I disabled my cloud services and switched to these open-source alternatives instead - MakeUseOf

What the report says

MakeUseOf published a first-person technology guide by Afam Onyimadu on July 28, 2026, describing how he replaced several commercial cloud and subscription services with open-source or self-hosted alternatives. The article frames the shift as a way to reduce recurring costs, rely less on large cloud providers and keep more direct control over personal data, while noting that modern self-hosted tools can be less cumbersome than some users expect.

For photo management, Onyimadu cited Immich as a replacement for Google Photos, highlighting mobile backups, browsing and search features, including face grouping and keyword search. He said Nextcloud initially replaced Google Drive in his setup, then also took over calendar and contact functions, though he acknowledged that availability depends on his own hardware and home internet connection.

The guide also named Vaultwarden, a Bitwarden-compatible password manager server, as a relatively low-disruption change because the author could keep using familiar Bitwarden apps and extensions while managing his own server. For home media, he described moving from Plex to Jellyfin, saying Jellyfin required more setup effort but removed the need for a paid subscription or third-party account to watch locally stored media.

Other tools in the stack included Navidrome for streaming a personal music library and LocalSend for transferring files between devices on the same local network. The broader significance is that the article reflects growing consumer interest in privacy, subscription fatigue and self-hosting, while also underlining the trade-offs: users gain control but take on maintenance, backups and reliability responsibilities themselves.