When it comes to hosting your own NAS, it's often more than just a place to store your data. Most NAS devices can run all kinds of software on them, including Docker containers. Docker containers are basically just capsules that contain the basic software required to execute a certain service, and while there are a ton of "standard" Docker containers out there that everyone uses (I'm thinking of Plex or Jellyfin here), there are a lot of other interesting ones you can try out, too. These are some options that might genuinely change your life if you get into the swing of using them daily.

Mealie

Plan all your meals

If you're looking for a way to manage how you shop for ingredients and prepare for meals, there's no better companion than Mealie. Mealie is a self-hosted container that you can set up and run on your NAS that has multiple unofficial companion apps to connect to your instance with. There, you can make shopping lists, recipes, and even keep a timeline of all of the meals that you've made over time.

If you're a budding chef or even someone who just wants to track what they eat and the recipes they've made, Mealie is so, so good. It's not something you'd ever really think about when it comes to a NAS either, but Mealie has made its way onto several lists of the best containers you can install.

Navidrome

A self-hosted Spotify alternative

If you have a large music library, Navidrome is one of the best containers you can set up on your NAS. Navidrome supports multiple audio formats and provides access to your music library from any device. Even better is that you don't need a NAS for it, as it can run on an SBC like the Raspberry Pi.

Audio files are pretty small comparatively to movies and TV shows as well, so if you're struggling for space to host other data, music isn't anywhere near as large. You can manage Navidrome entirely through a web UI, and you can install something like MusicBrainz Picard to automatically find metadata and tag your music appropriately.

IT Tools

Not just for developers

As a Swiss Army Knife of random technical tools, IT Tools is a fantastic piece of software that you should add to your arsenal. It packs a ton of tools that can do basically anything. You'll find yourself only using a handful of them consistently, but the ones that you do will be ones that once you start using them, you won't be able to go back to not using them.

Some of my favorites include:

• Temperature converter
• ASCII art generator
• Emoji picker
• Math evaluators
• QR code generator

There are so many more as well that you can play with, and you don't have to be a developer to get the most out of IT Tools.

Calibre

Manage your ebooks

For those with extensive ebook collections, Calibre is an indispensable tool. This self-hosted container transforms your NAS into a powerful ebook management hub, offering features like format conversion, organization, and library-wide search. It’s not just about storage, as it also makes your digital library easily accessible and highly customizable.

Whether you’re a avid reader or a content creator, Calibre makes it much easier to process or manage your books, leaving you with more time to enjoy them. Its user-friendly interface and comprehensive tools make it a go-to for anyone looking to get more out of their ebook collection.

MyFin

Financial planning

If you're looking for a way to manage your personal finances in an easy-to-use UI with a lot of options, look no further than MyFin. It's a comprehensive budgeting and financial planning application that you can install on your NAS as a container, where everything is controlled via a web UI.

There are lots of budgeting programs out there, but none quite like MyFin which centralizes your management to your NAS. It looks good, can track your accounts, spending, income, and so much more.

Vaultwarden

Manage your passwords more effectively

When it comes to password managers, most of the mainstream password managers are completely safe. They store your data in a way that only you can decrypt your password vault, but you can also host your own password manager on your NAS if you feel more comfortable with it. That's where Vaultwarden comes in.

Vaultwarden is a fork of Bitwarden, as Bitwarden was already open-source to begin with. However, Vaultwarden is built to be significantly more lightweight and not as resource-heavy. Their GitHub is public and their source code is on full display, just like Bitwarden. With Vaultwarden, you can use Bitwarden clients like you would expect, so you’re not missing out on all of the comforts that an official Bitwarden instance would have.

Wger

Tracking fitness and nutrition

When it comes to fitness and food tracking, there's no better container to install on your NAS than wger. It's an entirely self-hosted fitness and nutrition planner, and it's packed to the brim with features to make it as easy as possible. There are apps for different platforms, and you can track your exercises, weight, full workout routines, and more.

Wger is really easy to get started with, especially if you've used other fitness apps in the past. There's nothing confusing about it, it's just a lot of really good features rolled up into one free package.