The Self-Hosted App, Simpler
All the ownership of self-hosted, none of the sysadmin. The App Factory is what "run it yourself" looks like when the server is your browser.
Self-hosting is the honest answer to "I don't trust vendors" — and its honest cost is maintenance. Docker, updates, backups, TLS certificates, a VPS somewhere quietly billing you. The App Factory offers the same sovereignty without the ops burden: there is no server to host, because the app is a file, and the runtime is the browser you already have.
What self-hosting actually costs
A VPS, a domain, an evening a month keeping the container updated, another evening the year a dependency breaks. It's affordable, but not free — and the maintenance falls on you the day something goes wrong.
The single-file alternative
Everything self-hosting protects — your data, your uptime, your independence — a single-file browser app protects too, without any of the infrastructure. There's no service to update, no port to open, no certificate to renew.
When self-hosting still wins
If you need multi-user access, a real database, background jobs, or an API — self-host. For personal and small-team tools, single-file is smaller, cheaper, and impossible to break in ways that require the terminal.
Frequently asked
How does this compare to running my own server?
You get the same ownership properties (your data, no vendor lock-in) with none of the ops. You lose multi-user access and always-on availability from anywhere.
What about my existing self-hosted setup?
Keep it if it works. The App Factory is best for the small tools that self-hosting an app for feels excessive.
Can I put an exported app on my own web server?
Yes. It's a static HTML file. Any static host serves it: your own server, GitHub Pages, an S3 bucket, or the file itself on a USB stick.
Do I need to install anything?
No. That is the whole point.
One HTML file · MIT-licensed · works offline · nothing to install.