Below is a curated list of applications and tools that I actively use in both my personal and professional environments. These tools have been carefully selected to enhance productivity, security, and digital organization across various aspects of daily tasks.
Each category represents a specific area of functionality, from document management to system monitoring, and includes open-source solutions that I’ve found reliable and effective in real-world usage.
I aim to keep this list updated, ensuring that each application remains relevant and effective in my workflow. Expect regular revisions as I explore new tools or refine my usage of existing ones. Your suggestions and experiences are welcome, as collaborative insights can further enhance this curated collection.
📚 Reading
Calibre - Comprehensive e-book management software that can:
- Convert between different e-book formats (EPUB, MOBI, PDF, etc.)
- Edit metadata and book covers
- Sync with e-readers
- Manage large libraries with custom tags and categories
- Host your library on a server for remote access
Koreader - Versatile e-book reader application offering:
- Support for multiple formats (PDF, EPUB, DJVU, etc.)
- Advanced PDF reflow
- Custom dictionary support
- Configurable gestures
- Night mode and font customization
Kosync - Synchronization tool for e-reader progress and bookmarks across devices, supporting:
- Multiple e-reader apps
- Reading position sync
- Bookmark synchronization
- Reading statistics
🗂️ Document Management
Paperless - Document management system offering:
- OCR processing
- Automatic tag suggestions
- Full-text search
- Mobile-friendly interface
- API access
I use this to manage scanned documents and ensure they are searchable, well-organized and not lost. It integrates seamlessly with my home lab setup for document storage and retrieval.
Stirling PDF - Web-based PDF tool for:
- Merging and splitting PDFs
- Converting formats
- Adding watermarks
- Optimizing files
- Form filling
🔒 Security & Privacy
Bitwarden - Password management solution offering:
- Secure password storage
- Password generation
- Secure sharing
- Browser extensions
- Mobile apps
Vaultwarden - Bitwarden server alternative featuring:
- Password management
- Secure note storage
- Two-factor authentication
- API access
- Self-hosting capability
I self-host this to keep password data under my control and reduce exposure to online threats like polymorphic extension attacks that target cloud-based password managers.
Authentik - Identity provider solution with:
- Single sign-on
- Multi-factor authentication
- User lifecycle management
- Policy-based access control
- OAuth2/OIDC support
Adguard - Advanced ad blocker providing:
- Network-wide ad blocking
- HTTPS filtering
- Custom filtering rules
- Parental controls
- DNS filtering
I use this as my DNS server for local DNS resolution and caching, providing fast lookups and enhanced privacy for all devices on my network. It provides DNS over HTTPS (DoH), which encrypts DNS queries and prevents my internet provider from seeing or logging browsing activity.
Adguardhome sync - Synchronization tool for Adguard Home configurations, useful for:
- Backing up configurations
- Syncing between multiple instances
- Version control of settings
- Easy deployment to new instances
🖥️ System & Development Tools
Distrobox - A tool that lets you use any Linux distribution inside your terminal as a container. Great for:
- Testing software in different distributions
- Isolating development environments
- Running packages from other distributions without affecting your host system
- Creating disposable development environments
Tilix - Advanced GTK3 tiling terminal emulator with features like:
- Split terminals horizontally or vertically
- Drag and drop reorganization
- Session saving and restoration
- Custom layouts
- Bookmark support
Zsh - Extended shell offering:
- Advanced completion system
- Spelling correction
- Plugin support
- Themes
- Directory aliases
Oh My Posh - Shell prompt customization tool with:
- Multiple themes
- Git integration
- Custom segments
- Unicode support
- Battery status
Zoxide - Enhanced cd command featuring:
- Learning algorithm
- Fuzzy matching
- Directory ranking
- Multiple shell support
- Quick directory jumping
Mission Center - System monitoring tool providing:
- Process management
- Resource monitoring
- Startup management
- Service control
- Performance graphs
Gear Lever - Manages AppImage applications by integrating them into the system, creating desktop entries, and handling updates.
- Integrates AppImages into the desktop environment
- Creates desktop entries for easy launching
- Manages and updates AppImages
- Simplifies AppImage application management
- Requires root privileges
📊 Monitoring & Observability
Grafana - Analytics and visualization platform offering:
- Custom dashboards
- Multiple data source support
- Alerting system
- Team collaboration
- Rich visualization options
I use this to visualize metrics collected by Prometheus and set up alerting rules to notify me via Telegram whenever critical thresholds are breached.
Prometheus - Monitoring system and time series database with:
- Powerful query language
- Alert management
- Service discovery
- Data visualization
- Multiple storage options
I use this to collect detailed metrics from both containers and the host system, using cAdvisor for container-level insights and Node Exporter for system metrics.
Uptime Kuma - Monitoring tool featuring:
- Multiple monitor types (HTTP, TCP, Ping, etc.)
- Status pages
- Notification systems
- Response time graphs
- SSL expiry monitoring
I use this for real-time health checks of all my services, with immediate Telegram alerts if any become unreachable.
ChangeDetection.io - Website monitoring tool with:
- Visual change detection
- JavaScript rendering
- Notifications
- Custom CSS selectors
- Screenshot comparisons
Netalertx - Network monitoring system offering:
- Device discovery
- Performance monitoring
- Alert management
- Custom thresholds
- Report generation
Dozzle - Real-time log viewer for Docker containers featuring:
- Live log streaming
- No database required
- Simple web interface
- Search functionality
- Multi-container support
I rely on this to view container logs in real time. It’s lightweight and simple, which suits my needs since I don’t require long-term log retention.
🏠 Home Automation & IoT
Home Assistant - Open-source home automation platform with:
- 1000+ integrations
- Automation scripts
- Energy monitoring
- Mobile app control
- Local processing
Mosquitto - MQTT message broker useful for:
- IoT device communication
- Home automation
- Real-time messaging
- Lightweight publish/subscribe messaging
Frigate - Network video recorder (NVR) with:
- Real-time object detection
- Person/vehicle detection
- Integration with Home Assistant
- Low resource usage
- MQTT support
⚡ Productivity & Organization
Errands - A lightweight and privacy-focused to-do list app designed for simplicity, featuring:
- Task creation and management
- Offline support
- Minimalist design
- Cross-platform compatibility
- Open-source and self-hosted options
Ferdium - A desktop app that helps you organize multiple services like WhatsApp, Telegram, and others into one application. Features include:
- Support for 100+ services
- Custom service integration
- Workspace organization
- Message counter and notifications
- Low resource usage compared to running multiple apps
Outline - Team knowledge base platform featuring:
- Real-time collaboration
- Version history
- Rich text editor
- Integration with various tools
- File attachments
Wallabag - Self-hosted “read it later” service offering:
- Article archiving
- Tags and collections
- Full-text search
- Mobile apps
- Browser extensions
Medassist - Medication tracking application providing:
- Medication reminders
- Dose tracking
- Multiple user support
- Prescription management
- Refill notifications
Hugo - Static site generator:
- Fast build times
- Flexible templating
- Markdown support
- Large theme library
💾 Backup & Sync
Borg Backup - Backup solution featuring:
- Deduplication
- Compression
- Encryption
- Mount capability
- Remote backups
I use this to create deduplicated backups of both my servers and personal computer.
Rclone - Cloud storage manager offering:
- Support for 40+ cloud services
- Encryption
- Mounting
- Synchronization
- Bandwidth limiting
Rsync - File synchronization tool providing:
- Incremental transfers
- Remote syncing
- Bandwidth limiting
- File filtering
- Preservation of permissions
I use this to securely sync Borg backup archives to Google Drive for offsite redundancy, and for efficiently mirroring and synchronizing photo directories between multiple hard drives.
🌐 Networking & Remote Access
Rustdesk - Open-source remote desktop software, alternative to TeamViewer, featuring:
- End-to-end encryption
- No account required
- Self-hosted option
- Cross-platform support
- File transfer capabilities
LocalSend - File sharing tool featuring:
- No internet required
- Cross-platform support
- End-to-end encryption
- Large file support
- Quick discovery
☁️ Self-Hosting & Local Cloud
Nextcloud - Self-hosted productivity platform offering:
- File synchronization and sharing
- Calendar and contact management
- Collaborative document editing
- Video conferencing
- Mobile and desktop apps
- Integration with various third-party services
Nginx Manager - Web interface for Nginx offering:
- SSL certificate management
- Proxy host configuration
- Access lists
- Custom locations
- Let’s Encrypt integration
Zerotier One - Software-defined networking tool offering:
- Peer-to-peer VPN
- End-to-end encryption
- NAT traversal
- Multi-platform support
- Easy network management
I use this as my peer-to-peer VPN solution for securely accessing my home lab from anywhere without exposing ports or relying on traditional port forwarding. It uses UDP hole punching to create encrypted, direct connections between devices, even behind NAT or firewalls.
⌨️ Development Tools
Insomnia - API development tool offering:
- Request history
- Environment variables
- GraphQL support
- Cookie management
- Request chaining
Another Redis Desktop Manager - Redis GUI client with:
- Multiple connection management
- CLI interface
- Cluster support
- Key management
- Value editing
PlantUML - Diagram creation tool supporting:
- UML diagrams
- Sequence diagrams
- Activity diagrams
- Component diagrams
- Text-based creation
📂 File Management & Utilities
- File Browser - Web-based file manager providing:
- Multiple user support
- File sharing
- Access control
- Mobile-friendly interface
- Multiple storage backend support
📸 Photo & Media Management
Immich - Self-hosted Google Photos alternative providing:
- Automatic photo backup
- Face recognition
- Album sharing
- Mobile apps
- Machine learning features
Jellyfin - Media server solution offering:
- Streaming of movies, TV shows, and music
- Live TV and DVR support
- User management with parental controls
- Transcoding capabilities
- Cross-platform clients
Czkawka - A tool to find duplicate files, empty folders, and similar images:
- Cleaning up storage space
- Finding duplicate music files
- Organizing photo collections
- Identifying similar or exact duplicate images
- Finding broken files
🎨 Visual Tools & Customization
Flameshot - Feature-rich screenshot software with built-in editing tools:
- Precise area selection
- Drawing tools and annotations
- Text addition
- Quick upload to image hosting
- Customizable shortcuts
Chafa - Terminal graphics viewer:
- Multiple image formats
- ASCII art conversion
- Animation support
- Color customization
- Unicode output
📱 Mobile
Fennec Browser - Privacy-focused mobile browser:
- Enhanced tracking protection
- Custom add-on support
- Sync with Firefox account
- Private browsing
- Customizable interface
Droid-ify - F-Droid client alternative:
- Modern material design
- Fast repository updates
- Multiple repositories support
- Update notifications
- Clean interface
DAVx5 - CalDAV/CardDAV synchronization tool:
- Calendar synchronization
- Contact management
- Task lists
- Auto-discovery
- Two-way sync
ConnectBot - Secure SSH client:
- Multiple session support
- Public key authentication
- Port forwarding
- Custom keyboard shortcuts
- Terminal emulation
Wallabag - Official Android/iOS client:
- Offline article reading
- Article management
- Sync with self-hosted instance
- Share functionality
- Reading mode customization
Jellyfin - Official Android client:
- Stream your media library
- Offline downloads
- Live TV support
- Cast functionality
- Multiple server support
Zerotier - Android VPN client:
- Join virtual networks
- Encrypted connections
- Network management
- Auto-connect options
- Multiple network support
Nextcloud - Official Android client:
- File sync and sharing
- Auto-upload photos
- Offline file access
- Document editing
- End-to-end encryption
Home Assistant - Official Android client:
- Device control
- Automation triggers
- Location tracking
- Push notifications
- Widget support
Bitwarden - Official password manager client:
- Password autofill
- Secure notes
- Generator
- Biometric unlock
- Self-hosted support
Paperless - Mobile client:
- Document viewing
- Upload documents
- Search functionality
- Tag management
- OCR support
Koreader - E-book reader:
- Multiple format support
- Custom dictionary
- Progress sync
- Night mode
- Font customization
⚙️ Gnome Extensions
Caffeine - Prevents the desktop from going to sleep.
- Keeps the system awake
- Simple toggle
Pano - Clipboard Manager - Clipboard manager.
- History of copied items
- Search functionality
- Easy access
AppIndicator/KStatusNotifierItem - Display legacy tray icons.
- Shows system tray icons
- Compatibility with older applications
Alphabetical App Grid - Sorts applications alphabetically in the app grid.
- Organizes applications
- Easy navigation
🔌 Browser Extensions
uBlock Origin - Efficient ad blocking browser extension:
- Custom filter lists
- Reduced CPU and memory usage
- Open-source and free
- Easy to use
Multi-Account Containers - Firefox extension that lets you separate your browsing into color-coded tabs that:
- Isolates cookies
- Prevents tracking across contexts
- Simplifies managing multiple identities
- Enhances privacy
Dark Reader - Browser extension:
- Dark mode for any website
- Custom site settings
- Font customization
- Brightness and contrast controls
- Site whitelist/blacklist