Every self-hosted tool we profile

105 tools, each with a measured idle memory figure, an operational load score, the shape of its backup and the traps people actually hit. Filter by weight if your hardware or your patience is limited.

105 tools16 categoriesLast reviewed 8 September 2026

All tools

Productivity · ops 2/5 · 120 MB idle

Actual Budget

Local-first envelope budgeting with an optional sync server you can encrypt end to end

MIT · Native OIDC · replaces YNAB, Mint Networking · ops 2/5 · 60 MB idle

AdGuard Home

DNS blocker with encrypted upstreams, per-client rules and its own DoH/DoT server

GPL-3.0 · Local accounts only · replaces NextDNS, AdGuard DNS Media · ops 2/5 · 200 MB idle

Audiobookshelf

Audiobook and podcast server that actually keeps per-user playback position in sync

GPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Audible, Overcast Identity · ops 3/5 · 35 MB idle

Authelia

Forward-auth portal and 2FA gate for your reverse proxy, with a beta OIDC provider

Apache-2.0 · LDAP only · replaces Cloudflare Access, Okta Identity · ops 4/5 · 1000 MB idle

authentik

Full identity provider: OIDC, SAML, an LDAP outpost and forward auth, for about a gigabyte

MIT (core); authentik/enterprise/ under a separate Authentik Security license · Native OIDC · replaces Okta, Auth0 Monitoring · ops 1/5 · 40 MB idle

Beszel

Small multi-server dashboard: CPU, memory, disk, containers, alerts, 30 days of history

MIT · Native OIDC · replaces Netdata Cloud, Datadog Documents · ops 2/5 · 260 MB idle

BookStack

A plain PHP wiki organized into shelves, books, chapters and pages, and it just keeps working

MIT · Native OIDC · replaces Confluence, Notion Backup · ops 2/5 · 80 MB idle

BorgBackup

Deduplicating, compressed, authenticated-encryption backups over plain SSH

BSD-3-Clause · Not applicable · replaces CrashPlan, Backblaze Personal Backup Networking · ops 1/5 · 25 MB idle

Caddy

Web server and reverse proxy that obtains and renews its own TLS certificates

Apache-2.0 · Not applicable · replaces Nginx Plus, Cloudflare Tunnel Media · ops 2/5 · 120 MB idle

Calibre-Web

Web front end for a Calibre library you already have, not a replacement for Calibre

GPL-3.0 · LDAP only · replaces Calibre Content Server, Google Play Books Platforms · ops 2/5 · 300 MB idle

CasaOS

Friendly app-store dashboard bolted onto an existing Linux install, now in maintenance mode

Apache-2.0 · Local accounts only · replaces Synology DSM, Google Drive Developer · ops 2/5 · 200 MB idle

code-server

VS Code in a browser tab, on your server, without a Microsoft account

MIT · Auth proxy only · replaces GitHub Codespaces, JetBrains Gateway Platforms · ops 3/5 · 1200 MB idle

Coolify

Self-hosted PaaS for apps, databases and one-click services, finally out of beta in 2026

Apache-2.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Heroku, Vercel Security · ops 2/5 · 120 MB idle

CrowdSec

Log-parsing intrusion prevention with local decisions and an opt-in community blocklist

MIT · Not applicable · replaces Cloudflare rate limiting, AWS WAF managed rules Security · ops 1/5 · 25 MB idle

Diun

Tells you a container image changed, and then does nothing else, which is the point

MIT · Not applicable · replaces Watchtower, Renovate Platforms · ops 2/5 · 120 MB idle

Docker Engine

The container runtime and Compose tooling that most self-hosted guides assume you have

Apache-2.0 (Engine and Compose); Docker Desktop is proprietary · Not applicable · replaces VMware Workstation, Heroku Documents · ops 3/5 · 500 MB idle

Docmost

A Notion-shaped wiki with an AGPL core and a closed enterprise edition in the same image

AGPL-3.0 core, proprietary Docmost Enterprise licence for `ee` directories · Local accounts only · replaces Confluence, Notion Platforms · ops 3/5 · 900 MB idle

Dokploy

Self-hosted PaaS on Docker Swarm and Traefik, with git push deploys and managed databases

Apache-2.0, with DSAL 1.0 reserved for a /proprietary path · Local accounts only · replaces Vercel, Heroku Monitoring · ops 1/5 · 15 MB idle

Dozzle

Live Docker log viewer in the browser that stores nothing

MIT · Trusted proxy header · replaces Papertrail, Loggly Backup · ops 3/5 · 200 MB idle

Duplicati

Web-managed encrypted backup to any cloud target, finally out of beta

MIT · Local accounts only · replaces Backblaze Personal Backup, Carbonite Media · ops 2/5 · 350 MB idle

Emby

Closed-source media server with a one-off licence instead of a recurring platform fee

Proprietary · LDAP only · replaces Plex, Netflix Home automation · ops 2/5 · 150 MB idle

ESPHome

Turns YAML into ESP32 firmware and gives Home Assistant a local, encrypted device link

MIT (Python tooling) and GPL-3.0 (C++ device runtime) · Auth proxy only · replaces Tuya cloud firmware, Shelly Cloud Security · ops 2/5 · 40 MB idle

Fail2ban

Reads log files, writes firewall rules, and is still the right answer for SSH

GPL-2.0-or-later · Not applicable · replaces Cloudflare rate limiting, AWS WAF managed rules Photos and files · ops 1/5 · 20 MB idle

File Browser

Single-binary web file manager for a directory you already have. Archived on 2026-09-01

Apache-2.0 · Trusted proxy header · replaces Dropbox (browser access), cPanel File Manager Productivity · ops 3/5 · 250 MB idle

Firefly III

Double-entry personal finance for people who want a ledger, not a spending chart

AGPL-3.0-or-later · Trusted proxy header · replaces Mint, YNAB Developer · ops 2/5 · 150 MB idle

Forgejo

Nonprofit-governed Gitea fork, copyleft since v9.0, run by Codeberg e.V.

GPL-3.0-or-later · Native OIDC · replaces GitHub, Bitbucket Server Feeds · ops 2/5 · 90 MB idle

FreshRSS

Multi-user PHP feed aggregator with extensions, scraping and both Fever and Google Reader APIs

AGPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Feedly, Inoreader Home automation · ops 3/5 · 700 MB idle

Frigate

Local NVR that runs real object detection on your camera streams, with no cloud account

MIT · Trusted proxy header · replaces Ring Protect, Nest Aware Backup · ops 3/5 · 150 MB idle

Garage

Small, geo-distributed S3 storage that does less than MinIO on purpose

AGPL-3.0-only · Not applicable · replaces Amazon S3, Backblaze B2 Monitoring · ops 1/5 · 25 MB idle

Gatus

Health checks and a status page defined entirely in YAML, with no clickable state

Apache-2.0 · Native OIDC · replaces UptimeRobot, Pingdom Developer · ops 2/5 · 150 MB idle

Gitea

MIT-licensed Git forge in a single Go binary, backed by a for-profit company

MIT · Native OIDC · replaces GitHub, Bitbucket Server Developer · ops 4/5 · 4096 MB idle

GitLab CE

The full GitLab platform, MIT-licensed FOSS build, with a genuinely large RAM floor

MIT · Native OIDC · replaces GitHub Enterprise Server, Bitbucket Data Center Dashboards · ops 1/5 · 25 MB idle

Glance

One Go binary and one YAML file that turns RSS, Reddit, weather and Docker into a start page

AGPL-3.0 · Local accounts only · replaces Netvibes, Start.me Communication · ops 1/5 · 20 MB idle

Gotify

A 20 MB push server with real tokens, an Android app, and no iOS client

MIT · Native OIDC · replaces Pushover, Pushbullet Monitoring · ops 2/5 · 150 MB idle

Grafana

Dashboards and alerting on top of data you already store, AGPLv3 since 2021

AGPL-3.0-only · Native OIDC · replaces Datadog, Kibana Productivity · ops 1/5 · 40 MB idle

grocy

Household stock, chores and batteries in one PHP app on a single SQLite file

MIT · Trusted proxy header · replaces AnyList, Out of Milk Developer · ops 4/5 · 2500 MB idle

Harbor

CNCF container registry with RBAC, Trivy scanning, replication and retention policies

Apache-2.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Docker Hub Team, JFrog Artifactory Networking · ops 3/5 · 40 MB idle

Headscale

Self-hosted reimplementation of the Tailscale control server for official Tailscale clients

BSD-3-Clause · Native OIDC · replaces Tailscale, ZeroTier Central Documents · ops 2/5 · 250 MB idle

HedgeDoc

Real-time collaborative Markdown pads you can share with a link, no account needed

AGPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces HackMD, Google Docs (meeting notes)Dashboards · ops 2/5 · 500 MB idle

Homarr

Drag-and-drop homelab dashboard with real user accounts and no config files to edit

Apache-2.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Start.me, Netvibes Home automation · ops 4/5 · 600 MB idle

Home Assistant

Local-first automation hub that speaks nearly every smart home protocol without a vendor cloud

Apache-2.0 · OIDC via plugin · replaces SmartThings, Google Home Dashboards · ops 2/5 · 110 MB idle

Homepage

YAML-configured start page that pulls live status from a hundred-plus self-hosted services

GPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Start.me, Netvibes Photos and files · ops 3/5 · 900 MB idle

Immich

Self-hosted photo and video backup with real phone apps, face search and semantic search

AGPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Google Photos, Apple iCloud Photos Media · ops 2/5 · 280 MB idle

Jellyfin

Full-featured media server with no paid tier, no account and no licence check

GPL-2.0-only · OIDC via plugin · replaces Plex, Emby Media · ops 2/5 · 220 MB idle

Jellyseerr

Request front end for Jellyfin, Emby and Plex, now continued as Seerr

MIT · Auth proxy only · replaces Overseerr, Ombi Platforms · ops 4/5 · 2048 MB idle

k3s

Certified Kubernetes in one binary, with SQLite instead of etcd and batteries included

Apache-2.0 · Not applicable · replaces Amazon EKS, Google GKE Feeds · ops 3/5 · 700 MB idle

Karakeep

Bookmark-everything app (formerly Hoarder) with LLM tagging and full-text search

AGPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Raindrop.io, Pocket Media · ops 2/5 · 250 MB idle

Kavita

Reading server for manga, comics and ebooks with a browser reader worth using

GPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Komga, Calibre-Web Identity · ops 4/5 · 750 MB idle

Keycloak

The reference open source IdP: every protocol is supported, and you administer all of it

Apache-2.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Okta, Auth0 Platforms · ops 3/5 · 250 MB idle

Komodo

Rust build and deploy server that manages Docker Compose stacks across many machines

GPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Portainer Business, Dokku Backup · ops 2/5 · 200 MB idle

Kopia

Deduplicating encrypted snapshots with a real desktop GUI and a repository server

Apache-2.0 · Local accounts only · replaces Arq, CrashPlan Feeds · ops 1/5 · 90 MB idle

linkding

A bookmark manager that is one container, one SQLite file and no opinions about your workflow

MIT · Native OIDC · replaces Raindrop.io, Pinboard Identity · ops 1/5 · 15 MB idle

LLDAP

A tiny LDAP server for the apps that only speak LDAP

GPL-3.0 · LDAP only · replaces Microsoft Active Directory, JumpCloud Local AI · ops 3/5 · 300 MB idle

LocalAI

One OpenAI-compatible API in front of many inference backends, not just text

MIT · Not applicable · replaces OpenAI API, AssemblyAI Communication · ops 4/5 · 3500 MB idle

mailcow: dockerized

A complete mail server in 18 containers, with a UI that makes it survivable

GPL-3.0 for mailcow's own code; bundled components keep their own licenses · Native OIDC · replaces Google Workspace Gmail, Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Communication · ops 3/5 · 500 MB idle

Mattermost

Self-hosted team chat shaped like Slack, with free tiers that narrowed sharply in v11

AGPL-3.0 core, Mattermost Source Available License for `server/enterprise/`, Apache-2.0 for webapp and admin tools, MIT for official binaries · Native OIDC · replaces Slack, Microsoft Teams Productivity · ops 2/5 · 300 MB idle

Mealie

Recipe manager and meal planner that imports from URLs, photos and cooking videos

AGPL-3.0-or-later · Native OIDC · replaces Paprika, Copy Me That Feeds · ops 3/5 · 40 MB idle

Miniflux

One static Go binary, one PostgreSQL database, and a feature list the author will not extend

Apache-2.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Feedly, Inoreader Backup · ops 4/5 · 250 MB idle

MinIO

The S3-compatible object store everyone used, now archived upstream

AGPL-3.0 (repository archived) · Local accounts only · replaces Amazon S3, Wasabi Dashboards · ops 4/5 · 400 MB idle

n8n

Visual workflow automation, self-hostable under a non-OSI fair-code licence

Sustainable Use License 1.0 (plus n8n Enterprise License for .ee files) · Local accounts only · replaces Zapier, Make Media · ops 1/5 · 70 MB idle

Navidrome

Music-only server that speaks Subsonic, so the client apps already exist

GPL-3.0 · Trusted proxy header · replaces Spotify, Apple Music Monitoring · ops 2/5 · 150 MB idle

Netdata

Per-second metrics for a whole machine with no configuration, and no login on port 19999

GPL-3.0-or-later (agent); dashboard UI under NCUL1 · Auth proxy only · replaces Datadog, New Relic Photos and files · ops 4/5 · 600 MB idle

Nextcloud

File sync and share plus calendar, contacts, office and an app store, on your own server

AGPL-3.0-or-later · OIDC via plugin · replaces Google Drive, Dropbox Networking · ops 2/5 · 100 MB idle

Nginx Proxy Manager

Web UI for nginx reverse proxy hosts and Let's Encrypt certificates

MIT · Local accounts only · replaces Cloudflare Tunnel, Nginx Plus Home automation · ops 2/5 · 110 MB idle

Node-RED

Browser-based flow editor for wiring devices, APIs and automations together

Apache-2.0 · OIDC via plugin · replaces IFTTT, Zapier Communication · ops 1/5 · 30 MB idle

ntfy

Push notifications by HTTP POST to a topic, with no account and no client registration

Apache-2.0 (dual licensed with GPL-2.0) · Local accounts only · replaces Pushover, Pushbullet Local AI · ops 2/5 · 150 MB idle

Ollama

Pull and run quantized language models locally with one command and an HTTP API

MIT · Not applicable · replaces OpenAI API, Anthropic API Local AI · ops 2/5 · 600 MB idle

Open WebUI

Chat front end for local and remote models, no longer under a plain BSD licence

Open WebUI License (BSD-3-Clause plus a branding clause) · Native OIDC · replaces ChatGPT, Claude.ai Documents · ops 4/5 · 550 MB idle

Outline

A polished team knowledge base that assumes you already have an identity provider

BUSL-1.1 (Change Date 2030-09-01, converts to Apache-2.0) · Native OIDC · replaces Notion, Confluence Documents · ops 3/5 · 450 MB idle

Paperless-ngx

Scan, OCR and index your paper mail so you can find any document in seconds

GPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Evernote (document scanning), Dropbox Scan Photos and files · ops 2/5 · 450 MB idle

PhotoPrism

Indexes an existing photo archive in place and gives it search, faces, places and a calendar

AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); default images ship under the PhotoPrism Plus License · Native OIDC · replaces Google Photos, Apple Photos Networking · ops 2/5 · 100 MB idle

Pi-hole

Network-wide DNS blocker with per-device groups and a full query log

EUPL-1.2 · Local accounts only · replaces NextDNS, AdGuard DNS Productivity · ops 3/5 · 220 MB idle

PLANKA

Trello-style kanban with live updates, now under a source-available Fair Use License

PLANKA Community License (Fair Use License 1.1) · Local accounts only · replaces Trello, Asana Media · ops 2/5 · 400 MB idle

Plex Media Server

The most polished client apps in self-hosted media, with a subscription attached

Proprietary · Local accounts only · replaces Netflix, Emby Identity · ops 1/5 · 30 MB idle

Pocket ID

Passkey-only OIDC provider in a single Go binary

BSD-2-Clause · Native OIDC · replaces Okta, Auth0 Platforms · ops 2/5 · 40 MB idle

Podman

Daemonless OCI container engine that runs rootless and turns containers into systemd units

Apache-2.0 · Not applicable · replaces Docker Desktop, Docker Engine Platforms · ops 1/5 · 90 MB idle

Portainer

Web UI for Docker, Swarm and Kubernetes, with a free tier that is not the open source one

zlib (Community Edition); Business Edition is proprietary · Native OIDC · replaces Docker Desktop, Rancher Monitoring · ops 3/5 · 150 MB idle

Prometheus

Pull-based metrics database with 15 day default retention and an exporter for everything

Apache-2.0 · Auth proxy only · replaces Datadog, New Relic Media · ops 2/5 · 150 MB idle

Prowlarr

Define each indexer once, push it to every *arr app, change a domain in one place

GPL-3.0 · Local accounts only · replaces Jackett, NZBHydra2 Platforms · ops 4/5 · 2048 MB idle

Proxmox VE

Debian-based hypervisor with KVM, LXC, ZFS and clustering in one web UI

AGPL-3.0-only · Native OIDC · replaces VMware ESXi, VMware vCenter Media · ops 3/5 · 200 MB idle

Radarr

Film manager whose real work is scoring which copy of a movie you keep

GPL-3.0 · Local accounts only · replaces CouchPotato, Netflix Backup · ops 2/5 · 40 MB idle

rclone

rsync for cloud storage: 70+ backends, one config file, and no snapshot history

MIT · Not applicable · replaces Dropbox, Google Drive for desktop Backup · ops 2/5 · 100 MB idle

restic

Encrypted, deduplicating snapshots to almost any storage target from one static Go binary

BSD-2-Clause · Not applicable · replaces Backblaze Personal Backup, CrashPlan Monitoring · ops 3/5 · 100 MB idle

Scrutiny

SMART data from every disk, tracked over time, scored against real failure rates

MIT · Auth proxy only · replaces CrystalDiskInfo, Hard Disk Sentinel Photos and files · ops 3/5 · 700 MB idle

Seafile

Fast file sync with block-level dedup, library versioning and a clear community/pro split

GPL-2.0 with an OpenSSL linking exception (server, Community Edition); Professional Edition is proprietary · OIDC via plugin · replaces Dropbox, Google Drive Local AI · ops 2/5 · 150 MB idle

SearXNG

Metasearch front end that queries other engines for you and stores no profile

AGPL-3.0-or-later · Not applicable · replaces Google Search, Bing Media · ops 3/5 · 200 MB idle

Sonarr

Series manager that decides which release is which episode, then files it

GPL-3.0 · Local accounts only · replaces SickBeard, Cable DVR Communication · ops 3/5 · 150 MB idle

Stalwart

One Rust binary that is SMTP, IMAP, JMAP, CalDAV and CardDAV at the same time

AGPL-3.0 for the Community edition, dual licensed with the proprietary Stalwart Enterprise License for gated features · LDAP only · replaces Google Workspace Gmail, Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Communication · ops 4/5 · 700 MB idle

Synapse

Reference Matrix homeserver: AGPL since 2024, and still what federation is tested against

AGPL-3.0-only (or a commercial license from Element) · Native OIDC · replaces Slack, Discord Photos and files · ops 1/5 · 60 MB idle

Syncthing

Continuous peer-to-peer file sync between your own devices, with no server and no account

MPL-2.0 · Local accounts only · replaces Dropbox, Resilio Sync Networking · ops 3/5 · 130 MB idle

Technitium DNS Server

Authoritative and recursive DNS server with DNSSEC signing, DHCP and a real web console

GPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Windows Server DNS, Amazon Route 53 Networking · ops 3/5 · 60 MB idle

Traefik

Reverse proxy that builds its routing table from Docker labels, with ACME built in

MIT · Auth proxy only · replaces Nginx Plus, AWS Application Load Balancer Documents · ops 2/5 · 200 MB idle

Trilium Notes

A hierarchical personal knowledge base that scales past 100,000 notes in one SQLite file

AGPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Evernote, OneNote Platforms · ops 3/5 · 8192 MB idle

TrueNAS Community Edition

ZFS storage appliance OS, now one product line with Docker apps and no more SCALE branding

LGPL-3.0 (middleware) · Native OIDC · replaces Synology DSM, QNAP QTS Platforms · ops 2/5 · 2048 MB idle

Unraid

Paid NAS OS with a mixed-drive parity array, Docker apps and VMs, licensed per device count

Proprietary, perpetual per-device licence · Native OIDC · replaces Synology DSM, QNAP QTS Monitoring · ops 2/5 · 120 MB idle

Uptime Kuma

Uptime checks, alerting and status pages in one container, no separate database

MIT · Local accounts only · replaces UptimeRobot, Pingdom Identity · ops 2/5 · 40 MB idle

Vaultwarden

Rust reimplementation of the Bitwarden server API, with the paid org features unlocked

AGPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Bitwarden (hosted), 1Password Productivity · ops 2/5 · 70 MB idle

Vikunja

Task manager with list, kanban, gantt and CalDAV, shipped as one Go binary

AGPL-3.0-or-later · Native OIDC · replaces Todoist, Trello Feeds · ops 3/5 · 180 MB idle

wallabag

Read-it-later that keeps the article text, not a link that rots

MIT · Auth proxy only · replaces Pocket, Instapaper Security · ops 2/5 · 15 MB idle

Watchtower

Automatic container image updates, archived by its maintainers in December 2025

Apache-2.0 · Not applicable · replaces Renovate, Dependabot Security · ops 5/5 · 6144 MB idle

Wazuh

Agent-based SIEM and XDR that is free, open source and genuinely enterprise-weight

GPL-2.0 · OIDC via plugin · replaces Splunk Enterprise Security, Elastic Security Networking · ops 2/5 · 90 MB idle

wg-easy

WireGuard server with a web UI for adding clients and scanning QR codes

AGPL-3.0-only · Native OIDC · replaces OpenVPN Access Server, Tailscale Documents · ops 3/5 · 260 MB idle

Wiki.js

A Node wiki with Markdown, a visual editor and bidirectional Git sync, stalled on version 2

AGPL-3.0 · Native OIDC · replaces Confluence, MediaWiki Developer · ops 2/5 · 90 MB idle

Woodpecker CI

Apache-2.0 fork of Drone 0.8, kept free after Drone went proprietary

Apache-2.0 · Native OIDC · replaces CircleCI, Travis CI Home automation · ops 2/5 · 90 MB idle

Zigbee2MQTT

Bridges a USB Zigbee radio to MQTT so your sensors stop needing vendor hubs

GPL-3.0 · Local accounts only · replaces Philips Hue Bridge, Aqara Hub

Ops load is our own 1 to 5 score for how much ongoing attention a tool costs a competent single operator. The rubric is public on the methodology page. Memory figures describe a small single-household install.