Open-source tools, set up and looked after
TrySelfHost sets up and looks after open-source software for small teams: file sharing and documents, business email, team chat and password management. When you are ready to leave a paid tool, we move you across gradually and carefully, so your team keeps working.
Free, no commitment. We reply within one business day.
Your old tool stays live
until your team confirms the move is complete.
A fixed written quote
before you pay anything.
You own the result
the server and every password are handed to you.
The cost adds up, or you would rather keep your data under your own control. But the tool holds years of files, email and history, and moving it feels risky.
Someone set it up once. Now updates, backups and security fixes depend on whoever has time, and nobody is sure what happens if the server fails.
You know what you would like for files, email, chat or passwords. You have no administrator, and you do not want to become one.
If one of these is close to your situation, the free 30-minute review is a good place to start. Tell us about your setup
Move
We start with one tool you pay for, suggest an open-source alternative, and move your data while the old one keeps running. We only continue when you are comfortable.
Set up
We install one open-source tool on a server in your own hosting account, secure it, set up backups, and show your team how to use it.
DetailsLook after
You have an open-source tool and nobody to maintain it. We take over updates, backups, monitoring and fixes, for a monthly fee.
DetailsThe new setup is built beside your live tools, so nothing you rely on is touched while it is being tested.
1. Review and plan
2. Build and test
3. The move
4. Handover
Your old tool
Running as usual
Running as usual
Still running
Yours to switch off when you decide
The new setup
Not started yet
Built and tested on its own
Your data is copied across
Yours: the server and every password
The only gate is your team. The move ends when they confirm that everything they need has arrived, not before.
1. Review and plan
Old tool: Running as usual
New setup: Not started yet
2. Build and test
Old tool: Running as usual
New setup: Built and tested on its own
3. The move
Old tool: Still running
New setup: Your data is copied across
4. Handover
Old tool: Yours to switch off when you decide
New setup: Yours: the server and every password
The only gate is your team. The move ends when they confirm that everything they need has arrived.
Thirty minutes on what you use today and what is painful about it. There is no cost and no commitment.
Within two business days you receive a one-page plan and a fixed price for the whole job. You pay nothing until you have read and approved it.
We build the new setup on its own, so your live tools are not touched while it is being tested.
Your data moves across while the old tool stays live. The move only ends when your team confirms that everything they need has arrived.
The server and every password are yours, with plain documentation that another administrator could follow.
If you want it, we take over updates, backups, monitoring and fixes for a monthly fee, quoted separately.
Every project starts with a free review and a fixed written quote for the whole job. You pay only after you have read and approved it. Ongoing care is optional and quoted separately.
How pricing worksIt is free and open source. If something needs a paid edition, we tell you before you commit.
Open-source tools do not match every feature of the paid tool they replace. We say where they differ.
We cannot promise that email lands in every inbox. That depends on many factors, and we tell you what we can and cannot control.
TrySelfHost is a small, founder-run initiative. Support is next business day, during business hours. If you need more, we agree it in writing first.
Usually not. The software is open source. If a paid edition is needed, we tell you first, and you pay the vendor directly.
You do. Everything runs in your own hosting account, and you hold the passwords.
Your old tool stays live until your team confirms that everything has arrived, so there is always something to fall back on.
You have full access, every password and written documentation, so another administrator can take over.
Yes. Nothing locks you in. Ongoing care is optional and can end whenever you choose.
Hosting in a provider's EU region puts your data in Europe. Whether it also keeps it out of reach of foreign law is a different question, and the answer has changed more than once.
What self-hosted infrastructure really costs at 20, 50, and 100 people, and the setup and ongoing costs most comparisons quietly skip.
Not a comparison of features. What actually changes when a team of a few dozen moves its files, email and documents off Google onto infrastructure it owns, and where it needs care.
Tell us what you use today and what is painful. After the call we send you a one-page written plan. There is no cost and no commitment.
Prefer to write? Use the form, or email hello@tryselfhost.com. We reply within one business day.
Three short questions.