Umbrel
The most recommended of 6 self-hosting platforms
Polished, easy way to run a personal cloud on your own hardware. Main caveat: non-commercial license and proprietary parts, so some call it not truly open source.
Polished, easy way to run a personal cloud on your own hardware. Main caveat: non-commercial license and proprietary parts, so some call it not truly open source.
34 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 20
- criticize it
- 14
- approval share
- 59%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 20 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Polished, nice user experience
“I run an umbrel on an off the shelf mini pc and it’s been great! Very polished and nice experience!”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “Very nice updates Umbrel!”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “UmbrelOS 2.0: Your cloud, at home [video]” “I think this is one of the cooler pieces of what Umbrel is providing.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” Free and open source
“When I installed it, it was fully open source, open API, and free.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “we should start switching to solutions like this to keep control and freedom”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” Easy to get started
“solutions like this help with getting started but not with the really hard aspects”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “This seems a lot easier for the average consumer.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” Runs on generic hardware or VM
“I run an umbrel on an off the shelf mini pc and it’s been great! Very polished and nice experience!”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “They even have install instructions on a linux vm. Pretty cool.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “I run umbrel in a VM . For non fiat finops stuff.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Proprietary, not fully open source
“I did not like the reliability around app installations and the disappointment that it’s actually quite proprietary.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “I am uninterested in purchasing proprietary hardware running a proprietary operating system”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “Open source means continuity and interoperability. Proprietary means the opposite.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” Company failure and vendor lock-in
“the "appliance" model makes people nervous about vendor lock-in even when self-hosting”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “A non-commercial license prevents it from being open-source, and I think already constitutes extremely clear communication about what will happen to users when Umbrel goes bankrupt”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “The risk that this company will disappear in the next five years and I've got a $500 paperweight is exceedingly high.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” Crypto and marketing concerns
“Last time I looked at it it had some craptocurrecy stuff, which lost me as a user.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “it was hard to tell, even their GitHub readme.md is just marketing material”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud” “I don't want my files anywhere near a crypto bro cloud box.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Umbrel – Personal Cloud”
Other self-hosting platforms people recommend
The four most recommended other self-hosting platforms, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UmbrelThis page | 20 | 14 | 59% | 6 | — | — |
| Zo Computer | 15 | 7 | 68% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Cloud in a Bottle | 14 | 10 | 58% | 1 | — | — |
| Sandstorm | 10 | 4 | 71% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Cloudron | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
All 36 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Very nice updates Umbrel!”
“There are some good options out there (umbrel, zima, etc)”
“Sounds like you're describing Umbrel.”
“a umbrel.com, start9.com, or even frigghome.ai succeeds and sweeps away”
“I could probably get behind recommending something like umbrel”
“They even have install instructions on a linux vm. Pretty cool.”
“the "appliance" model makes people nervous about vendor lock-in even when self-hosting”
“It's not something I'd go for to be honest.”
“It's got a fairly tiny drive size for this day and age, not to mention it appears to just be a generic aliexpress N150 box thats been branded and had their software pre-installed.”
“Open source means continuity and interoperability. Proprietary means the opposite.”
“it's one of those "do not compete with us" licenses.”
“I think this is one of the cooler pieces of what Umbrel is providing.”
“When I installed it, it was fully open source, open API, and free.”
“$500 for 1TB, or 4TB for $800.”
“I did not like the reliability around app installations and the disappointment that it’s actually quite proprietary.”
“I run umbrel in a VM . For non fiat finops stuff.”
“The risk that this company will disappear in the next five years and I've got a $500 paperweight is exceedingly high.”
“I am uninterested in purchasing proprietary hardware running a proprietary operating system”
“solutions like this help with getting started but not with the really hard aspects”
“They aren't seamless drop in replacements.”
“A non-commercial license prevents it from being open-source, and I think already constitutes extremely clear communication about what will happen to users when Umbrel goes bankrupt”
“The entire UI seems lifted from icloud and osx.”
“I don't want my files anywhere near a crypto bro cloud box.”
“Great experience if you’re into that but it’s nothing that is forced on you”
“I run an umbrel on an off the shelf mini pc and it’s been great! Very polished and nice experience!”
“Last time I looked at it it had some craptocurrecy stuff, which lost me as a user.”
“they advertise "Run Deepseek-R1 locally" when the screenshot in the app store refers to”
“they seem to be on the right track”
“as-is you are handing people a ticking time bomb”
“I had seen umbrel and others in the past”
“it was hard to tell, even their GitHub readme.md is just marketing material”
“the GUI limits customization and hacking”
“If Umbrel leans into being forkable and portable across generic hardware, it has a shot at being trusted infrastructure”
“This seems a lot easier for the average consumer.”
“I wouldn’t want it as I bought an intel nuc and manage it myself”
“we should start switching to solutions like this to keep control and freedom”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.