Custom Software for Small Business

Custom web apps, AI automations, and workflow tools. Built for you, owned by you.

Registered NGO or nonprofit? We build for free.

01 / BareStackOSFree OS · self-hosted

The OSis free.

BareStackOS is the whole workspace — dashboard, CRM, projects, invoicing, time and expenses — at zero cost. Hire us for custom portals, integrations or AI automation.

Explore BareStackOS

No seats · no add-ons · no invoice

app.barestack.org

BareStackOS dashboard — revenue, deals, projects and activity in the self-hosted workspace

£0forever

DashboardCRMProjectsInvoicesTimeExpensesReportsDashboardCRMProjectsInvoicesTimeExpensesReportsDashboardCRMProjectsInvoicesTimeExpensesReportsDashboardCRMProjectsInvoicesTimeExpensesReports

Now showing63 seconds · sound on

It's all BareStack.

Reel 01 / 63s

Custom web apps, automations and workflow tools, built from scratch, and a free open-source CRM you host yourself.

Best with sound.

No footageNo stockNo talking headsEvery frame drawn in codeNo footageNo stockNo talking headsEvery frame drawn in codeNo footageNo stockNo talking headsEvery frame drawn in codeNo footageNo stockNo talking headsEvery frame drawn in code

Built from scratchFree · no account

Play
free

School books,turned intoa game.

Hooty rebuilds the NCERT syllabus as a browser game: every chapter something to read, drag, order or explain back. No sign-up, no ads, no trackers, nothing to buy.

315

chapters

subjects

1–10

classes

£0

forever

How we built Hooty Play it at hooty.org

Why not off-the-shelf02

Generic softwareis a trap.

It starts cheap. Then your team bends around someone else's workflow, your data gets boxed in, and every useful change costs extra.

£0Monthly licence taxNo seats, no add-ons, no invoice.

100%Of the source is yoursAGPL-3.0. Fork it, host it, keep it.

1Codebase, start to finishNothing bolted on to babysit.

One workspace.

CRM, projects, invoicing, and time tracking, built around how your team actually works.

Your data, your server.

Export as JSON or CSV anytime. Self-host if you want. AGPL-3.0 licensed, with no vendor lock-in.

Only what you use.

We strip the bloat. What remains is fast, focused, and built to disappear into your workflow.

CUSTOM SOFTWARE

AI AUTOMATIONS

FREE OS

WEB DEVELOPMENT

APP DEVELOPMENT

WORKFLOW SYSTEMS

OPEN SOURCE

BUILT FROM SCRATCH

CUSTOM SOFTWARE

AI AUTOMATIONS

FREE OS

WEB DEVELOPMENT

APP DEVELOPMENT

WORKFLOW SYSTEMS

OPEN SOURCE

BUILT FROM SCRATCH

CUSTOM SOFTWARE

AI AUTOMATIONS

FREE OS

WEB DEVELOPMENT

APP DEVELOPMENT

WORKFLOW SYSTEMS

OPEN SOURCE

BUILT FROM SCRATCH

CUSTOM SOFTWARE

AI AUTOMATIONS

FREE OS

WEB DEVELOPMENT

APP DEVELOPMENT

WORKFLOW SYSTEMS

OPEN SOURCE

BUILT FROM SCRATCH

What we buildThree disciplines. Own every line.

From scratch.

Development

Websites & Apps

Bespoke React and Astro builds: client portals, SaaS MVPs, high-converting marketing sites. Fast, secure, yours.

ReactAstroNext.jsMobile

Operations

AI & Automations

Custom integrations and AI agents. Lead enrichment, support automation, 24/7 workflow tasks that never sleep.

AI AgentsIntegrationsZapierData

Workspace

Free OS & Systems

Our open-source BareStackOS workspace (CRM, Kanban, invoicing), deployed and customised around your exact workflow.

CRMKanbanInvoicingFree

Some workBuilt from scratch

Home & Property

Barbershop

Shilajit Supreme

Industrial

Scrap metal recycling

PouchLab

Retail

Nicotine pouches e-commerce

Who we build for10 sectors

Trades &sectors.

Work we have actually done, described by sector rather than by client name. Each one includes what it cost, what it replaced and what went wrong.

Trade ServicesElectricians Trade ServicesBuilders & Trades Retail & E-CommerceBuilds & Automation Agency OperationsAgencies Wholesale & DistributionWholesale Appointment BusinessesBarbers Local RetailFlorists Restoration TradesRestoration AutomotiveWrap Studios Waste and RecyclingScrap Dealers

Free, foreverMore on GitHub

Open source.

Four things we built for ourselves and gave away. No tiers, no licence keys, no “contact us for pricing”.

BareStackOS

Self-hosted CRM, projects, invoicing, time tracking and expenses in one workspace, for solopreneurs and small teams.

TypeScriptAGPL-3.0

agent-vitals

Solo-dev observability for AI agent stacks. Lists everything scheduled or configured to act on your behalf, and what broke.

PythonGPL-3.0

TuxSpeak

Linux dictation tool. Press Alt+Space, speak, get AI-polished text typed at your cursor. Groq Whisper and Gemini.

CGPL-3.0

huntline

Find the jobs worth your time. Visa-aware job scout with tailored resumes, cover letters and email drafts.

PythonMIT

QuestionsStraight answers

Agency inquiries.

What is BareStackOS?

BareStackOS is a free, open-source business operating system: a dashboard, CRM with contacts and a deal pipeline, Kanban projects, invoicing with PDF generation, time tracking, and expense tracking. It is one app rather than six subscriptions, and it runs either on our hosted instance or on your own server.

Is BareStackOS really free?

Yes. The software is AGPL-3.0, the source is on GitHub, and there is no licence fee, seat limit, or trial. Hosting it yourself costs only your server. We host an instance at app.barestack.org so you can start without a server at all.

How does BareStack make money if the software is free?

Two ways: custom software built for clients, and paid work around BareStackOS such as integrations, migrations, hosting, and automation. The product is the free part by design. We do not sell data, run ads, or put features behind a paywall later.

What technology is BareStackOS built on?

React 18 with TypeScript, Vite, and Tailwind on the front end; PocketBase as the backend, which is a single Go binary wrapping SQLite, REST, realtime, and auth. Invoice PDFs are generated in the browser with jsPDF. There is no Docker requirement and no external database to run.

How many people can use one instance?

There is no enforced seat limit. In practice the app is designed for small teams, roughly one to twenty people, because it is a single-instance app rather than a multi-tenant platform. Beyond that size the constraints are operational rather than licensing.

Does BareStackOS work on a phone?

Yes. The interface is responsive and the navigation collapses to a mobile layout, so contacts, tasks, and time entries can be updated from a phone. The heavier table views and the invoicing screen are more comfortable on a larger display.

What can I import from another CRM?

Contacts and companies import cleanly from a CSV export, which every mainstream CRM provides. Deals, notes, and file attachments are more variable, because each vendor exports them differently. For anything beyond a contacts import we quote the migration as a small piece of work rather than claiming it is automatic.

Can I export my data if I stop using it?

Yes, and there is nothing to ask permission for. Under the hood the entire dataset is a SQLite database in the PocketBase data directory, plus whatever files you uploaded. Copy the directory and you have everything. The app also exports CSV per collection.

What happens to BareStackOS if BareStack disappears?

Nothing, if you self-host. It is AGPL-3.0 source on GitHub, so anyone can fork it and keep it running. That is the specific reason the licence was chosen: a proprietary free product dies when the company does, and an open one does not.

Is BareStackOS a good fit for accounting or payroll?

No. It tracks invoices, payments, and expenses, and it generates invoice PDFs. It is not double-entry bookkeeping, it does not file tax returns, and it does not run payroll. Those belong in accounting software, and trying to make one tool do both is how small businesses end up with numbers that do not reconcile.

Can I self-host BareStackOS?

Yes, and it is the intended deployment. You need Node.js 20.19 or newer and a server you control. The installer downloads the PocketBase binary, applies the schema, and builds the front end. In production you bind PocketBase to localhost and put Caddy or Nginx in front of it for TLS.

What hardware does self-hosting need?

A small VPS is enough. A 2 GB instance handles a team comfortably, and a 1 GB instance is workable for a solo operator. Disk use grows with attachments, so keep space for backups. A Hetzner CX22 class server is the usual choice at roughly 4 euros a month.

Do I need Docker to run it?

No. The install is a shell script plus a single PocketBase binary, which is deliberate. Docker is a dependency most solo operators do not want to maintain for one application, and a single binary is easier to back up and reason about.

How long does a self-hosted install take?

Around fifteen to thirty minutes for someone comfortable with SSH and a reverse proxy, most of which is waiting for npm. The parts that take longer on a first attempt are DNS, TLS, and getting the reverse proxy to forward both ports correctly.

How do backups work?

Back up the PocketBase data directory and your uploaded files on a schedule, and store the copy somewhere other than the server. A nightly tar to object storage is sufficient for most teams. The important discipline is restoring once before you need to, because an untested backup is a hope.

Where can I host it?

Any provider that gives you a Linux VPS: Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Scaleway, Vultr, or a box in the office. There is no region lock and no licence check. European hosting is the common choice for teams that need data to stay in the EU.

What kind of custom work does BareStack take on?

Custom web applications, client portals and dashboards, internal tools that replace a spreadsheet, trade and service business websites, headless storefronts, and AI automation that connects tools you already use. If the workflow is genuinely unusual, that is the case for custom rather than another subscription.

How much does a custom build cost?

It depends on integrations, data migration, and permissions rather than on screen count, and we scope it against those. Because BareStackOS already exists as the foundation, the usual shape is a fixed build on top of it rather than a from-scratch application, which is most of the difference in price.

How long does a project take?

A website is typically one to three weeks. A custom tool built on BareStackOS is usually three to eight weeks depending on integrations. Anything involving data migration from a legacy system, or an approval chain nobody has written down, takes longer than the estimate that ignored it.

Do you only work with clients who self-host?

No. Some clients want the hosted instance and never touch a server, which is a perfectly good answer to the maintenance question. Self-hosting is an option because data ownership matters to some businesses, not a requirement for working with us.

Who is BareStack not for?

Businesses that need enterprise procurement, SOC 2 attestation, a 24/7 support desk with an SLA, or a vendor with a sales team. Those are real requirements and a small studio cannot fake them. If any of that is on your list, a larger vendor is the correct decision.

How do I get a quote?

Send a short description of the problem, the tools you use now, and roughly how many people touch it. A quote follows a short call. We will say no to work that another tool already solves, which is cheaper for you than a proposal.

View full FAQ

The philosophyAnti-bloat software agency

Systems forbuilders.

Business software should fit the work, not force the work to fit the software.

Custom systems should not cost a fortune. You shouldn't be locked into generic software templates or high subscription taxes.

We build custom integrations, tailored apps, and AI automations that you own entirely. Free of bloat, built for extreme speed.

Read manifesto Star on GitHub

Accepting projectsFree systems audit

Ready to build?

Book a systems audit. We'll identify bottlenecks in your workflow, design custom solutions, and deploy them.

Stop renting your software.

The OSis free.

It's all BareStack.

School books,turned intoa game.

Generic softwareis a trap.

One workspace.

Your data, your server.

Only what you use.

From scratch.

Websites & Apps

AI & Automations

Free OS & Systems

Bespoke builds.

Flowhesive

GJL Brickwork

SupplementX

Knurle

AGR Electrical