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12 picks · data-backed ranking

Newest self-hosted apps worth trying

The best new self-hosted apps are OpenWA, BentoPDF and TREK. OpenWA leads with 16,328 GitHub stars.

Repositories created in the last 18 months, measured from the October 2026 snapshot.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed daily

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    OpenWA

    rmyndharis/OpenWA

    WhatsApp API gateway exposing messaging as REST endpoints, with a web dashboard, multi-account sessions, and webhook events (alternative to WhatsApp Business API providers).

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Team ChatTypeScriptDocker

    Stands out for the most GitHub stars. OpenWA has 16,328 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, had 6,682 commits in the last year and was created in February 2026.

  2. Rank 2:

    BentoPDF

    alam00000/bentopdf

    Powerful, privacy-first, client-side PDF toolkit that allows you to manipulate, edit, merge, and process PDF files directly in your browser.

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Document ManagementJavaScriptDocker

    Stands out for its JavaScript codebase. BentoPDF has 16,172 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, had 1,030 commits in the last year and was created in October 2025; it replaces Adobe Acrobat.

  3. Rank 3:

    TREK

    liketrek/TREK

    Collaborative trip planner with interactive maps, day-by-day itineraries, budgets, packing lists, reservations, journey journaling, and PWA support.

    Active · last commit Oct 28, 2026

    Travel OrganizationTypeScriptDocker

    Stands out for the newest codebase (created March 2026). TREK has 15,179 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, had 4,468 commits in the last year and was created in March 2026.

At a glance

Newest self-hosted apps worth trying compared

Repositories created in the last 18 months with at least 500 GitHub stars, sorted by stars.

Top 10 picks compared, data as of Oct 28, 2026
AppStands out forLicenseGitHub starsCommits (12 mo)Last commitDocker image
OpenWAthe most GitHub starsMIT16,3286,682Oct 28, 2026Yes
BentoPDFits JavaScript codebaseAGPL-3.016,1721,030Oct 28, 2026Yes
TREKthe newest codebase (created March 2026)AGPL-3.015,1794,468Oct 28, 2026Yes
Sureits Ruby codebaseAGPL-3.010,7072,377Oct 28, 2026Yes
Fluxer–AGPL-3.010,6913,025Oct 27, 2026Yes
SparkyFitness–license unverified6,4938,261Oct 28, 2026Yes
Hister–AGPL-3.06,1672,389Oct 27, 2026Yes
DeskcommCRM–MIT4,89214,872Oct 27, 2026Yes
Grimmory–AGPL-3.04,6201,916Oct 27, 2026Yes
SnapOtter–AGPL-3.02,8703,694Oct 28, 2026Yes

Full ranking

All 12 picks, ranked

Repositories created in the last 18 months with at least 500 GitHub stars, sorted by stars.

  1. 1

    OpenWA

    WhatsApp API gateway exposing messaging as REST endpoints, with a web dashboard, multi-account sessions, and webhook events (alternative to WhatsApp Business API providers).

    Stands out for the most GitHub stars. OpenWA has 16,328 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, had 6,682 commits in the last year and was created in February 2026.

  2. 2

    BentoPDF

    Powerful, privacy-first, client-side PDF toolkit that allows you to manipulate, edit, merge, and process PDF files directly in your browser.

    Stands out for its JavaScript codebase. BentoPDF has 16,172 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, had 1,030 commits in the last year and was created in October 2025; it replaces Adobe Acrobat.

  3. 3

    TREK

    Collaborative trip planner with interactive maps, day-by-day itineraries, budgets, packing lists, reservations, journey journaling, and PWA support.

    Stands out for the newest codebase (created March 2026). TREK has 15,179 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, had 4,468 commits in the last year and was created in March 2026.

  4. 4

    Sure

    Personal finance application for everyone (fork of Maybe).

    Stands out for its Ruby codebase. Sure has 10,707 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, had 2,377 commits in the last year and was created in July 2025.

  5. 5

    Fluxer

    Instant messaging and VoIP platform built for friends, groups, and communities (alternative to Discord).

    Fluxer has 10,691 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, had 3,025 commits in the last year and was created in January 2026; it replaces Discord.

  6. 6

    SparkyFitness

    Fitness-Tracker which tracks nutrition, exercise, body metrics, and health data (alternative to MyFitnessPal).

    AI-nativeSparkyFitness has 6,493 GitHub stars, uses a license appsgit could not verify, ships a Docker image, had 8,261 commits in the last year and was created in June 2025.

  7. 7

    Hister

    Personal web search engine with automatic indexing of visited websites. Supports offline local result previews, local files, multi-user handling and optional semantic search.

    Hister has 6,167 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, had 2,389 commits in the last year and was created in January 2026.

  8. 8

    DeskcommCRM

    Self-hosted CRM for selling over WhatsApp (via WAHA) with built-in AI agents; documentation is mainly in Portuguese.

    AI-nativeDeskcommCRM has 4,892 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, had 14,872 commits in the last year and was created in April 2026.

  9. 9

    Grimmory

    Library for ebooks, comics and audiobooks with a built-in reader, metadata lookup, multi-user support, OPDS, and Kobo/KOReader sync.

    Grimmory has 4,620 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, had 1,916 commits in the last year and was created in March 2026.

  10. 10

    SnapOtter

    Suite of 200+ web tools for converting and editing images, videos, audio and PDFs, including a layer-based image editor, OCR, transcription, background removal and batch processing pipelines…

    AI-nativeSnapOtter has 2,870 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, had 3,694 commits in the last year and was created in March 2026.

  11. 11

    NoteDiscovery

    Markdown note-taking app with plain-file storage, graph view, and MCP integration (alternative to Obsidian, Notion).

    NoteDiscovery has 2,853 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, had 731 commits in the last year and was created in November 2025.

  12. 12

    wacrm

    CRM for the WhatsApp Business API with a shared inbox, contacts, sales pipelines, broadcasts and no-code automations.

    wacrm has 2,627 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, had 872 commits in the last year and was created in April 2026.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

Is OpenWA free?

Yes. OpenWA is open-source software released under the MIT license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Can I self-host these apps with Docker?

Yes, all of them. OpenWA, BentoPDF and TREK publish Docker images, so you can run them on a VPS or home server with Docker Compose.

Are all of these apps open source?

11 of the 12 apps on this list are open source; 1 has a license appsgit could not verify. Source-available licenses add conditions, such as limits on hosted or commercial use, so read them before you deploy.

Which of these apps is the most actively developed?

DeskcommCRM, with 14,872 commits in the last 12 months and a latest release, v1.94.0, from October 2026. Activity is a good sign that bugs and security issues get fixed.

How is this list ranked?

Repositories created in the last 18 months with at least 500 GitHub stars, sorted by stars.

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