Cockpit is great.
It's pretty simplistic. It gives you an overview of your system ressources and handles libvirt VMs and Docker (i think. I used it with Podman, but in this context both should work).
My impression was that the container and VM interfaces were pretty simple, and I wouldn't have liked it as my main interface for those services, but it would be perfect for getting an overview and restarting them!
Node-Red can do dashboards. I don't know if it does data logging, but I would guess so since it can do dashboards. It also supports MQTT so it should handle ESPHome devices without a problem.
It's made for automations (and great at it) but it can be a minimalist HA hub too.
Nextcloud doesn't verify your email and has tons of other nice features as well. ProtonDrive (/ProtonMail as another user suggested) probably doesn't or you could use your Proton address for that.
You mention allowing weak passwords are a plus. Please use a weak password, especially without email as 2nd factor.
Have you considered using mnemonics for your passphrase?
Generate a number (i would use around 5) of random words (EFF has a wordlist, humans are really bad at randomness) and link them together using silly images. For example:
First, you link sparrow to window: imagine a sparrow trying to break through a window, not just flying into it by accident, no, this sparrow is mad and is set to destroy it.
Second, you link window to automobile: imagine an automobile with huge windows. The car is completely normal sized except every window is at least 3 meters tall. It looks absolutely ridiculous and you feel embrassed that youvhave to drive it everywhere.
Repeat this proces for the rest of the words. It helps remembering them if the image makes you feel something, like making you chuckle or feel angry that you have to deal with this stupid contraption (only in your mind, hopefully)
Also, make sure each "link" is distinct. Eg. Don't make the second link an automobile driving into a window when the sparrow does the same. It will mess up the order and make you jump around between similar mental images.
I only tried running rootless when i set them up several years ago and i was completely green, so it was probably me who was the problem.
Regarding podman-compose, Fedora repos has a a package that aliases podman -> docker and the regular docker-compose package, which i used before migrating to podman+systemd. It worked flawlessly unless i did networking shenanigans because Podman and Docker differs (/differed?) in so some thing simply couldn't be brought over.
Edit: i found the docker-compose and Podman alias thingies in a Fedora Magazine post.
However, unless you use docker-compose a lot for other stuff, learning to use Podmans systemd integration (also called quadlet) is very much worth it. They're just a really powerful combo and systemd has a ton of nice features for making stuff run and keep running.
Podman is CLI and API compatible with Docker (except where differences in implementation doesn't allow it)
Running Podman as root is 99.9% the same as running Docker.
I have been running my homelab with Podman for several years and it is absolutely mature enough for a regular user.
Also, the docs are really good.
But it is hosted on your home server.
When you subscribe to a community, your home server downloads the content and passes it on to you.
This is not like when The Pirate Bay was allowed to live because it only hosted torrent files and not copyrighted content, in the fediverse, you copy the content to your own server, and pass it on to the client/user, which means hosting the content.
Well obviously, seize the means of production?