Doesn't paying for cloud storage feel like renting something you already own?

Most of us are paying Google, Apple, or Dropbox every month to store files — photos, videos, documents — on their servers, and still we use external SSDs, pen drives etc we own has more storage than we actually use.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. The average person pays anywhere from ₹130 to ₹850 a month for cloud storage depending on the plan. Over five years that adds up to a significant amount of money spent on something that is essentially just file access — access to files that could theoretically live on hardware we already own.

The self-hosted storage space has existed for a while — tools like Nextcloud and similar options — but they have traditionally required a home server, technical knowledge, and a fair amount of setup time. They were built for enthusiasts, not everyday users.

My question for this community is genuinely this:

Is the gap between what exists and what everyday people actually need large enough to matter? Or has the convenience of Google Photos and iCloud become so embedded in how people live that the cost and the privacy tradeoffs have simply become acceptable?

A few things I am genuinely curious about from people here:

• Has the monthly cost of cloud storage ever actually influenced a decision you made — switching providers, reducing what you back up, or looking for alternatives?

• Do you think privacy concerns around cloud storage are a real motivator for mainstream users or mostly a concern for a technical minority?

• What would it take for someone who is not technical at all to trust and use a self-hosted alternative over Google Drive or iCloud?

• Is there a version of this that works for regular people or is the convenience gap simply too large to close?

I am in the middle of building something in this space and I find myself genuinely uncertain about some of these questions. Would love to hear how people here think about it.