Tobias Eigen — Digital Sovereignty Consulting

About

Hi, I'm Tobias.

I've spent years helping civil society organizations around the world use technology to do more good. Now I'm channeling that experience into something I care deeply about: helping people and organizations take back control of their digital tools and data.

I've done this myself — moved my own email, calendar, contacts, and files off Big Tech platforms and onto a self-hosted server on my own domain. It's not always easy, but it is absolutely doable, and the sense of ownership you gain is worth it.

I work from home on Bainbridge Island, Washington. My own stack runs on Hetzner servers in Europe, as proof that this approach works in daily life. I help you build yours on your own account at Hetzner or your preferred hosting provider: the same sovereign setup, fully in your name, paid by you, controlled by you.

I'm not here to sell you a silver bullet. I'm here to walk alongside you on your journey.

Schedule a free intro call

Three layers. One sovereign stack. Yours at every layer.

From inbox to workspace to community — every layer set up on your own server, owned by you.

🔒

Sovereign

Your data, not theirs

Email, files, contacts, and calendars on your own domain — not feeding an advertising machine. Ownership starts at the address bar.

🌍

Self-hosted

Hosted in Europe, on your account

Your server runs in a Hetzner data centre in Europe — on your own account, under your control. GDPR-compliant infrastructure you own, pay for, and can audit or replace.

🤝

Accompanied

Guided, not gatekept

Hands-on setup, training, and three months of premium support are baked into every project — for the admin and every end-user on the domain.

Membership

Join the community

No payment is neeeded to join digitallysovereign.org. You can sign up for free right now and get full access to discussions, step-by-step guides, curated news, and the events calendar. If you find value in what I'm building, a paid membership directly supports the work and unlocks additional benefits.

Annual Monthly 1 month free

	Community Supporter $550 / year	Premium Solo $1,100 / year	Premium Group $2,200 / year
Community
Community discussions & peer support	✓	✓	✓
Step-by-step guides & tips	✓	✓	✓
Curated news, events & learning resources	✓	✓	✓
Self-hosting guides & runbooks Opt-in — more technical	✓	✓	✓
Recognition
Supporter badge in Discourse	✓	✗	✗
Premium badge in Discourse	✗	✓	✓
Direct access to Tobias
1:1 support via email & Discourse PMs	✗	✓	✓
Weekly office hours with screen sharing	✗	✓	✓
Paid support (at member rate)
End-user tech support e.g. email clients, calendars, Nextcloud	✗	✓ $165 / hr	✓ $165 / hr
Self-hosting & server support e.g. Mailcow, Nextcloud, Discourse admin	✗	✓ $165 / hr	✓ $165 / hr
Team & organisation support
Private group for your team Own Discourse group with its own email address	✗	✗	✓
Backstopping support Direct help when you're stuck supporting your team	✗	✗	✓
Included with bespoke projects 3 months for everyone on the domain	✗	✗	✓
	Become a Supporter	Get Premium Solo	Get Premium Group

Want to start for free? Head straight to digitallysovereign.org and create an account — no payment or credit card needed. Free members have full access to community discussions, guides, and resources. You can upgrade at any time.

Bespoke migration and setup projects are priced per scope. Contact me to discuss your situation and get a quote. All bespoke projects include three months of Premium Group membership for everyone on the domain.

Services

What I can help you with

Whether you're the accidential techie tasked with maintaining an organisation's IT, or just one person wanting help with your email setup — there's something here for you.

01 — Email

Self-hosted email

Own your inbox, on your own domain. I set up a fully sovereign email server on your own Hetzner account — your domain, your inbox, your data. Includes web interface, calendar, contacts, spam protection, and a clean migration from Gmail or other providers, plus onboarding and hands-on training.

Migrate my inbox →

02 — Workspace

Self-hosted workspace

Replace Google Drive and Zoom with tools you own. I set up a self-hosted workspace on your own Hetzner server — file sharing, video calling, calendaring, contacts, and collaboration, accessible from any device. You own the server, you own the data, and you keep paying Hetzner directly.

Move my workspace →

03 — Community & more

Community, social & more

Go further, together. Also available: self-hosted community platforms, social media, website hosting, and more — all deployed on your own Hetzner account. Open source throughout, hosted on European infrastructure, fully in your name.

Explore the rest →

All bespoke services include 3 months of Premium Membership for everyone on the domain — not just the admin. That means every end-user gets a friendly space to ask questions about using their email client, setting up their calendar app, or getting comfortable with their new tools. The admin additionally gets full server runbooks and direct access to me. Everyone is covered from day one.

Let's talk about your needs

How it works

Three steps, fully supported at every one.

Self-hosting sounds complicated. It isn't — not with the right accompaniment. Here's the shape of how we work together.

01

You open your accounts

You sign up directly with a cloud provider and domain registrar of your choice — your accounts, your billing, no middlemen. I guide you through which options to consider.

02

I do the setup and migration

I handle the full server setup, software installation, domain configuration, and migration of your existing data. Includes hands-on training so everyone on your domain feels at home on day one.

03

You run it, the community supports you

Once your server is live, it's yours to run. The Discourse community and its runbooks guide you through maintenance. Premium members get direct access to me whenever a tricky issue comes up.

Understand the mechanics → The daily user experience → See the server software suite →

FAQ

Common questions

Honest answers to the worries most people have before taking the first step.

How much does migration cost?

Bespoke projects are priced per scope — a single-person email migration is very different from setting up a full workspace for a 15-person nonprofit. The best way to get a number is to schedule a free intro call so I can understand your situation. Supporter and Premium membership tiers are affordable annual or monthly subscriptions. The Free tier costs nothing.

How long does a migration take?

I typically recommend planning for three months to fully migrate to self-hosted. I'll set up your server and migrate your email, but becoming comfortable with new software, building new habits, and moving everything else — calendars, contacts, files — takes time. Throughout those three months, I'll be available to support you and everyone on your domain.

Will I have to learn new software?

Mostly no. You and everyone on your team can keep using Outlook, Apple Mail, or any other email client you're already comfortable with — it just points to a new server. Files sync the same way Dropbox or Google Drive does, via a desktop app. See the For users page for the full picture.

Why Mailcow and Nextcloud?

These are best-in-class, battle-tested open source projects that I landed on after trying many others and consulting with trusted experts. I know how to install and configure them and can guide you with confidence. See the server software suite page for the full picture.

Can I import my existing Gmail (or other) data?

Yes. Mailcow supports full IMAP import, so your existing emails, folders, and labels migrate cleanly. Contacts and calendars export as standard vCard and iCal files that import directly into the new system. You won't lose anything.

What if I change my mind and want to stop self-hosting?

You own your data and your domain. Everything exports in open standards — IMAP for email, vCard for contacts, iCal for calendars, WebDAV for files. You can move to any other provider or back to a commercial service. There is no lock-in.

Can't you just handle the server hosting for me?

I don't offer managed hosting — and that's intentional. Digital sovereignty means you own and control your own infrastructure. End-users on the domain never have to worry about any of this — they just use their email and apps like normal. See how it works for more.

Is Hetzner the only hosting option?

It's what I recommend — a German company fully subject to European privacy law, with exceptional pricing starting around €5/month. But if you already have a preferred cloud provider that supports Ubuntu Linux, I can work with it. See how it works for more on the infrastructure choices.

Contact

Get in touch

Tell me about your situation — the size of your team, what you're moving away from, and what success looks like. I read every message myself.

Your message goes directly to me via my self-hosted contact form — no third-party services involved.

Other ways to reach me

Bainbridge Island, WA · Servers in Europe

You know you need to do something about Big Tech.I can help.