The story behind the site, and why it exists
A few years back, I added up how many subscriptions I was paying just to write notes, store photos, and manage passwords — $10 here, $10 there, and leaving any of them meant messy exports or lost features.
So I spent a few weekends moving everything to open source and self-hosted tools instead. Some were clunky, but most were faster, more private, and just better.
I started SourceSwap to document what's actually worth switching to — and how to do it without the headaches.
No tool pays to be ranked #1 here, and none ever will. Every recommendation comes from actually installing the tool, migrating real data into it, and living with it for weeks — not a sponsorship deal or an affiliate link. If something's ranked highly, it's because it earned it.
Your notes, passwords, and documents belong in open, standard formats — like plain Markdown or SQLite — not locked away in a proprietary database.
Open source should mean private by default. We dig into the repository to make sure nothing's phoning home with diagnostic trackers you never agreed to.
We only feature projects with steady updates and responsive developers — so you're never stuck maintaining software everyone else has walked away from.