bitsmith
Buy license

Run your own media, file shares, and apps.

A home server, self-hosted without the rabbit hole. Install on any Linux box, pick a drive, and you're running Emby, Nextcloud, and AdGuard in minutes.

See how it works Buy lifetime — $99 $199

30-day refund · No subscription

  • Native ZFS
  • Plain Docker
  • Vanilla SMB
  • amd64 and arm64
  • No telemetry

The idea

Your files. Your house. Your server.
A home server that stays out of your way.

Simple to set up, gentle on hardware. Runs on amd64 or arm64, from a Raspberry Pi to a mini PC. Bitsmith sets things up, then steps back.

From box to running

Four steps and you're set.

No SSH session, no config files, no afternoon wasted.

  1. 01

    Install

    One curl command on any Linux box. amd64 or arm64.

  2. 02

    Storage

    Pick a drive and name it. Existing ZFS pools come along.

  3. 03

    Apps

    Install Emby, Jellyfin, Immich. Folders auto-wired.

  4. 04

    Done

    The whole house can stream, share, and back up.

What you get

Everything a house needs from a server.

Storage, files, apps, backups, shares. All built in, all on the first screen.

01 · Files

A real file browser, in your browser.

Browse, upload, download, move, rename. From any computer in the house.

  • Drag and drop uploads
  • Old NAS shows up next to your new storage
  • Right-click to copy, move, or delete

media / movies

media / movies
6 items

movies

Folder · Apr 12

shows

Folder · Apr 8

MP4

Family-2025.mp4

1.2 GB · May 1

MP4

Inception.mkv

8.4 GB · Apr 30

ZIP

vacation.zip

342 MB · Apr 22

PDF

notes.pdf

1.4 MB · Apr 18

02 · Apps

Pick an app, click install.

Media, photos, downloads, smart home, passwords, ad blocking. The library covers what a house wants.

  • Folders wired to the storage you picked
  • 12 apps in the library, more each release
  • Apps stay portable. Files in plain folders, nothing locked in
Jellyfin

Jellyfin

Running

Stream movies and shows to every device in the house.

Home Assistant

Home Assistant

Smart-home hub for the whole household.

qbittorrent

qBittorrent

Idle

Download manager for media workflows.

03 · Backups

Backups that just run.

Pick a folder, pick where it should go, pick how often. Bitsmith keeps the schedule.

  • Daily, weekly, or on-demand
  • Send to a second drive, a USB, or another machine
  • Restore a folder back to where it came from

Family photos

Next in 4 days · Last run 2 days ago

From

Photos

media / photos

12,408 files324 GB
To

Backup drive

backup / photos

Latest 2 days ago
To

USB archive

/mnt/usb · weekly

Latest 7 days ago

No lock-in

Your stuff stays yours.

Bitsmith doesn't reformat your files into a custom blob or wrap your apps in something only we can run. Underneath, it's just Linux: ZFS or ext4 for files, Docker for apps, SMB for shares.

Files in plain folders

Standard Linux filesystems (ext4 or ZFS). Move the drives to another machine and any computer can read them.

Apps in plain Docker

Each app is a regular Docker container with a regular compose file. Run them anywhere Docker runs, with or without Bitsmith.

Shares speak SMB

Open standard. Every device the house owns already speaks it. No custom client to install, ever.

If Bitsmith ever goes away, your server keeps running. The drives, containers, and shares are already standard Linux — the day after looks the same as the day before.

Apps

Apps your household runs.

Click install. Bitsmith points each app at the folders you already picked.

More apps on the way. Custom Docker apps work today.

Hardware

Runs on the box you already have.

Native amd64 and arm64 builds. Mini PC, old laptop, or a small board in the cupboard. If it runs Linux, it runs Bitsmith.

  • Runs on the hardware you already own.
  • Outgrow it? Copy the install command to a bigger box.
  • The same screens wherever you install it.

Mini PC / NUC

x86 · 16 GB

4 to 16 TB

Everything at once

Old laptop

x86 · any age

1 to 8 TB

A quiet second life

Single-board (ARM)

arm64 · 4 GB+

1 to 4 TB

Photos and light media

Desktop / rack

x86 · beefy

20 TB and up

The whole house

Why Bitsmith

Designed around a home.

Drives, folders, and apps are named and arranged the way a household already thinks about them. Start from the first drive and build out at your pace.

01

Pay once, period

$99 covers your server install for life. No subscription, no upgrade tiers, no surprise renewals.

02

Built around a home

Storage, files, apps, backups, shares. All on the first screen. The wording is what a household already uses, not what a sysadmin reads.

03

A service, not an OS

Installs alongside Debian, Ubuntu, or Raspberry Pi OS. No wipe, no reformat, no replacing what you already run.

04

Stays inside your house

Local account by default. No telemetry, no phone-home, nothing leaving the house unless you ask it to.

Pricing

$99 lifetime license.

One license, one server, for life. Half off the full $199 price while we're early.

Lifetime license

50% off

$99

$199

one-time · per server

One license covers one server install for life. Move it to a new server from your dashboard whenever you need.

  • Every feature, open
  • Unlimited drives, shares, and apps
  • Every app in the library
  • Runs with a local account
Buy license
  • 30-day refund
  • Stripe checkout
  • No subscription

Future optional cloud features (remote access, off-site sync) are separate from the lifetime license. They stay optional.

FAQ

Anything you want to know.

Straight answers on pricing, hardware, privacy, and what happens if Bitsmith goes away.

What is Bitsmith?

A home server that sets up your storage, creates shares the whole house can reach, and runs apps like Emby and Jellyfin. Bitsmith installs as a native Linux service on anything from a small board to a full server.

What does the lifetime license cost?

A lifetime license is $99 per server right now. The full price is $199. You're buying in early.

What if it's not for me?

Email us within 30 days of purchase and we'll refund the full $99. No questions, no forms. We'd rather have customers who want to use Bitsmith.

What hardware do I need to run Bitsmith?

Anything that can run Debian 12+, Ubuntu 22.04+, or Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit. Both amd64 and arm64 have native builds. A Pi 4 handles light use, a mini PC with 16 GB RAM comfortably runs the whole stack. Drives can be SATA, USB, or NVMe.

How do backups work?

Bitsmith has built-in scheduled backups. Pick a folder, pick a destination (a second drive, a USB, or another server), choose a schedule, and Bitsmith runs it. Files stay in standard Linux filesystems so you can also use rsync, Borg, or Restic alongside if you prefer.

What happens to my data and apps if Bitsmith stops existing?

Your files live on your drives in standard Linux filesystems (ext4 or ZFS). Your apps are standard Docker containers with standard compose files. If we disappeared tomorrow, your server keeps running — you'd manage it with the underlying Linux tools instead of through us. Nothing is locked into our format.

Install

One line. Ten minutes. A home server.

Installs on Debian 12+, Ubuntu 22.04+, or Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit. When it's done, open the address in any browser and finish setup.

~/bitsmith

→ Detecting platform: linux/arm64

→ Installing dependencies (docker, samba, zfs-utils)

→ Starting bitsmith.service

✓ Open http://home.local to finish setup

Debian 12+ Ubuntu 22.04+ Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit amd64 · arm64