual network including your machine | The Minecraft connection only, via our relay |
| Address | Virtual IP, usable only inside the network | Public hostdservers.com subdomain, share it with anyone |
| Console, backups, Discord control | Not what a VPN is for | Included, free |
| Works behind CGNAT and campus wifi | Usually, via relays | Yes; the connection is outbound-only |
| Cost | Free tiers with caps | Free; optional burst by the hour |
Based on each product's published free tier as of July 2026. If something here has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
Retiring the VPN
- 1Your server stays as it isWhatever you host over Hamachi today is already a working server folder. Nothing needs reinstalling.
- 2Pair the launcherCreate a free server here, copy the 6-digit code, put the Self Hostd launcher next to your server jar and paste the code in.
- 3Hand out the addressFriends add your hostdservers.com address in Multiplayer. Whoever wants to uninstall the VPN can do it the same evening.
Full step-by-step instructions, including the modpack path, live in the Self Hostd setup guide.
Questions you'd be right to ask
Can players find my home IP?
No. Players only ever see your hostdservers.com address, which points at our DDoS-protected relay. The connection from your PC to the relay is outbound, so nothing on your router opens either.
Is there really no player cap?
We do not impose one. Your PC's RAM and your upload bandwidth set the practical limit, and the panel shows how the machine is coping so you can see the ceiling coming.
What about Tailscale or Radmin instead of Hamachi?
Both are good products, and for a tiny, fixed, technical group a mesh VPN is a fine answer. The tax is the same though: every new player means another install and another invitation, and the server can never be public. If the group might grow, an address scales and a mesh does not.
Is it actually free?
Yes. The address, the tunnel, the panel with live console, Discord control, twice-weekly off-site backups and crash diagnosis are all free, for up to three servers per account. In return, free servers show a short Hostd credit in the server list. The only paid part is optional bursting to our hardware.
One address beats five installs
Coming from somewhere else?