I self host and use a RPi 3B+. Actually I have a total of 3B+ but only one is actually doing anything for the website. I have my database running on a RPi 4b with 4gb. I could easily consolidate to a single Pi but early on I had different plans for each one but just keep 'em running for no good reason.

I'm fortunate in that I have a static IP. Initially I was using NOIP and it worked great but then noticed my IP address never changes. Also, NOIP still exposes your actually IP which I didn't care for.

Now instead of NOIP I rent a cheap $4/month VPS with nginx to reverse proxy to my home. This does require me to open a port, which again I'm not a huge fan but it is what it is.

My next iteration will be where I close the port and do updates via SSH. I'm the only one who uses my website so it is more of a playground for me than anything.

Finally, I feel setting up a server - or just interacting with a remote computer, be it across town, across the country or in the other bedroom, is a good skill to have. When I got my 1st remote job that gave me access to a server I was more than comfortable to do what I needed to do.