The SAAS (software as a service) model allows users to access the software online without downloading. It is a rent-based model where you have to pay as you use, and you can stop using it whenever you want.
In this article, we will see the 11 top-paid SaaS product alternatives that you can use. You just need a server running on the cloud where you can host your SaaS product.
I hope you already have one; if you still need to, you can host it with AWS, GCP, or DigitalOcean. You can follow the tutorial below to set up the EC2 instance in AWS
Once the setup is completed you can connect to you instance vis ssh and install the softwares you want to.
Let’s see the alternatives for popular saas products —
1. Supabase — The open source Firebase alternative
You can start using the supabase instead of firebase, it is providing the everything which firebase provides. you can opt to self hosted model or there cloud services if don’t want to host it.
For more info refer to the github — https://github.com/supabase/supabase
How to install supabase with docker —
# Get the code
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/supabase/supabase
# Go to the docker folder
cd supabase/docker
# Copy the fake env vars
cp .env.example .env
# Pull the latest images
docker compose pull
# Start the services (in detached mode)
docker compose up -d
2. Grafana — Open Source Alternative to Datadog, NewRelic
A platform for visualizing data, Grafana allows users to see metrics, logs, and traces from many different sources, including Prometheus, Loki, Elasticsearch, InfluxDB, Postgres, and many more.
How to install Grafana with docker —
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 --name=grafana grafana/grafana-enterprise
For more details refer here
3. Uptime Kuma — Open Source Alternative to Uptime Robot
Uptime kuma is great alternative to uptime robot, which is paid software to monitor your site’s uptime. We can host uptime kuma on our server and start using its amazing features without any limitations.
How to install uptime kuma with docker —
docker run -d --restart=always -p 3001:3001 -v uptime-kuma:/app/data --name uptime-kuma louislam/uptime-kuma:1
4. NocoDB — Open Source Alternative to Airtable
NocoDb is a great alternative to start using your database without coding. It uses your database as spreadsheets, where you can add, edit the records.
Install NocoDB with docker —
# with PostgreSQL
docker run -d --name nocodb-postgres \
-v "$(pwd)"/nocodb:/usr/app/data/ \
-p 8080:8080 \
-e NC_DB="pg://host.docker.internal:5432?u=root&p=password&d=d1" \
-e NC_AUTH_JWT_SECRET="569a1821-0a93-45e8-87ab-eb857f20a010" \
nocodb/nocodb:latest
--------------------------------------------------------
# with SQLite : mounting volume `/usr/app/data/` is crucial to avoid data loss.
docker run -d --name nocodb \
-v "$(pwd)"/nocodb:/usr/app/data/ \
-p 8080:8080 \
nocodb/nocodb:latest
5. Dokku — Open Source Alternative to Heroku, Render
Dokku is docker based PaaS product used as aletrnative to Heroku, Render to deploy add on your promises. It is automatically detect the technology from the app code and provide the ci/cd with github.
Installation: official guide
# for debian systems, installs Dokku via apt-get
wget -NP . https://dokku.com/install/v0.34.8/bootstrap.sh
sudo DOKKU_TAG=v0.34.8 bash bootstrap.sh
6. Appwrite — Open Source Alternative to Firebase
Appwrite is another good option of firebase, It is provides sdk and apis to start connect your app to backend in minuts. It has self hosted and cloud based model.
Install Appwrite with docker —
docker run -it --rm \
--volume /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
--volume "$(pwd)"/appwrite:/usr/src/code/appwrite:rw \
--entrypoint="install" \
appwrite/appwrite:1.5.10
7. n8n — Open Source Alternative to Zapier, Make
Workflow automation solution with fair-code licensing that is free and open source. Automate tasks across many services with ease.
Install N8N with docker —
docker volume create n8n_data
docker run -it --rm --name n8n -p 5678:5678 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
8. Redash: Open Source Alternative to Power BI, tableau, MicroStrategy, Qlik
Organize Your Business Using Data. Create a dashboard, share your data, and connect to any data source with ease.
Install redash with docker —
git clone https://github.com/getredash/redash.git
cd redash
cp .env.example .env
docker-compose -f docker-compose.production.yml up -d
9: Jitsi — Open Source Alternative to Zoom, Skype
You may use Jitsi Meet — a secure, user-friendly, and scalable video conference app — as a stand-alone program or integrate it into your website.
Install Jitsi with docker —
// Download
wget $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/jitsi/docker-jitsi-meet/releases/latest | grep 'zip' | cut -d\" -f4)
// Unzip the package
unzip <filename>
// Create a .env file by copying and adjusting env.example
cp env.example .env
// Set strong passwords in the security section options of .env file by running the following bash script
./gen-passwords.sh
// Create required CONFIG directories
mkdir -p ~/.jitsi-meet-cfg/{web,transcripts,prosody/config,prosody/prosody-plugins-custom,jicofo,jvb,jigasi,jibri}
// run docker
docker compose up -d
//Access the web UI at https://localhost:8443 (or a different port, in case you edited the .env file).
Follow the official documentation for more details
10. Plausible Analytics — Open Source Alternative to Google Analytics
A no-fuss, open-source, small (< 1 KB), and private online analytics substitute for Google Analytics.
Install Plausible Analytics with docker —
git clone https://github.com/plausible/community-edition
cd community-edition
edit `plausible-conf.env`
BASE_URL=replace-me
SECRET_KEY_BASE=replace-me
TOTP_VAULT_KEY=replace-me
Run docker compose
docker compose up -d
11. NextCloud — Open Source Alternative to Google Drive
Nextcloud is opensource alternative to google drive, used to store and share the data between users.
Install Nextcloud with docker —
$ docker run -d \
-v nextcloud:/var/www/html \
nextcloud
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