After years of maintaining outdated self-hosted tools, I finally found their replacements

Published Sep 2, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT Beginning his professional journey in the tech industry in 2018, Yash spent over three years as a Software Engineer. After that, he shifted his focus to empowering readers through informative and engaging content on his tech blog – DiGiTAL BiRYANi. He has also published tech articles for MakeTechEasier. He loves to explore new tech gadgets and platforms. When he is not writing, you’ll find him exploring food. He is known as Digital Chef Yash among his readers because of his love for Technology and Food. I've been running self-hosted apps for years, and like most setups, mine didn't stay the same. Some services were installed because they looked interesting, while others simply stuck around because they worked well enough. Eventually, I started noticing that a few of them felt outdated compared with newer options available today. Newer self-hosted projects often have better interfaces, smoother workflows, and features that match the way I work today. So I decided to rethink some of my older choices and see where a change actually made sense. Here are the replacements that made the biggest difference for me. Karakeep My new home for saved links I switched from Wallabag to Karakeep because I wanted a simpler way to save and manage the things I find online. Wallabag had been part of my self-hosted setup for a long time, but I wasn't using most of what it offered. Over time, it started feeling like more of a tool I maintained than one I actually enjoyed using. Karakeep feels much more natural for the way I save things. I can quickly bookmark articles, websites, images, and other useful content without thinking too much about where everything should go. The interface is also cleaner, so finding something I saved earlier doesn't feel like a chore. For me, it's a much better replacement for Wallabag. Karakeep Karakeep is an open-source, self-hosted bookmarks manager that allows you to add bookmarks from any platform and categorizes them based on tags. TriliumNext Taking control of my knowledge Joplin had been my go-to note-taking app for a long time, but eventually I wanted something that gave me more flexibility in how I organized information. That's what led me to TriliumNext. The biggest difference for me is its hierarchical structure. I can create notebooks and sub-notebooks and keep related information together without relying on tags for everything. This works especially well when I'm dealing with notes for different projects, ideas, and reference material. TriliumNext also makes it easy to reorganize my notes as my needs change. I can move information around and build a structure that makes sense instead of forcing everything into a fixed system. TriliumNext TriliumNext is a free, open-source, hierarchical note-taking application designed to build large personal knowledge bases. BentoPDF My PDFs finally feel easier Earlier I relied on StirlingPDF for everything around PDFs. Stirling-PDF isn’t that old as a self-hosted service, but I eventually wanted something simpler for everyday PDF tasks. That’s where BentoPDF felt like a better fit for my setup. The biggest difference I noticed was how lightweight and fast it felt. PDF tasks that used to feel a little cumbersome now take less time to complete. I also prefer BentoPDF's interface. The UI is cleaner and more straightforward, so I can quickly find the tool I need without digging through multiple options. Whether I'm merging files, splitting pages, rotating a document, or making other quick changes, everything feels easy to access. For my workflow, the combination of a lighter application, faster performance, and a better UI made the switch an easy decision. It does what I need and stays out of the way when I'm done. BentoPDF BentoPDF provides fast, private, and free PDF tools. It processes files locally in your browser, ensuring privacy as your documents never reach their servers. It requires no account, offers all tools for free, and is built for speed. Immich A smoother way to manage photos PhotoPrism had been handling my photo library for a while, but Immich quickly felt more suited to how I use my photos today. The biggest reason I moved was the overall experience. Immich feels modern, responsive, and much closer to the photo apps I use on my phone. Uploading photos is straightforward, and I can browse through my library without feeling like I'm waiting for every screen to load. The mobile app is also a big part of why I like it. I can back up photos from my phone automatically and know they will end up on my own server. PhotoPrism still works well, but Immich feels more actively suited to my everyday photo workflow. Immich Key highlights Self-hosted iOS compatible Yes Android compatible Yes Immich is a self-hosted photo and video backup solution. Homepage My services finally live together My self-hosted setup had grown to include quite a few services, so having a simple dashboard became increasingly useful. Heimdall did the job, but Homepage gives me a cleaner and more flexible way to access everything. I like being able to put all my frequently used services on one page and organize them the way I want. Instead of remembering different URLs or jumping between browser bookmarks, I can open Homepage and get where I need to go quickly. The dashboard also gives me useful information about some of the services I'm running, which makes it more than just a collection of shortcuts. I can see what I need at a glance without opening each application separately. Homepage Homepage is a modern, open-source, fully static, and highly customizable application dashboard and startpage designed to centralize and monitor self-hosted home lab services. My self-hosted stack finally feels right Replacing these older apps wasn't really about chasing newer software. I wanted my self-hosted setup to feel easier to use, maintain, and fit into my daily routine. These replacements have made that possible without giving up the control I value from self-hosting. I also realized that an app doesn't have to be feature-packed to be useful. Sometimes, a simpler tool is exactly what my setup needs.