Self-hosted apps

Immich

Immich backs up every photo and video on your phone to the server in your house the moment you take it, then gives you the things you are used to: search by what is in the picture, faces, places on a map, albums, and sharing with family. It looks and works like Google Photos. The difference is that the pictures are on a drive you own.

Instead of

Google Photos, iCloud Photos

You stop paying

The Google One or iCloud+ storage plan, about $2 to $10 a month depending on the tier, for as long as you keep taking pictures.

On your phone

The Immich app on iPhone and Android. It uploads in the background, the same as the app it replaces.

What it needs

Drive space. Plan on the size of your photo library today plus room for a few years. A second drive for the backup, which we set up on day one.

What it does not do

It is not a photo editor beyond crops and basic fixes. Keep whatever app you edit in and let Immich hold the library.

Try the project's public demo(opens in a new tab) Project site(opens in a new tab) What went wrong on the cloud

Nextcloud

Nextcloud is a folder that follows you. Files on the server show up on your laptop, your phone, and the desktop in the office, and a change in one place shows up everywhere. It also carries your calendar, your contacts, and shared documents, and you can hand a link to anyone.

Instead of

Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive

You stop paying

Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, about $10 a month for a couple of terabytes, plus the Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 seat some small businesses pay for just to get a shared calendar.

On your phone

The Nextcloud app for files and photos, plus your phone's own calendar and contacts apps, which sync to it directly.

What it needs

Drive space for whatever you keep in it. Nothing else. A family or a small office fits on the same box as everything else here.

What it does not do

It is not Google Docs with a hundred people typing at once. Fine for a family or a small team editing the same file now and then.

Project site(opens in a new tab) What went wrong on the cloud

Vaultwarden

Vaultwarden holds every password, card number, and secure note you have, and fills them in for you on every phone and browser. It speaks the Bitwarden protocol, so you use the official Bitwarden apps, and they do not know or care that the server is in your closet.

Instead of

LastPass, 1Password, browser password sync

You stop paying

1Password or LastPass, about $3 to $5 a month per person, more for a family plan. Or nothing, if your passwords live in a browser or a notebook, which is its own problem.

On your phone

The Bitwarden app on your phone and the Bitwarden extension in your browser. Sign in once and it fills logins from then on.

What it needs

Almost nothing. It is the lightest thing on the box. One master password that you write down and put somewhere safe.

What it does not do

It cannot recover a forgotten master password. Nobody can, and that is the point. Write it down.

Project site(opens in a new tab) What went wrong on the cloud

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a streaming service where the library is yours. Point it at a folder of movies, shows, and music and you get posters, descriptions, resume where you left off, and a profile for everyone in the house, on every TV and phone you own, at home or on the road. The library grows for pocket change: thrift stores, yard sales, and library sales sell DVDs and Blu-rays for a dollar or two, and a disc ripped once is on every screen for good. Nothing vanishes when a licensing deal ends, no ads get spliced in, and nobody keeps a list of what you watch.

Instead of

Netflix, Hulu, Plex Pass, the pile of streaming apps

You stop paying

Netflix, Hulu, and the rest of the streaming apps, about $8 to $20 a month each, plus Plex Pass if you had it. Most houses keep one for new shows and drop the others.

On your phone

The Jellyfin app on phones, tablets, Roku, Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV, or any browser. Download a few things to the phone before a road trip and watch with no signal.

What it needs

Your files and a drive big enough for them. A movie is a few gigabytes, so a cheap drive holds hundreds. A disc drive for ripping, which we set up with the box. For a house that watches 4K on several TVs at once, a box with a bit more muscle.

What it does not do

It does not come with movies. It plays what you own, and building the library takes a few Saturday afternoons. New releases still land on the streaming apps first.

Try the project's public demo(opens in a new tab) Project site(opens in a new tab) What went wrong on the cloud

Home Assistant

Home Assistant is the one app for the whole house: lights, thermostat, locks, garage door, cameras, plugs, and the sensors on doors and windows, all on one screen, with schedules and rules that tie them together. The lights come on at dusk, the doors lock at ten, and the porch camera turns on the light when someone walks up. All of it runs on the box in your closet, so it keeps working when the internet is down or the gadget company goes under.

Instead of

Google Home, Alexa, SmartThings

You stop paying

Nothing, usually. Google Home and Alexa are free. What you get back is the devices that stopped working when a company shut down its servers, and a house that does not need the internet to turn on a light.

On your phone

The Home Assistant app on iPhone and Android, with notifications, and the same dashboard on a tablet on the wall if you want one.

What it needs

Devices that can be controlled locally. Zigbee and Z-Wave gear does that with a small USB radio. Many Wi-Fi devices do too. Some only talk to their maker's servers, and we check before you buy.

What it does not do

It cannot make a cloud only gadget local. If a device only works through its company's app, it is still that company's device.

Try the project's public demo(opens in a new tab) Project site(opens in a new tab) What went wrong on the cloud

Paperless-ngx

Paperless-ngx is a filing cabinet that reads. Scan a bill, a warranty, a tax form, or a letter from the school, and it pulls out the text, guesses the date and who sent it, and files it under tags you choose. A year later you type a word from the letter and it is on the screen.

Instead of

The filing cabinet and the shoebox

You stop paying

Nothing in dollars. It replaces the shoebox, the filing cabinet, and the afternoon you spend looking for the receipt.

On your phone

Your phone's camera as the scanner, through the browser or a companion app, and the same browser to find anything later. A desktop scanner with a document feeder if you have a lot of paper.

What it needs

A scanner or a phone camera, and a little time up front to feed it the backlog. A few tags you will actually use.

What it does not do

It does not shred the paper. Keep the originals that matter, like deeds and titles, and let Paperless hold the searchable copy.

Try the project's public demo(opens in a new tab) Project site(opens in a new tab) What went wrong on the cloud

AdGuard Home

AdGuard Home sits between your network and the internet and refuses to look up the addresses that ads and trackers come from. Every device in the house gets the benefit, including the smart TV, the game console, and the phones your guests bring, with nothing to install on any of them. It also shows you which gadgets are calling home, and how often.

Instead of

A blocker on each device, and none on the ones that cannot run one

You stop paying

Nothing. Ad blockers are free. What you get is one that covers the devices that cannot run one.

On your phone

Nothing to install. Settings live in a browser page on the box, and you can turn it off for a device in one click if a site needs ads to work.

What it needs

One setting on your router so every device asks the box for addresses. We do that as part of the setup.

What it does not do

It cannot block ads that come from the same place as the content, YouTube being the famous one. It blocks a lot. It does not block everything.

Project site(opens in a new tab) What went wrong on the cloud

Actual Budget

Actual Budget is envelope budgeting: every dollar gets a job before the month starts, and you can see where the money went at a glance. Import transactions from your bank, split them, set goals, and look back over years. Your transactions stay on the box in your house. Nobody sells them, because nobody else has them.

Instead of

YNAB and the like

You stop paying

YNAB, about $15 a month or $110 a year.

On your phone

The browser on your phone. Actual works well on a small screen, and a private tunnel makes it reachable from anywhere.

What it needs

Ten minutes a week. For automatic bank import, a small third party sync service. Or download a file from your bank and drop it in, which costs nothing.

What it does not do

It will not nag you. It is a tool, not a coach. You have to open it.

Try the project's public demo(opens in a new tab) Project site(opens in a new tab)

Mealie

Mealie is the family cookbook, the meal plan, and the grocery list in one place. Paste a link to any recipe on the web and it pulls in the ingredients, the steps, and the photo, without the ads and the life story. Plan the week and the shopping list writes itself. Everyone in the house sees the same list on their phone in the store.

Instead of

Paprika, Plan to Eat, AnyList, the recipe binder

You stop paying

A recipe or meal planning app, a few dollars a month or a one time fee per device. Or nothing, if your recipes live in screenshots and a binder.

On your phone

Your phone browser, saved to the home screen so it opens like an app. Share a recipe link to it from any site. The grocery list checks off as you shop.

What it needs

Almost nothing. It is light. A few minutes to paste in the recipes you actually cook.

What it does not do

It will not cook. And the importer works on most recipe sites, not all. For the stubborn ones you paste the text in by hand.

Try the one we run(opens in a new tab) Project site(opens in a new tab)

Tailscale or WireGuard

Tailscale, or WireGuard for people who want no account with anyone, is a private tunnel between your devices. Your phone at the airport reaches the server at home as if you were on the couch, and nothing on the box is reachable from the open internet. Every other app on this page gets remote access through it.

Instead of

Port forwarding, cloud relays

You stop paying

Port forwarding and the cloud relay every gadget company runs to reach your house. Tailscale is free for personal use. WireGuard is free, full stop.

On your phone

The Tailscale app on every device, signed in once. Or a WireGuard profile we install for you. Either way you forget it is there.

What it needs

Nothing new. It runs on the box and on your phone. Tailscale wants a login through Google, Microsoft, Apple, or GitHub. WireGuard wants none.

What it does not do

It is not a VPN that hides you from websites. It connects your own devices to each other, privately. Nothing more.

Project site(opens in a new tab)

Try before you buy

Most of these have a live copy you can click through, linked above. Some are run by the project itself and some by us. Our own demo system, a fresh private copy of any app for twenty minutes with no signup, is on the way. The Examples page shows what it will look like.

These are the ones we install most. There are hundreds more. If there is a subscription you would like to stop paying for, ask. There is usually a way.