At any given moment, I’m always juggling way too many productivity apps. It involves a lot of switching accounts and hopping between services just to get basic things done. Some tools were great initially, but then they just became clutter to manage, especially as new apps come into my rotation, whether for user testing or just as a productivity enthusiast. Most of them also run on the cloud, so all my data is scattered across different servers I have no control over.

That’s why I started self-hosting some of my productivity tools as well as my design stack through Docker. Instead of relying on scattered cloud dashboards, most of the tools I use now run locally, and I can spin them up or replace them whenever I want. Over time, my productivity system shrunk down to just a handful of containers that handle most things I do day to day. These are the self-hosted tools I rely on daily now…

Super Productivity

Managing my tasks, projects, work, and more

I started using Super Productivity last year and loved it for its minimalist yet comprehensive approach to task management. It’s primarily an open-source, self-hostable task manager, but it also combines notes, to-do’s, time tracking, and alarms in one workspace. It can run as a desktop app, a web app, and as a Docker container, which makes it easy to plug into a self-hosted environment alongside your other tools.

Super Productivity is one of those apps that you don’t know you need until you use it. It’s been really helpful in keeping track of how long it takes me to write or do other tasks like learning design. I also love the timer settings since it gives me complete control over how “invasive” the alarms are on my PC. And I get to keep track of every single section and subsection of all my projects, plus get a congratulatory notification when all of them are complete, which is a nice little quirk.

Whether you self-host or not, Super Productivity stores all your data locally by default. But self-hosting gives you control over where and how that data syncs, ensuring full privacy and independence from third-party services. It eliminates the reliance on external providers like Dropbox, you keep the end-to-end encryption keys, and maintain long-term access without risk of server shutdown.

PhotoPrism

Managing hoards of media files

PhotoPrism might not be the first tool to come to mind when you think of productivity, but trust me, if you juggle a lot of images and video clips, a good file manager makes all the difference for your productivity. A lot of my work involves screenshots, reference images, small illustrations, icons, and short video clips, so things can get messy pretty fast.

PhotoPrism primarily appealed to me for its AI-powered organization and smart filters. It uses AI to automatically tag, classify, and group media by things like faces, locations, dates, and objects. Self-hosting the app, however, means no cloud AI or third parties access those files, so they’re completely under my control and I can rest assured they’re not being used to train AI or serve me ads. Beyond that, it’s just a very intuitive interface that makes it easy to keep track of all the files coming in and out of my design and project workflows.

AFFiNE

The only PKM tool anyone needs

I’ll never stop talking about AFFiNE because it’s the app to use for anything related to note-taking or project management; a second-brain type of tool. I started by using the hosted version, then learned how to self-host it so there are no third parties involved, my files stay off the AFFiNE cloud, and I completely control where or how my data moves around. You can also connect it to external AI providers to retain that AI retrieval and interaction layer, even when self-hosting.

It’s a block-based editor with a similar feel to Notion, complete with databases. One of my favorite parts about AFFiNE is the Edgeless Canvas, which is similar to Obsidian’s Canvas. Here, I can lay out my documents and connect them visually.

Excalidraw

A handy digital whiteboard

I actually have a whiteboard right next to my desk, and it serves its purpose. It’s great for rough ideas, doodles, and keeping track of small tasks. The problem starts when those sketches need to stay alive for more than a couple of days, and they’d be erased by then. This is why I started using Excalidraw.

Excalidraw is a more recent find for me. It’s an infinite whiteboard canvas app where you can create basic sketches and diagrams with a handful of design and drawing tools. Even though it’s primarily used collaboratively, I use it as a solo worker and creator. Self-hosting it means I completely control where my diagrams live, and I can use it offline.

Productivity without the chaos

Moving my productivity stack into Docker was the right move. It didn't just make me more intentional about which apps I use and reduced the number of apps I juggle, but it also gave me more power over how I manage them. Everything now runs in the same environment on my own machine and on my own terms.