This is surely an option right now especially considering that we are still talking about the first release of the 9 series. But at some point you will need to update since in one year you won't get any security updates for PVE 8.0. anymore:After reading all of this I think I'll just stay on v8
How long will my Proxmox VE version be supported?
Proxmox VE versions are supported at least as long as the corresponding Debian Version is oldstable. Proxmox VE uses a rolling release model and using the latest stable version is always recommended.
Proxmox VE 9
First Release: 2025-08, Debian Version 13 (Trixie), Debian EOL: TBA, Proxmox VE EOL: TBA
Proxmox VE 8
First Release: 2023-06, Debian Version 12 (Bookworm), Debian EOL: 2026-08, Proxmox VE EOL: 2026-08
It's not. People are more likely to post here if they run into problems instead to posted "It just worked for me". I for example didn't had any issues at all but I also read and followed the update guide so I know what to expect and what to do in which step.
You can also install ProxmoxVE to a VM in your existing install to try out the update procedure before doing it on your real system.
Now don't take this the wrong way but if you don't want to do updates because the process "seems extremely complex and the likelihood of something going sideways is almost 100%" you shouldn't run ProxmoxVE (or any Linux server system by the way) as a home user. We already have more than enough insecure, non-patched systems of all kind in the wild, people really shouldn't add more.
If you just want to self-host some services instead of learning basic system administration (fair enough) you are better off with a NAS OS which supports docker e.g. commercial NAS like from Synology, OpenMediaVault or Unraid. They should be less complex to setup and maintain (at the cost of reduced flexiblity compared to ProxmoxVE). But you also will need to update them regulary, there is really no way around it due to the security situation in todays Internet.