Some people wear band shirts.
You wear @homelab.ad.
Get your @homelab.ad identity for free: email, Mastodon and Matrix — one login, real hardware, no corporation.
Looked after by someone who does this for a living — and still a hobby project with no profit motive. It exists to show what open, self-sovereign platforms can do today: your mailbox, your social account and your messenger, without a corporation reading along.
$ whoami --services
mail you@homelab.ad
fedi @you@homelab.ad
matrix @you:homelab.ad
$
✉️
you@homelab.ad
A proper mailbox on a dedicated Stalwart mail server — IMAP, JMAP, calendar, contacts and webmail included.
🐘
Mastodon
@you@homelab.ad
Your home in the Fediverse on social.homelab.ad — federated with the entire Mastodon universe.
💬
Matrix
@you:homelab.ad
Encrypted chat, fully decentralised — use any Matrix client or stay right in your browser.
mastodon and matrix explained
What is Mastodon?
A social network like X/Twitter — except no corporation owns it. Thousands of independent servers together form the Fediverse and talk to each other: from your account on social.homelab.ad you can follow anyone on any other server. A chronological timeline instead of an algorithm, no ads, no tracking.
What is Matrix?
A messenger like WhatsApp or Signal — but built as an open, decentralised protocol with end-to-end encryption. From your account on our homeserver you chat with people on any other Matrix server, using the app of your choice (Element, for example) or straight in your browser at chat.homelab.ad.
faq — frequently asked
What does it cost?
Nothing. homelab.ad is a hobby project with no profit motive — no fees, no ads, no “premium tier”.
So what's the catch?
There isn't one. You are not the product here: no ads, no tracking, no data passed on to anyone. The project exists because it shows what open, self-sovereign platforms can do today — run by someone who does this professionally.
How reliable is this?
The stack runs on real server hardware with Kubernetes, GitOps and backups — maintained like a production system. Still, to be honest: it is a hobby project with no uptime guarantee.
Can I use my mailbox with Apple Mail, Thunderbird and friends?
Yes. The mailbox speaks IMAP, SMTP and JMAP, and most clients configure themselves via autoconfig. There is also webmail at webmail.homelab.ad — calendar and contacts (CalDAV/CardDAV) included.
Do I have to use all three services?
No. Your login works everywhere, but each account is only created once you sign in to that service for the first time. Take only what you need.
Can I follow people on other servers from my Mastodon account?
Yes — that is the whole point of the Fediverse. social.homelab.ad federates with thousands of other servers; you can follow any account anywhere, no matter where it lives. The same goes for Matrix: you chat with any Matrix user, not just people on homelab.ad.
I forgot my password — now what?
Write to patrick@homelab.ad from the external email address on file and your password will be reset.
Can I delete my account again?
Yes, at any time. A short email to patrick@homelab.ad is enough — the account and its data are then removed completely.
What happens if the project shuts down one day?
First of all: there are no plans whatsoever to shut it down. Should it ever come to that, there will be an announcement with plenty of notice and enough time to move: Mastodon accounts can be migrated to another server together with their followers, and mail can be exported over IMAP.
What software runs behind it?
Open source only: Stalwart (mail), Mastodon (Fediverse), Tuwunel (Matrix), Authentik (SSO) — orchestrated with Kubernetes and GitOps.
How it works
- Register the name you want and confirm an external email address.
- Sign in to webmail, Mastodon and Matrix with your new account — one login (SSO) for everything.
- Done. No ads, no tracking, no cost.
The entire stack is open source: Stalwart, Mastodon, Tuwunel, Authentik — orchestrated with Kubernetes and GitOps.