Open-source alternatives to every SaaS — $340/month saved
· Insights
I canceled $340/month in SaaS subscriptions. Open-source replacements for Notion, Slack, Dropbox, 1Password, Linear, and more. 30-minute setup each.
I canceled $340/month in SaaS subscriptions and replaced them with open-source alternatives. 30 minutes of setup per tool, $4,080/year saved. Here's every swap, the migration cost, and the gotchas.
The replacements
Annual savings: $3,972. That's a real laptop every year.
The migrations — what each one actually involves
Notion → Obsidian
Easiest migration. Export from Notion as Markdown + CSV. Drop into an Obsidian vault folder. Most formatting survives — tables sometimes break, databases become CSV files.
Gotcha: Notion databases with relations don't translate cleanly. If you have a complex Notion database, plan a 2-hour migration window. For simple notes/docs, 30 minutes.
Sync: I use Syncthing across 3 devices. Obsidian Sync ($8/mo) is also great if you don't want to manage sync yourself.
Slack → Mattermost
Mattermost is the closest Slack clone. Self-host on a $5 VPS:
Gotcha: Slack's history export is messy — threads export as separate JSON files. Mattermost has a Slack import tool that handles most of it, but expect to lose some formatting.
The dealbreaker: If your team is hooked on Slack's huddles or specific integrations, Mattermost doesn't have parity. For a small team that mostly uses text channels, it's a clean swap.
Dropbox → Nextcloud
Nextcloud is more than file sync — it's a full self-hosted cloud (calendar, contacts, photo gallery, document editing).
Gotcha: Nextcloud is heavier than Dropbox. The PHP stack needs tuning for 100GB of files. I run it on a $12/month VPS (4GB RAM, 80GB SSD) and it handles ~200GB across 3 users fine.
The killer feature: Nextcloud Files (sync) + Nextcloud Photos + Nextcloud Calendar replace Dropbox + Google Photos + Google Calendar in one stack.
1Password → Bitwarden (Vaultwarden)
Bitwarden is feature-parity with 1Password for personal use. Vaultwarden is a lighter Rust implementation:
Gotcha: Bitwarden's mobile apps have a "self-hosted" toggle — point them at your Vaultwarden URL. iOS push notifications for sync require a paid Bitwarden subscription ($10/year). Vaultwarden's free tier handles everything else.
Migration: 1Password exports to .1pux format. Bitwarden's importer handles it cleanly — passwords, notes, credit cards all transfer.
Linear → Plane
Plane is the open-source Linear clone. Modern UI, fast, self-hosted:
Gotcha: Plane is younger than Linear — some power features (cycles, roadmaps) are still catching up. For a small team doing sprint planning, it's enough. For enterprise-style project management, stick with Linear another year.
Google Photos → Ente
Ente is open-source, end-to-end encrypted, with mobile apps that actually work:
Gotcha: Self-hosting Ente is involved. I pay for hosted Ente at €30/year for 100GB — cheaper than Google Photos, end-to-end encrypted, and the apps are polished.
Plausible Analytics → Umami
Umami is the simplest, fastest privacy-friendly analytics I've used:
Gotcha: None, really. Umami is a one-container setup with Postgres. 5-minute install. The UI is cleaner than Plausible, in my opinion.
The migration: Add the Umami tracking script to your site (one line of JS). Historical Google Analytics data isn't imported — you start fresh. Worth it.
The hosting reality
You need somewhere to run all this. Two paths: