Your files, kept at home.
Ownfold is a storage app for Mac, iPhone, Android and the web. Your photos and documents live on a server in your own home — a NAS or a computer that stays on — and you can open them from anywhere, encrypted end to end.
- 1
Photos, names and thumbnails are encrypted on your Mac before they’re uploaded. Switch the view below to see what your server keeps.
- 2
The photos stay on your NAS, or on any disk your server can reach.
- 3
Private Vault stays sealed until you open it. Planned.
01Where files live
Your files live on hardware you own.
Ownfold has two parts: a small server that runs on a NAS or a computer at home, and apps that open your files from anywhere. Nothing goes to someone else’s cloud unless you decide to put it there.
- Room to growYour storage is as big as the disks you own. When you need more, add a drive.
- Private by designFiles are encrypted before they leave your device, so even the server in your closet can’t read them.
- Room for everyoneEach person at home gets their own private library, and you can share folders between you.
- Mistakes can be undoneOld versions are kept for 90 days and deleted files for 30, unless you change those settings.
Your home
Ownfold serveron a NAS or a computer that stays on
Storageits own disks or a NAS volume, holding encrypted files
Your devices
- Mac
- iPhone
- Android
- Web browser
Or storage elsewhereAny S3-compatible bucket. It only ever receives encrypted data.
02Setting up
Set it up once, then forget about it.
Run the server at home. It keeps your files on that machine’s disks, or in a storage bucket elsewhere if you prefer.
Claim it with the setup code. The server prints a one-time code, so nobody else on your network can create the owner account first.
Sign in on your devices. Your password never leaves them; the server checks it without ever learning it.
Invite your household. Everyone gets their own private library. As the owner you can set storage limits, but you can’t open anyone else’s files.
Setup isn’t released yet. The server runs in Docker and works in testing; guides for specific NAS systems come later.
03Sharing
04Private Vault Planned
A second lock, inside the first.
Some files deserve more than a sign-in: wills, medical records, scans of important papers. Private Vault will keep them under their own key, opened with their own passphrase. Until you unlock it, it stays sealed, even on a device where you’re already signed in.
Private Vault is planned and not built yet. Try the demo to see how it’s meant to work; it uses no real encryption.
Private Vault is locked
214 items, sealed with the vault key.
- Estate documents12 items
- Medical57 items
- Birth certificates.pdf4.2 MB
- Recovery key (printed).pdf96 KB
05Privacy
What your server can see, and what it can’t.
Your server needs a little information to keep devices in sync, enforce storage limits and check who may open what. Everything else is sealed on your devices before it’s sent.
Sealed from the server
- What’s inside your files
- File and folder names
- File types, photo sizes and thumbnails
- Your password, which is never sent at all
- Every key, including your recovery key
- Your settings and favorites
Visible to the server
- Your email address and display name
- How many files you have, how big they are and how folders nest
- When things are added, changed or deleted
- Who shares with whom, and in which role
- For public links: a rough network address and the browser type
Ownfold uses standard, well-studied encryption, including protection against future quantum computers for the keys you share. It hasn’t been independently audited yet. Read the security model
06Questions
Questions you might have.
When can I use it?
Not yet. The server and an early web app work, but nothing has been released, and there’s no release date. The status table below is kept up to date.
What do I need to run it?
A NAS or a computer at home that stays on, with room for your files. The Ownfold server runs in Docker together with a small database. Guides for specific NAS systems haven’t been written yet.
Do I need to be technical?
For now, a little. Setting up a home server today means being comfortable with Docker and with making the server reachable when you’re away. Once it’s running, the apps are meant to work like any other storage app.
Can I open my files when I’m away from home?
Yes, as long as your server is reachable from the internet at an address you control, such as your own domain. The setup includes an optional HTTPS configuration for that.
Can my family use it too?
Yes. Each person gets their own account and their own encrypted library, and you can share folders between accounts. As the owner you can set storage limits, but you can’t see anyone else’s files.
What if I forget my password?
Use your recovery key, a code Ownfold shows once when you create your account so you can print it. If you lose both the password and the recovery key, nobody can get your files back — not even whoever runs the server. That’s what keeps them private.
What happens if a disk fails?
Ownfold keeps old versions and a trash, but it doesn’t back itself up. Plan a backup the way you would for any home server. Because everything it stores is encrypted, you can copy it to an external drive or an off-site bucket without exposing what’s inside.
How is this different from cloud storage?
With most cloud storage, your files live on the provider’s servers, and many services can read them. With Ownfold, your files stay on hardware you own, and even your own server only holds encrypted data.
How much will it cost?
Nothing about pricing has been announced yet.
07Status
Where Ownfold stands.
Ownfold is still being built. Here’s exactly what works, as of October 12, 2026.
| Part | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption core | Implemented | Rust, with unit tests and test vectors shared across platforms |
| Server: files, versions, trash, sharing, links, file requests, storage limits | Implemented | End-to-end tests against a real database, including a check that the server can’t decrypt what it stores |
| Web app | Early version | Upload, browsing, previews and public links work in a browser; sharing, file requests and settings are still being tested |
| Home server setup (Docker) | In progress | Works end to end in testing; not released yet, and NAS-specific guides aren’t written |
| Mac, iPhone and Android apps | Planned | A shared Rust client library exists for them; the apps themselves don’t yet |
| Private Vault | Planned | |
| Independent security audit | Not yet |
There’s nothing to download and no mailing list yet. This page is updated as things ship, so it’s worth checking back.