Why we built FamilyCloud: the case for owning your own data
When my first child was born, I uploaded every photo to Google Photos. It was convenient. It was free. And for years I didn't think much about it.
Then Google ended the free unlimited tier. Ten years of family photos, 200GB of memories, now subject to a monthly bill that would only grow. I switched to iCloud. Then Apple raised storage prices. I moved some things to Dropbox. I started paying for three services to hold my own family's data.
None of those services owe me anything. Each one can change its pricing, change its terms, or shut down. My family's photos exist at their discretion.
The problem isn't price — it's control
I could afford the cloud bills. What bothered me was something more fundamental: I had no control over where my family's data actually lived, who could access it, or what would happen to it in ten years.
Google scans your photos for advertising signals. iCloud data can be accessed by Apple under certain legal conditions. Ring footage is shared with law enforcement. These aren't conspiracy theories — they're documented in the terms of service you agreed to when you signed up.
I don't think the people at those companies are malicious. But the business model creates an inherent tension: your data is more valuable to them if they can see it. FamilyCloud starts from the opposite premise.
Self-hosting used to mean a weekend of pain
There are self-hosted alternatives — Nextcloud, Jellyfin, PhotoPrism, Plex. I tried all of them. Setting up Nextcloud took an entire Saturday and involved editing config files, troubleshooting database permissions, and reading documentation written for Linux system administrators. Plex required port forwarding on my router, which meant calling my ISP when CGNAT made it impossible. Jellyfin's mobile app crashed every third time I tried to cast something to the TV.
The technical capability existed. The experience did not.
What FamilyCloud actually is
FamilyCloud is a macOS app. You download it, run it on an always-on Mac (a Mac mini M4 is the recommended hardware), and follow a five-minute setup wizard. No command line. No Docker. No router configuration. The wizard provisions end-to-end encryption, sets up the media library, and configures remote access through Skyfire's CGNAT hole-punching protocol — which works even on networks where traditional port forwarding doesn't.
Your phone's camera roll syncs automatically when you're on home Wi-Fi. Your family's media is indexed, tagged by AI (faces, locations, events), and accessible from any device anywhere in the world — but the bytes never leave drives you own and can physically touch.
The multi-site story
The feature that no cloud service can replicate: add a second FamilyCloud node at a second location — your parents' house, a cabin, anywhere with internet. Your full library replicates between both sites. If your primary location loses power during a storm, your family keeps access through the second site. Automatically. No action required.
This is what it means to own your data. Not just stored on your hardware — protected by a redundancy model you control, running on equipment you own, with no third party in the middle.
When it ships
FamilyCloud is in late development. Sign up for the notify list from the FamilyCloud page — we'll email you when early access opens.