Comparable projects

Other open source projects similar to Stackspin exist. Each of the platforms listed here, like Stackspin, provide a suite of open source cloud applications. Most of the platforms, like Stackspin, include their own user management dashboard and single sign-on (SSO) features.

What makes Stackspin unique

However there are changes in implementation that make Stackspin different from these alternatives. As far as we found, none of the projects listed below will automatically update your applications without you having to push a button. Also, all mentioned platforms require application modifications, for example to make use of the authentication system.

Stackspin avoids changing the included applications to prevent maintenance overhead and enable seamless native updates. It only requires OpenID Connect support, so the application can be integrated with single sign-on.

So far, Stackspin requires one intervention before an update can be pushed to users: It needs to be tested. We want to make sure that an application works well with the platform and other applications before we let you use it. We work towards a fully automated test suite to minimize failure while providing automatic updates.

Platforms

Fully Open

Sandstorm allows applications to be installed as so-called Grains. Each grain is a copy of the complete application made for a specific purpose. For example, a grain for document editor “Etherpad” contains not only the data written in the notepad, but also the Etherpad and database software. If you have two notepads, you also have two copies of the software. With many users, this approach runs into limits.

YunoHost is mostly based on Debian and its package management and user management system. As a result, Yunohost is relatively lightweight. However, if an application on your Yunohost contains a security hole, the data of other applications is likely compromised as well. This is less likely in Stackspin as applications run in sealed-off containers.

SelfPrivacy automatically sets up an open stack focused on personal use from your phone on an established cloud provider. From the documentation it seems to not add any integration (such as SSO) between the services and the only dashboard is the app itself.

Mail-in-a-Box is a narrowly focused project that tightly integrates Nextcloud and various applications to create a full-featured mailserver with a control panel. As such there is no SSO and no configuration options.

Open Core

Cloudron offers a similar application suite. In contrast to Stackspin, Cloudron requires a paid account if you want to use more than two applications or more than five users.

Univention Corporate Server is focused on business and does not make reproducible builds easily available or facilitate community contribution.