# Best open source software for media and creators > For a creator or media team, a self-hosted stack starts with PeerTube for video and live streams, Ghost for the blog and newsletter and Postiz for social posting. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026. ## Key facts | Fact | Value | |---|---| | Question | What is the best open source software for content creators? | | Picks | 14 | | Top pick | PeerTube (15,345 stars) | | Data as of | Oct 7, 2026 | | Canonical URL | https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-creators | A creator stack that you own: video hosting and live streaming, a blog and newsletter, social scheduling, analytics and asset storage. ## Video and live streaming - [PeerTube](https://appsgit.com/apps/peertube) (15,345 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript): PeerTube has 15,345 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 1,848 commits in the last year; it replaces YouTube and Loom. - [Owncast](https://appsgit.com/apps/owncast) (11,575 stars, MIT, Go): Owncast has 11,575 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 1,396 commits in the last year; it replaces YouTube. - [MediaCMS](https://appsgit.com/apps/mediacms) (5,135 stars, AGPL-3.0, Python, Docker): MediaCMS has 5,135 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 82 commits in the last year; it replaces YouTube and Loom. ## Blog and newsletter - [Ghost](https://appsgit.com/apps/ghost) (55,489 stars, MIT, TypeScript): Ghost has 55,489 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 5,329 commits in the last year; it replaces WordPress.com and Medium. - [Listmonk](https://appsgit.com/apps/listmonk) (23,701 stars, AGPL-3.0, Go, Docker): Listmonk has 23,701 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 227 commits in the last year; it replaces Mailchimp and Twilio SendGrid. - [WriteFreely](https://appsgit.com/apps/writefreely) (5,264 stars, AGPL-3.0, Go): WriteFreely has 5,264 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 210 commits in the last year; it replaces WordPress.com and Medium. ## Social - [Postiz](https://appsgit.com/apps/postiz) (36,730 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker): Postiz has 36,730 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,225 commits in the last year; it replaces Buffer / Hootsuite. - [Mastodon](https://appsgit.com/apps/mastodon) (50,353 stars, AGPL-3.0, Ruby, Docker): Mastodon has 50,353 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,689 commits in the last year; it replaces Twitter / X. - [PixelFed](https://appsgit.com/apps/pixelfed) (7,119 stars, AGPL-3.0, PHP): PixelFed has 7,119 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 3,651 commits in the last year; it replaces Twitter / X. ## Analytics - [Umami](https://appsgit.com/apps/umami) (39,188 stars, MIT, TypeScript, Docker): Umami has 39,188 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,087 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics. - [Plausible Analytics](https://appsgit.com/apps/plausible-analytics) (29,323 stars, AGPL-3.0, Elixir): Plausible Analytics has 29,323 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 545 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics. ## Asset storage - [Immich](https://appsgit.com/apps/immich) (115,648 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker): Immich has 115,648 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,638 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Photos and Adobe Photoshop. - [Nextcloud](https://appsgit.com/apps/nextcloud) (37,003 stars, AGPL-3.0, PHP): Nextcloud has 37,003 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 7,289 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Drive and Dropbox. - [Seafile](https://appsgit.com/apps/seafile) (15,307 stars, GPL-2.0, C): Seafile has 15,307 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 39 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Drive and Dropbox. ## How this list was made - Apps were picked by hand from the appsgit catalog for each job, then checked against the snapshot: unknown or archived projects and projects with no commit in two years are dropped automatically. - Inside each section the curated order is kept, most broadly useful first; an app appears only once on the page. - Stars, license, Docker and activity facts come from the GitHub API as of October 2026. ## FAQ ### Can I host my own YouTube or Twitch? PeerTube is a decentralized video platform and Owncast a self-hosted live streaming and chat server. Video is bandwidth-heavy, so budget for storage and traffic, or put a CDN in front. ### Can I run a paid newsletter on my own server? Ghost is a blogging platform you can self-host, and Listmonk is a self-hosted newsletter manager. Check each one's documentation for the payment features you need. ### Is PeerTube free? Yes. PeerTube is open-source software released under the AGPL-3.0 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 run this stack with Docker? 6 of the 14 apps here publish Docker images, including MediaCMS, Listmonk and Postiz, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups. ## Related questions - [What are the best open source AI tools for content creators?](https://appsgit.com/best/ai-tools-for-creators) - [What is the best open source software for a gaming community?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-gaming-communities) - [What is the best open source software for a smart home?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-smart-home) - [What are the best open source AI tools for a smart home?](https://appsgit.com/best/ai-tools-for-smart-home) - [What are the best open source apps for planning and tracking travel?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-apps-for-travel) - [What is the best open source event management software?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-events) - [What is the best open source budget management app?](https://appsgit.com/best/budget-management) - [What is the best open source software for crypto and web3 projects?](https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-crypto) ## See also - [All media servers apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/media-servers) - [All blogging platforms apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/blogging) - [All newsletters & mailing lists apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/newsletters) - [All analytics apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/analytics) - [Open-source alternatives to YouTube](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/youtube) - [Open-source alternatives to Loom](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/loom) - [Open-source alternatives to WordPress.com](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/wordpress-com) - [Open-source alternatives to Medium](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/medium) - [Open-source alternatives to Carrd](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/carrd) - [Open-source alternatives to Webflow](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/webflow) - [Plausible Analytics vs Umami](https://appsgit.com/compare/plausible-analytics-vs-umami) - [Nextcloud vs Seafile](https://appsgit.com/compare/nextcloud-vs-seafile) - [Ghost vs WordPress](https://appsgit.com/compare/ghost-vs-wordpress) - [listmonk vs Mautic](https://appsgit.com/compare/listmonk-vs-mautic) - [Umami vs Matomo](https://appsgit.com/compare/umami-vs-matomo) - [Plausible Analytics vs Matomo](https://appsgit.com/compare/plausible-analytics-vs-matomo) - [How to self-host Umami with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/umami) - [How to self-host Plausible Analytics with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/plausible-analytics) - [How to self-host Immich with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/immich) - [How to self-host Nextcloud with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/nextcloud) --- Canonical page: https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-creators Source: appsgit (https://appsgit.com), the app store for github. Data from the GitHub API, refreshed nightly. Machine access: JSON API https://appsgit.com/api/v1/apps (OpenAPI: https://appsgit.com/openapi.json), MCP server https://mcp.appsgit.com/mcp, full index https://appsgit.com/llms-full.txt.