MORE CONTROL OVER YOUR EVERYDAY TOOLS
Explore a small selection of self-hosted apps for photos, files, paperwork and automation. Find a project worth trying, with the responsibilities made clear.
Organise photos and videos on a server you control, with mobile uploads and search.
Plan for original media, generated previews, database storage and separate backups. Indexing and video work change resource demand.
Ongoing costs: Storage, backup copies, electricity or server rental.
Setup: Server administration required.
Keep a separate copy of irreplaceable photos. A photo library is not a complete backup plan.
Official project and setup guidance ↗Run a private file-sharing and collaboration service, with features depending on the apps you enable.
Requires a supported web server, PHP and database. Memory demand varies with users, applications and activity; per-process memory is not a whole-server specification.
Ongoing costs: Hosting, storage, backups and any paid support.
Setup: Server administration required.
Plan updates and recovery, and check whether a managed Nextcloud service is a better fit.
Official project and setup guidance ↗Import, organise and search documents with OCR, so scanned paperwork becomes easier to find.
Allow storage for originals, processed files, the database and backups. OCR workload affects CPU and memory requirements.
Ongoing costs: Server or home-computer running costs, storage and backups.
Setup: Server administration required.
Start with copies of a few documents. Test export and recovery before relying on the archive.
Official project and setup guidance ↗Build workflows that move information between services and run repeated tasks. Self-hosting and hosted options are available.
An always-available runtime for scheduled workflows, persistent data and careful handling of service credentials. Connected AI models have separate requirements.
Ongoing costs: Hosting, backups and any connected API or service charges.
Setup: Advanced when connecting live services.
Review its Sustainable Use licence before commercial use. Test workflows with sample data before enabling actions.
Official project and setup guidance ↗Choose one app and a small sample of data. Follow its official installation guide and keep the first test private to your home network.
Back up the database, uploaded files and configuration. Check that you can restore them before depending on the app.
Allow time for updates, monitoring and troubleshooting. A managed service may suit you better if you want the features without running a server.
These are editorial starting points, not installation tests or a claim that self-hosting is always cheaper. Software licences, paid features and connected-service costs differ. Explore hosting categories.