If you are running a homelab or home server setup, this post is intended for you! If you are anything like me, you always look for something new to run in your lab. This article should help you find some popular applications being used and installed in 2024, along with some less-known ones that could unlock new features from your lab.

If you have your favourites or alternatives, please comment and let the people know! 📣

Jellyfin

Jellyfin has grown into a strong competitor compared to the usual media server recommendation of Plex Media Server. Being open-sourced and community-driven provides an alternative with built features that are very fast compared to the privately developed plex. You can try the live demo here.

The application offers a clean and polished UI for accessing self-hosted media, including Movies, TV, Music, Live TV and DVR, books, and photos, across many devices, including Web, Desktop, Android, Apple, and other standard smart TVs. Check out their complete app list here.

Home Assistant

home This popular home assistant platform has garnered much attention due to its extensive range of integrations with various devices and systems and simple setup. Even as the home automation space has become more complex with the introduction of new platforms and communication standards, this platform has remained a popular choice. One of its standout features is its high level of customization, which allows users to tailor the system to their specific needs, thereby enhancing the user experience.

You can customise your automation to the Nth degree through the platform's modern UI or by writing simple YAML config files, making your home more efficient and personalized. Whether it's adjusting the lighting, regulating the temperature, or controlling your home security system, the possibilities are endless with custom home automation. The ability to also write automation code and manage it as code allows for a very extensible and scalable way of building your home automation setup. Check out the docs here.

Portainer

If you currently use Docker containers, you might know some of your struggles when managing many containers as your fleet grows. Accessing things like logs or inspecting config can also be a chore when using just the CLI when it would be nice to quickly scan and click for the information you are looking for. You might be looking for a management UI for your Docker host!

Portainer provides a sleek, modern UI to view all the critical information on the containers running on your docker host. This connection is facilitated through a direct socket connection via a volume mount or an HTTP connection to the docker API. The UI provides information for each container, such as logs, configuration, and management actions like restarting, deleting, or editing containers.

If you are running docker on multiple hosts, Portainer also makes it easy to view and manage the docker environment of each host through a single pane of glass view, saving you time. Portainer also provides a scalable way to give others access to the docker environment through the user provisioning and RBAC of resources. Note these are available through the paid version of the app.

Nextcloud

NextCloud positions itself as an open-source alternative to similar products like Google Drive that provide cloud storage across your devices and offer productive tools like online document viewing and editing for supported formats.

NextCloud instances also have a robust user system that allows multiple users to access and share files on a single instance. NextCloud also offers an extensive app network to easily integrate new features into your NextCloud server for your users. These can range from standard features like draw.io support to 3D models and cookbook viewers for your files.

Suppose you are looking for further endorsement for Nextcloud and its data protection. In that case, governments have even adopted the application due to its on-premise hosting and cloud-like features it offers users. See the story below.

German state & Nextcloud build digitally sovereign AI for public sector - Nextcloud

Borg Backup

This open-source gem is purpose-built to safeguard your data with precision and efficiency, offering a comprehensive suite of features tailored for enthusiasts. From flexible backup scheduling to deduplication prowess, Borg Backup ensures your data is secure and optimized for storage efficiency to make backing your data up as easy as possible to ensure that you do it!

Its robust set of tools allows tinkering minds to explore the nuances of backup strategies, encryption protocols, and compression techniques while gaining invaluable insights into server technologies. With Borg Backup, the journey of learning and experimentation becomes an exhilarating adventure in data management and system optimization.

…. and always check your backups!

Photoprism

If you are an avid photographer or photo archiver, Photoprism may be the tool you are looking for. This app allows you to view all your photos your way. The app automatically uses embedded photo tags to find your pictures, making finding and sorting your photos seamless. You can run it at home, on a private server, or in the cloud, making it work for any setup you need.

Similar to other features locked down to Google Photos or Apple Photos, Photoprism can recognise the faces of your family and friends in your photos, automatically classify pictures based on their content and location, and includes four high-resolution world maps to bring back memories of your favourite trips. If you already collect media like TV and movies, your photos may be a part of your collection that you must pay attention to. Check it out here.

Penpot

This open-source design and prototyping tool empowers users to craft captivating user experiences with precision and creativity. From wireframing to high-fidelity mock-ups, Penpot offers many features to streamline the design process and foster collaboration.

Its intuitive interface and extensive coˇˇmponents library allow tinkering minds to experiment and learn the art of interface design. With Penpot, enthusiasts can dive deep into design systems and UI/UX principles while honing their server technology skills.

Conclusion

Thanks to the open-source community, you should have some inspiration for new applications you could use in your homelab today. These applications can be a great way to learn a new skill or gain new functionality from your homelab for free!

So enjoy the new project for your homelab or home server if you feel inspired! If you are looking for more inspiration, check out our last list of apps here.

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