Still Unbuilt

All 100 ideasServers and DevOps

#81 of 100 · Servers and DevOps

An app store for home servers

A one-click way for non-experts to install, update and secure many self-hosted apps on their own server, without paying per app.

11asks, each re-read
10separate threads
8of 19 years
2since 2024
2011first asked

Asks per year

’08’101’121’14’1611’181’202’222’242’26

What the askers want

  • Would pay18%
  • Want it local or private64%
  • Object to subscriptions9%
  • Want it open source or self-hosted82%
  • Want AI to do it0%

Share of the 11 asks that say so, as judged by Jev.

What exists on Show HN

Built, still asked for11 Show HN launches do this job, and 5 more do part of it. People still ask, so the launches are missed, unknown, or not what they want. Ask what they’re missing before you build.

Instead of: CapRover, ServerPilot

The idea, as matched

A one-click self-hosting platform or app store for personal servers that installs, updates, backs up and secures many open-source apps cheaply, so non-experts can replace cloud services.

Jev first matched 16 requests to this idea; a second reader kept 11 of 16.

Every ask, newest first

Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.

Reader’s note. 36884058 quotes 36883998, excluded.

  1. Dec 2025Wants a standard server app format like Umbrel's, with a strong ecosystem, as a missing piece for self-hosting. Read it: a comment in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud”
  2. Oct 2025Wants one service hosting many light single-user apps on a single instance, since per-app pods add up. Read it: a comment in “What I Self Host”
  3. Oct 2023Wants a ready-to-go homelab server bundling file server, docs, social, CRM and media apps for family. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: Anyone tired of Googl just punting any products of theirs at any time?”
  4. Jul 2023Wants a smartphone-like platform where users pay for hosting, choose where apps run and keep their data. Read it: a comment in “A world where people pay for software”
  5. Apr 2021Wants a bundled self-hosting product with auto security updates, a status dashboard and Google migration tools. Read it: a comment in “Screw it, I’ll host it myself”
  6. Apr 2021Would pay a one-time fee plus maintenance for automated self-hosting setup on any provider. Read it: a comment in “Screw it, I’ll host it myself”
  7. Feb 2020Wants a simple way for non-technical users to install server web apps. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Is there a simple, easy way non-tech users can install server software?”
  8. Sep 2018Wants a standard cloud-ready deployment so federated apps are a few clicks from running on providers. Read it: a comment in “Getting started with PeerTube”
  9. Jul 2017Asks for a hosting provider with one-click installs of WeeChat. Read it: a comment in “Gitter is open source”
  10. Jun 2014Asks for a hosting provider focused on easy self-hosted app workflows like YunoHost. Read it: a comment in “YunoHost: Aiming to make hosting accessible”
  11. Mar 2011Would pay for Ninite for servers that installs, configures and secures chosen apps and documents what it did. Read it: a comment in “New venture of Slicehost founder”

Building this?

Read ten of the asks above first, because they say what the existing launches miss. If you ship it, post it as a Show HN so the next run of this list finds it.

See all 100How the counts work

Ship it like Vercel, on a server you own

This site runs on ShipTiffin. A push to GitHub deploys it, the way it would on Vercel, but the server is a Hetzner box in your own account. Postgres, sign-in, email, jobs and analytics are already on it, every project gets a hard limit, and nothing is billed by usage.

Get your own box

$19 a month per box, plus about $10 for the server at Hetzner. Open source, so you can also run it yourself for free.