What is sandstorm?

Sandstorm is a self-hosted platform that makes it easy to run productivity apps on your own server. Think of it like an app store for your personal computer, instead of installing Google Docs, Notion, or Git on the cloud and giving those companies access to your data, you install these kinds of apps directly on your own hardware. You get all the convenience of web apps without handing over control to a third party. The way Sandstorm works is by acting as a security-focused app package manager. Imagine if your phone's app store added a strong layer of protection: before any app runs, it's isolated and restricted so it can only do what it's supposed to do. That's the security hardening Sandstorm applies. When you install an app through Sandstorm, it runs in a protected sandbox, which means even if an app has a vulnerability, it can't easily break out and compromise your entire server or access other apps' data. Sandstorm is useful for anyone who wants privacy and control over their digital tools. A small business owner might use it to run their own document editor, spreadsheet app, and task manager without paying subscription fees or worrying about cloud outages. Someone managing a team could host their own git repository and blogging platform. Writers, researchers, or anyone handling sensitive information benefit from keeping everything on their own machine rather than relying on third-party services. The platform is open source and runs on standard Linux servers, so you're not locked into any vendor. The appeal of Sandstorm is simplicity paired with control. Rather than wrestling with configuration files and server setup, you install and launch apps through a clean interface, just like you're used to on a phone. Yet you maintain complete ownership of your data and infrastructure. It's designed for people who want the user-friendliness of cloud apps but the independence of self-hosting.