The open source we run on, and why we credit it

HostingSwift is built on open source. This page is the honest ledger of what we use, with links to each project's own website and source code, so you can go to the source rather than take our word for anything.

We credit these projects for two reasons. First, because it is true and they deserve it. Second, because a hosting company that documents its own stack in the open is a hosting company you can check.

Our core platform

• Debian — the operating system most of our fleet runs. · source

• Linux kernel — the foundation, obviously. · source

• Nginx — web server and reverse proxy. · source

• PostgreSQL — our primary database. · source

• Redis and Valkey — caching and queues. · Redis source · Valkey source

• Docker — container runtime for customer apps. · source

• WireGuard — the private mesh linking our fleet and your services. · source

• PowerDNS — authoritative DNS. · source

• Let's Encrypt and Certbot — free automated TLS.

• Icecast — audio streaming. · source

• FFmpeg — video transcoding. · source

• Prometheus and Grafana — monitoring. · Prometheus source · Grafana source

Software we help you run

Everything documented in self-hosting guides is open source (or labelled as not). Favourites our customers run most:

• Nextcloud — files and collaboration. · source

• WordPress — publishing. · source

• Jellyfin — media streaming. · source

• Gitea / Forgejo — Git hosting. · Gitea source · Forgejo source

• Vaultwarden — password management.

• Immich — photo backup. · source

• Mattermost — team chat. · source

• n8n — workflow automation. · source

• Ollama — run language models locally. · source

The full directory

Our self-hosting app guides each carry an "About" section with the project's website and primary repository, and the licence it ships under. If you find something misattributed, tell us and we will fix it — accuracy matters more than convenience here.

Licences, honestly

Not everything labelled "open source" is equally open. Some projects here are source-available rather than OSI-approved open source (for example, certain editions of GitLab, n8n and Redis), and a few products we document are outright proprietary (Plex and Emby, for instance). Where that is the case, we say so on the project's page rather than papering over it.

Why this matters to you

Open source means:

• You can inspect it — the security guarantee of verifiability, not just a promise.

• You can leave — your data is in standard formats, not locked behind a vendor.

• You are not dependent on us for the software to keep working.

That is the whole argument for self-hosting, and it is why we point at the source rather than at ourselves.

Related reading

• Getting started with HostingSwift

• Browse self-hosting guides