A self-hosted Trustworthy alternative
Open source vs hosted. See how Harbor stacks up.
| Question | Harbor | Trustworthy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $0 to $480 a year |
| How your records are hosted | On your server, under your control | On Trustworthy’s servers |
| Legal requests for your records | Handled by you | Handled by Trustworthy |
| Who has access | Just you | Trustworthy staff and you |
| Who grants emergency access | You, in advance | Trustworthy’s team |
| Storage | Unlimited | 2 GB to unlimited, by plan |
| Backups | Nightly, to a provider you choose | Manual export only |
| AI model | Your choice, including local | No choice, and capped |
| Source code | Open (AGPL-3.0) | Closed |
| Email import | Most mailboxes, over IMAP | Gmail only, PDFs only |
| Setup | Your own Linux machine | Sign up in a browser |
Checked against these sources: pricing, security, privacy policy, terms, emergency contacts, AI features, data export, Gmail connector.
Why self-hosting matters
- 01
Stay in control
Your records live on a machine you own, not on a company’s servers. You decide who can open them, where they are backed up and what leaves your house. No company holds them, hands them over or changes the rules.
“We may disclose personal information if we believe that disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law or legal process…”
Trustworthy privacy policy - 02
Protect from corporate churn
Companies get acquired, rewrite their terms and shut down. With a hosted service, any of those can force your family’s records to move on someone else’s schedule. Harbor is open source: the copy you run keeps working whatever happens to any company, including the people who make Harbor.
“We may share personal information in connection with … any merger, sale of company assets, … or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings).”
Trustworthy privacy policy - 03
Save thousands
A subscription charges you every year. Ten years of Trustworthy Platinum, its only plan with unlimited storage, costs $4,800. Harbor is free: buy a small computer once, or use one you already have, and pay a few dollars a year for electricity.
Cost over ten years - Trustworthy Platinum
- $4,800
- Harbor at home
- about $330
Ten-year estimate with subscription prices held constant: Platinum is $40 a month, billed annually. Harbor assumes a $250 computer with storage, drawing 5 W at $0.188 per kWh: about $80 in electricity. Backup storage, optional hosted AI and any hardware replacements are extra.
Use Trustworthy if
Harbor is software you run, and that is not for every household.
- You don’t want to set anything up yourself
- You want a native iOS or Android app
- You don’t mind paying a subscription
- You’re comfortable with a third party holding your records
Switching from Trustworthy
- Can I move my documents from Trustworthy to Harbor?
- Yes. Export your files from Trustworthy’s web app under Settings → Export data, then upload the archive to Harbor, which reads and files each document again. Trustworthy’s reminders and notes do not carry over.
- What do I need to run Harbor?
- A Linux machine with Docker, such as a Raspberry Pi 5 with an SSD or a small PC, an encrypted disk, somewhere for backups, and some comfort with the command line.
- How long does it take to set up Harbor?
- Download Harbor and run a single script. It asks a few simple questions: which drive should hold your documents, how you want to reach Harbor and where your backups should go. Harbor does the rest. On a typical home connection it is ready in minutes. Then open Harbor in your browser and create your account.
Your data. Your rules. Your Harbor.
Free, open source, and on a machine you own.