FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Plans and pricing
Is FamilyHub free?
Self-hosting is free forever — MIT licensed, no registration, no limits, no telemetry. You supply your own hardware and your own AI API keys (optional, only needed if you want the voice assistant and AI recipe import).
A hosted SaaS version is being prepared. When it launches the pricing will be published on the pricing page; today that page shows the planned tiers but all say "coming soon".
What's the difference between self-hosted and the future hosted plan?
The same code runs in both modes. Differences are about who operates it:
| Self-hosted | Hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the servers | You | We do |
| AI keys | Bring your own | Included (Full plan) or BYOK (BYOK plan) |
| Updates | You docker pull when you want | Automatic |
| Backups | You schedule | Automatic |
| Support | Community (GitLab issues) | Priority email |
| Payment flows | Not present | Stripe-based |
Everything else — features, data model, UI — is identical.
What does "BYOK" mean?
"Bring your own key". A BYOK plan means we host the FamilyHub app for you, but you supply your own Anthropic / OpenAI / Whisper API keys for the AI features. You pay us a lower subscription because we don't pay the AI bill. Same applies to self-hosting.
Migrating data
Can I move from self-hosted to the hosted version?
Yes. The database schema is identical. When the hosted version launches, the onboarding flow will let you import a family export. In the meantime, Admin > Data > Export already produces the bundle format that import will consume — your data is ready to go whenever you are.
Can I move from hosted back to self-hosted?
Yes. When the hosted version launches, Admin > Data > Export will produce the same bundle you'd import into a self-hosted instance. No vendor lock-in: the export includes everything (users, lists, tasks, events, recipes, preferences, service configs).
What's NOT included in an export?
- User passwords — these are hashed and non-portable. Members re-create their passwords on the new deployment (or an admin resets them).
- Live CalDAV state — the events themselves are exported as ICS-equivalent JSON, but Radicale's on-disk collection is not. The importing deployment rebuilds it automatically.
- Stripe subscription state — hosted exports don't carry payment info; billing starts fresh on the target deployment.
Running self-hosted
What hardware do I need?
Anywhere Docker runs. Common setups: Raspberry Pi 4/5 (2 GB RAM is enough), a mini-PC, a NAS that supports containers, a VPS, a home server, or a Kubernetes cluster if you already have one. See Self-hosting for the full requirement list.
Do I need an AI key?
No. FamilyHub works without AI — shopping lists, tasks, and calendar all work the same way. You just lose the voice assistant, AI recipe import, and automatic shopping-list categorisation. You can add a key later without reinstalling anything.
Does the self-hosted version have a payment module?
It's shipped in the codebase but disabled by default. The backend auto-detects based on STRIPE_SECRET_KEY: no key → payment module off, which means no /api/payment/* or trial endpoints are registered and every feature is unlocked. If you ever add a Stripe key, the runtime picks it up on the next restart. See self-hosting > payment module.
AI and privacy
Is my data used to train AI models?
No. FamilyHub sends specific requests (a shopping-item name for categorisation, a voice recording for transcription, a command for intent parsing) to whichever AI provider you configured. Whether that provider keeps or trains on that content is governed by that provider's own data-processing policy — read Anthropic's or OpenAI's terms if that matters to you. FamilyHub itself stores nothing externally.
Is the voice recording stored anywhere?
No — the backend streams it straight to Whisper for transcription and discards both the audio and the text afterwards. The transcribed text is stored only as the shape of the command you ran (e.g. "added milk to Boodschappen"), visible in your own family's history.
Does FamilyHub send telemetry?
No. Zero telemetry, zero analytics, zero phone-home in either mode.
Features
Does it work offline?
Reads stay visible when you lose connection (the PWA caches recently-loaded data). Writes need the server — if you try to add an item while offline, the UI surfaces a retry banner. See Real-time sync for the full story.
Can I use it in languages other than Dutch or English?
Today only NL and EN are in the repo. The plumbing supports adding more — see Multilingual support. Merge requests welcome.
Does it run on iOS / Android?
As a PWA: yes, on any modern browser. You can "Add to Home Screen" and it behaves like a native app. Native wrappers (Capacitor) are on the roadmap — see Roadmap.