You pay $10/month for email. Another $5 for file storage. $3 for a password manager. $7 for git hosting. $10 for a VPN. $20 for AI chat. Before you know it, you’re spending $50-70/month on basic digital services - and you don’t own any of it.

What if you could run all of these services yourself, on infrastructure you control, for $5-10/month? What if deployment was as simple as signing up for Gmail, but you kept complete sovereignty over your data?

That’s the vision behind OpenHaven - a convention-driven cloud orchestrator that makes self-hosting as simple as using SaaS.

The Problem with SaaS

Don’t get me wrong - SaaS is convenient. But it comes with costs beyond the monthly subscription:

  1. Vendor Lock-In: Your data is trapped in proprietary formats
  2. Privacy Concerns: Companies mine your data for profit
  3. Mounting Costs: $5 here, $10 there - it adds up fast
  4. Loss of Control: Features change, prices increase, services shut down
  5. Data Silos: Your information scattered across dozens of platforms

Self-hosting solves these problems. But traditional self-hosting has its own issues:

  • Complexity: Manually configuring dozens of services
  • Maintenance: Security updates, backups, monitoring
  • Cost: Expensive VPS or dedicated hardware
  • Expertise: Requires deep DevOps knowledge

OpenHaven bridges this gap. Convention-driven simplicity meets complete control.

The OpenHaven Approach

OpenHaven is built on three core principles:

1. User-Owned Infrastructure

You own the cloud accounts, not OpenHaven.

  • Create AWS, GCP, or Hetzner accounts yourself
  • Grant OpenHaven limited IAM permissions
  • OpenHaven provisions infrastructure in your accounts
  • You control billing and can revoke access anytime
  • If OpenHaven disappears, your infrastructure keeps running

This is fundamentally different from traditional SaaS. You’re not a tenant - you’re the owner.

2. Convention Over Configuration

Like Ruby on Rails for cloud infrastructure:

  • Opinionated defaults automatically select the lowest-cost providers
  • Best-in-class open source software for each service
  • Zero config to start - just choose your domain
  • Fully customizable - override any default

Example: OpenHaven defaults to Hetzner Cloud for compute (cheapest), Backblaze B2 for storage (no egress fees), and Cloudflare for DNS (free). But you can swap any provider.

3. Zero Vendor Lock-In

Everything is open source and exportable:

  • Terraform for all cloud resources
  • Docker Compose for service orchestration
  • YAML configs for service configuration

All generated code is human-readable, version-controlled, and forkable. You can inspect, modify, or take over manual management anytime.

The Service Stack

OpenHaven deploys a comprehensive personal cloud:

Service Software Purpose
Identity/SSO Keycloak Single sign-on for all services
Email Mailcow Full mail server (SMTP, IMAP, webmail)
Files Nextcloud File storage, calendar, contacts, notes
Passwords Vaultwarden Bitwarden-compatible password manager
Git Gitea GitHub-like git hosting with CI/CD
Office OnlyOffice Microsoft Office-compatible editing
VPN WireGuard Modern VPN with QR code setup
AI Ollama + Open WebUI Self-hosted AI chat (privacy-first)

All services integrate with Keycloak for centralized authentication. One login, access everything.

Multi-Cloud Cost Optimization

Here’s where OpenHaven gets interesting: it doesn’t lock you to a single VPS.

Traditional self-hosting: Rent a $20-50/month VPS, run everything on it.

OpenHaven approach: Use the cheapest provider for each service layer:

  • Compute: Hetzner Cloud CX21 ($5/month) - best price/performance
  • Storage: Backblaze B2 ($0.50/month for 100GB) - cheapest S3-compatible
  • DNS: Cloudflare (free) - excellent API, DDoS protection

Total: $5-10/month for a complete personal cloud.

Compare to SaaS equivalents:

Service SaaS Cost OpenHaven
Email + Calendar $5-10/month Included
File Storage (100GB) $2-5/month $0.50/month
Password Manager $1-3/month Included
Git Hosting $4-7/month Included
VPN $5-10/month Included
AI Chat $20/month Included
Office Suite $7-10/month Included
Total $44-65/month $5-10/month

Savings: $400-600/year - and you own everything.

Architecture: How It Works

OpenHaven consists of three layers:

1. Control Plane (Future)

The orchestration engine that:

  • Provisions cloud resources via Terraform
  • Deploys services via Docker Compose
  • Generates configuration files
  • Monitors health and status
  • Manages updates

Deployment options:

  • Hosted (SaaS) - OpenHaven-managed control plane
  • Self-hosted - Run control plane yourself

2. Infrastructure Layer

Your cloud resources:

  • VM: Hetzner Cloud (or DigitalOcean, GCP, AWS)
  • Storage: Backblaze B2 (or AWS S3, Cloudflare R2)
  • DNS: Cloudflare (automated records and SSL)

All provisioned via Terraform, fully exportable.

3. Service Stack

Docker Compose orchestration of:

  • Traefik (reverse proxy with automatic SSL)
  • Keycloak (SSO)
  • Nextcloud (files)
  • Mailcow (email)
  • Vaultwarden (passwords)
  • Gitea (git)
  • OnlyOffice (office suite)
  • WireGuard (VPN)
  • Ollama + Open WebUI (AI)

All services configured to work together seamlessly.

Current Status: v0.1.0 - Documentation Phase

OpenHaven is in early development. We’re currently:

  • ✅ Establishing vision and architecture
  • ✅ Writing comprehensive documentation
  • ✅ Creating Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)
  • ✅ Defining technical specifications
  • 🔄 Planning onboarding flow
  • 🔄 Designing user experience

Roadmap:

  • v0.2.0: Minimal control plane (Keycloak, Vaultwarden, Gitea)
  • v0.3.0: File storage & productivity (Nextcloud, OnlyOffice, WireGuard)
  • v0.4.0: Email & communication (Mailcow)
  • v0.5.0: AI & developer tools (Ollama, Open WebUI)
  • v1.0.0: Production-ready with comprehensive monitoring

The Vision: Rails for Personal Cloud

OpenHaven aims to be the Rails of personal cloud infrastructure - the obvious choice for anyone who wants to self-host with SaaS-level convenience.

Just as Rails made web development accessible without sacrificing power, OpenHaven makes self-hosting accessible without sacrificing control.

Convention over configuration. Opinionated defaults that just work. Full transparency and customization when you need it.

Why This Matters

Self-hosting shouldn’t require a DevOps degree. Privacy shouldn’t be a luxury. Data sovereignty shouldn’t be complicated.

OpenHaven makes these things accessible:

  • For individuals: Take control of your digital life
  • For families: Secure, private services for everyone
  • For small teams: Affordable collaboration tools
  • For developers: Learn modern cloud architecture hands-on

Get Involved

OpenHaven is open source (GPL-3.0) and needs contributors:

  • Developers: Help build the control plane and service integrations
  • DevOps: Improve Terraform modules and deployment automation
  • Writers: Enhance documentation and guides
  • Testers: Validate deployment on different cloud providers
  • Designers: Create beautiful, intuitive interfaces

Check out the project on GitHub.

Read the documentation. Review the Architecture Decision Records. Join the discussion.

Let’s build the future of personal cloud infrastructure - together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is this production-ready?
A: Not yet. We’re in v0.1.0 (documentation phase). Production-ready target is v1.0.0.

Q: What if I don’t want to manage infrastructure?
A: Future hosted control plane option will handle everything - you just connect your cloud accounts.

Q: Can I migrate from existing services?
A: Yes. Migration guides will be provided for common services (Gmail → Mailcow, Dropbox → Nextcloud, etc.).

Q: What about email deliverability?
A: Mailcow includes automated SPF/DKIM/DMARC setup. Deliverability takes time to build, but OpenHaven provides tools and documentation to help.

Q: Is this really cheaper than SaaS?
A: Yes. Hetzner CX21 ($5/month) + Backblaze B2 ($0.50/month for 100GB) = $5.50/month. SaaS equivalents cost $40-65/month.

Q: What about backups?
A: Automated encrypted backups to S3 using Restic. Daily incremental, weekly full, 30-day retention.

Q: Can I use different cloud providers?
A: Absolutely. OpenHaven supports AWS, GCP, Azure, Hetzner, DigitalOcean, and more. Swap providers anytime.