Self-Hosted Software for Your Home Cloud

Every app that runs a home cloud is free and open source. The only real question is which ones you want — and the easiest way to get each running.

This is the software half of the home cloud. If you haven’t sorted the hardware yet, start with the Home Cloud hardware guide — it walks through the three ways to build the box these apps run on. Once you have a machine, the six projects below cover files, photos, media, the smart home, virtualization and secure remote access. Pick the ones you need; skip the rest. Every one is $0 to run.

How the pieces fit together

You don’t need all six, and you don’t need them in any particular order. Most home clouds look like this: an optional base layer (Proxmox) that lets one machine run several isolated apps, the apps themselves (Nextcloud, Immich, Jellyfin, Home Assistant) on top, and Tailscale stitched across everything so you can reach it safely from anywhere. If you’re starting with a single mini-PC or a NAS, you can skip Proxmox entirely and run the apps directly. Below, each app lists its install paths from easiest to most flexible — the first option is almost always the one to start with.

Nextcloud — your files, photos, calendar and contacts

Replaces: Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Calendar and Contacts. Nextcloud is the Swiss-army-knife of self-hosting: file sync across every device, phone photo backup, shared calendars, contacts, notes, and optional Office documents — all on hardware you own.

Ways to install it, easiest first:

  • Snap package (simplest) — on Ubuntu, a single command (sudo snap install nextcloud) gives you a working, auto-updating instance in minutes. Great for a first try; Talk and Office aren’t bundled.
  • Nextcloud All-in-One (recommended) — the official install method. One Docker “master container” spins up the whole stack, fetches an SSL certificate automatically, and includes Office, Talk and encrypted BorgBackup. Roughly 10–15 minutes from a fresh Docker host.
  • NextcloudPi — a pre-built, pre-tuned image for a Raspberry Pi or VM if you want an appliance-style setup.
  • Docker Compose or manual — full control over every component, for people who want to tune the stack themselves.

Project site: nextcloud.com

Immich — a private Google Photos

Replaces: Google Photos, iCloud Photos. Immich does automatic phone-photo backup, a fast timeline, face and object grouping, and “search your library in plain English” — and by 2026 it’s mature enough to be a daily driver.

Ways to install it:

  • Docker Compose (official) — the recommended path. Download the release’s compose and environment files, set two storage paths, and run docker compose up -d. This is how nearly everyone runs Immich.
  • On a NAS — Synology, Unraid and TrueNAS all run Immich through their built-in Docker/Compose interfaces.

One habit worth keeping: Immich ships frequent updates, so skim the release notes before upgrading. Project site: immich.app

Jellyfin — your movies, shows and music

Replaces: Plex, Netflix-style streaming — with no subscription, no account, and nothing phoning home. Jellyfin serves your media library to apps on every TV, phone and browser.

Ways to install it:

  • Native package (easiest) — official .deb and .rpm builds for Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora, plus Windows and macOS installers. Install, point it at your media folders, done.
  • Docker — the official image, ideal if you’re already running other containers.
  • NAS app store — one-click on Synology, Unraid and QNAP.

Project site: jellyfin.org

Home Assistant — the smart-home brain

Replaces: the cloud apps behind your smart devices — with local control that keeps working when the internet doesn’t. It ties lights, sensors, cameras, locks and thousands of other devices into one private dashboard and automation engine.

Ways to install it:

  • Home Assistant OS (recommended) — an appliance-style image you flash to a Raspberry Pi or SSD, or run as a virtual machine. You get the full add-on store, one-click updates and automatic backups. Best choice for most people.
  • Home Assistant Container (Docker) — for an existing Docker host. No built-in add-on store, but full control alongside your other services.

Note: the older Core and Supervised methods were retired at the end of 2025 — OS and Container are the two supported paths now. Project site: home-assistant.io

Proxmox VE — the foundation (optional)

What it does: Proxmox turns one physical machine into many. It’s a free virtualization platform that runs each app in its own isolated virtual machine or lightweight container, so a single mini-PC can host Nextcloud, Immich, Jellyfin and Home Assistant side by side without them stepping on each other. It’s optional — but it’s the base layer a lot of serious home clouds are built on.

Ways to install it:

  • Bare-metal ISO (standard) — download the installer image, flash it to a USB stick, boot from it, and install. Everything after that is managed from a clean web dashboard in your browser.
  • On top of Debian — for advanced users who already run a Debian server and want to add Proxmox to it.

Project site: proxmox.com

Tailscale — reach it from anywhere, safely

What it does: Tailscale is a mesh VPN that connects your devices to your home cloud over an encrypted private network — so you can open Nextcloud or your cameras from your phone on the other side of the world without exposing anything to the public internet or forwarding a single port. It’s the single biggest security upgrade you can make to a home setup, and the personal tier is free.

Ways to install it:

  • One-line installer (Linux) — curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh, then tailscale up. That’s it.
  • Native apps — installers for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android; log in and each device joins your private network automatically.

Project site: tailscale.com

Ready to build?

Software is the easy half — the hardware decision is where most people get stuck. The Home Cloud hardware guide lays out three builds at different budgets, what each part costs, and what it runs.

And if running your own box isn’t for you, that’s a perfectly good answer too: you can rent the same capability from a managed provider and skip the maintenance. Compare cloud providers to see the trade-offs and pricing.

See the hardware guide
  
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