The Sovereign Software Suite

How I choose software

Not every open source project is equal.

The self-hosted open source landscape is large and uneven. These are the criteria I apply before recommending anything. Everything on this page meets all of them.

🏛️

Mature and battle-tested

Active development, a real user community, and years of production use — not an exciting experiment.

📖

Open source

Source code is public, auditable, and community-governed. No black boxes, no vendor lock-in at the application level.

🐳

Docker-native install

Installed and updated via Docker Compose — setup, updates, and migrations are clean and repeatable.

🔄

Open standards

Uses protocols like IMAP, CalDAV, CardDAV, ActivityPub — so your data is always portable and not locked to an app.

🤝

I've used it myself

Everything here is software I run on my own servers, not software I've only read about.

🛡️

Privacy by design

No tracking, no advertising, no selling your data. The software works for you, not a third party.

Start here

The foundation.

These two together replace the core of what most organisations depend on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for — email, calendar, contacts, shared files, and video calling — all on infrastructure you own. Your users can keep using the apps they already know. See what it's like for them →

Mailcow — Email server

Replaces Gmail / Google Workspace email

I use this

Mailcow is a complete, self-hosted email server suite — inbound and outbound mail, spam and virus filtering, webmail, calendars, and contacts, all through a polished web interface. Users access their email with any standard client using IMAP. I've been running my own email on Mailcow since 2024.

Built on well-known, battle-tested components: Postfix for mail delivery, Dovecot for IMAP, SOGo for webmail, calendar and contacts, Rspamd for anti-spam, and automatic Let's Encrypt SSL.

🌐 Digital Public Good

mailcow.email ↗ Community discussions

Nextcloud — Workspace

Replaces Google Drive, Docs, Meet, Calendar

I use this

Nextcloud is a file sync and sharing platform — like Dropbox or Google Drive, but on your own server. It goes far beyond files: calendar, contacts, video calling (Nextcloud Talk), in-browser document editing (Collabora), notes, and a password manager, all in one.

I install it using the Nextcloud All-in-One Docker image, which bundles everything needed into a single well-maintained package. Desktop and mobile apps make it feel familiar from day one.

🌐 Digital Public Good

nextcloud.com ↗ Community discussions

My accompaniment model: I help you set these up on your own server and infrastructure — your accounts, your billing, your control. Once they're running, they're yours to maintain, with the community's runbooks and peer support to guide you. I'm always available for emergency help at my hourly rate if something urgent comes up.

Social & community

Extend your sovereign presence — your own website, social media feed, and community space, none of which depend on Big Tech platforms.

🌐

Website hosting

Replaces Squarespace, Wix, shared hosting

I use this

The simplest sovereign website is a static HTML site served by Nginx on your own server — no database, no CMS, no attack surface. The site you're reading right now is exactly that: plain HTML and CSS, fast, cheap, and completely under my control.

If you need a blog, newsletter, or content-managed site, Ghost is an excellent open source option with built-in newsletter and membership features. WordPress and Drupal are also solid options with vast plugin ecosystems.

ghost.org ↗ Static site runbook

Mastodon — Social media

Replaces Twitter/X, LinkedIn

I use this

Mastodon is a federated, open source social network — part of the Fediverse. Your account on your own server can follow and interact with accounts on any other Mastodon server in the world, without depending on any single company.

Running your own instance means you control moderation rules, data retention, and who can join — and you're not subject to platform algorithm changes or business model pivots. You can find me at social.tobiaseigen.org.

🌐 Digital Public Good

joinmastodon.org ↗

Discourse — Community platform

Replaces Google Groups, Slack, mailing lists

I use this

Discourse is a modern, open source discussion platform that works equally well as a community forum, team collaboration space, documentation wiki, or knowledge base. Categories, tags, trust levels, mailing list mode, full-text search, and excellent email integration make it one of the most versatile open source platforms available.

The site you're reading right now runs on Discourse, self-hosted on my own server. It creates a searchable, permanent record of decisions and discussions that a chat tool like Slack never can.

🌐 Digital Public Good

discourse.org ↗ Community discussions

Business tools

Running a sovereign business means sovereign tools for the business side too.

Umami — Web analytics

Replaces Google Analytics

I use this

Umami is a privacy-focused, open source web analytics tool. It gives you page views, referrers, and visitor patterns without cookies, without tracking individuals, and without sending any data to Google.

Lightweight, fast to set up via Docker, and straightforward to read. I use it on this site and all my self-hosted web properties.

umami.is ↗ Community discussion

Invoice Ninja — Invoicing & payments

Replaces FreshBooks, QuickBooks, Wave

I use this

Invoice Ninja is a full-featured open source invoicing and billing platform. It handles invoices, quotes, expenses, recurring billing, client management, and online payment processing including Stripe integration.

I use it to manage subscriptions and invoices for this service. Clients get a polished portal where they can view, download, and pay invoices online. Self-hosted via Docker, all data on your own server.

invoiceninja.com ↗ Community discussion

The landscape keeps growing. This page reflects what I currently use and recommend. As the open source ecosystem evolves and I gain more experience, I'll add to it. The Open Source category on the community forum is where I discuss new discoveries.

The sovereign server suite.

Not every open source project is equal.

Mature and battle-tested

Open source

Docker-native install

Open standards

I've used it myself

Privacy by design

The foundation.

Ready to own your server?