In that time I started a domain registrar, a free OpenID Connect login service (https://lastlogin.net/), created the de facto list of tunneling tools (https://github.com/anderspitman/awesome-tunneling), and built a couple of my own tunneling tools (SirTunnel and boringproxy), all to try and make self hosting easier.
I'm still trying to solve this problem. Some progress has been made (mostly by other projects), but we're still not there.
FWIW, I used to think everyone owning a domain was the way forward. I now suspect otherwise. Domains are too expensive (especially most TLDs outside .com/.net/.org) and the costs of accidentally forgetting to renew are catastrophic. Domains just aren't a consumer product.
I think you only need a domain if you want a permanent public web presence, and I don't think most people need that. Most people just need a better/faster/private google drive, google photos, google docs, etc, and for that it's ok if your domain changes once in a while.
So I think free subdomains set up without vendor lockin are probably the ticket.
If anyone is interested in collaborating in this space, definitely reach out.