Open source business software, deployed and managed for you

Replace expensive SaaS subscriptions with open source applications running on infrastructure you control, with Node handling every aspect of deployment, operations and support.

Why Open Source Applications:

No Per-Seat Licensing: Commercial SaaS applications charge per user, per month, for access to software you neither own nor control. Open source applications have no licence fees. You pay for the managed service, not the right to use the software.

Your Data Stays With You: Business data, including customer records, financial transactions, signed contracts and internal documents, lives on infrastructure you control, in the location you specify. It is not processed by third-party AI systems or accessible to vendor support teams.

No Arbitrary Feature Limits: SaaS vendors gate features behind higher pricing tiers. Open source applications give you the complete feature set, including advanced workflows, API access, integrations and reporting, without needing to upgrade your subscription.

Integrates With Your Identity Stack: Every application we deploy integrates with Keycloak for single sign-on. Your team logs in with their existing corporate credentials. No separate passwords, no separate user directories to maintain.

Composable by Design: These applications are not isolated tools. Your CRM talks to your billing system. Your document management integrates with your e-signature workflow. Your ERP connects to your private cloud storage. We build the integrations that make them work as a coherent platform.

Hosted Anywhere, Managed by Us: Every application runs on Node's own UK infrastructure, your cloud tenancy on AWS, Azure or GCP, or your on-premise environment. You choose where your data lives. We make sure it runs reliably.

Looking to replace a specific tool? See our guide to open source SaaS alternatives, mapping the SaaS products you already pay for to the open source platforms we deploy and manage.

Our Services

Business Apps

The systems your business runs on: CRM, ERP, billing, invoicing and time tracking, deployed and managed by Node with no per-seat licence fees.

Collaboration & Documents

How your team works together: chat, office documents, wikis, scheduling, e-signatures and document management, all behind one login on UK infrastructure.

Customer & Marketing

Win and keep customers: helpdesks, live chat, marketing automation, publishing and privacy-first analytics, hosted and managed in the UK.

Tools

Data and developer tools: dashboards, no-code databases, headless content and git hosting, run for you on infrastructure you control.

Which SaaS does each app replace

Every application below is a managed, open source replacement for a commercial SaaS product you may already pay for. Follow the links for pricing, features and migration detail, or see the full SaaS to open source map covering automation, hosting and security too.

Replaces Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Dynamics

EspoCRM

Sales pipeline, contacts, marketing and support.

Replaces SAP, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics

ERPNext or Odoo

Full ERP: finance, inventory, manufacturing, HR.

Replaces QuickBooks, Sage, smaller ERPs

Dolibarr

ERP and CRM for small and medium businesses.

Replaces Chargebee, Recurly, Zuora

Kill Bill

Subscription billing and payments.

Replaces FreshBooks, QuickBooks invoicing

Invoice Ninja

Invoicing, quotes and payments.

Replaces Harvest, Toggl

Kimai

Time tracking and timesheets.

Replaces Google Workspace, Microsoft 365

OnlyOffice or Nextcloud

Documents, spreadsheets, files and collaboration.

Replaces Slack, Microsoft Teams chat

Mattermost

Team chat and collaboration.

Replaces Confluence, Notion

BookStack or Outline

Wiki, knowledge base and documentation.

Replaces DocuSign, Adobe Sign

Documenso or DocuSeal

Legally binding electronic signatures and form filling.

Replaces DocuWare, SharePoint document management

Paperless-ngx

Document management with OCR and search.

Replaces Calendly

Cal.com

Scheduling and booking pages.

Replaces Zendesk, Freshdesk

Zammad

Helpdesk and ticketing.

Replaces Intercom, Zendesk messaging

Chatwoot

Live chat and omnichannel support inbox.

Replaces Google Analytics, Mixpanel

Matomo or Umami

Privacy-first web analytics.

Replaces Mailchimp, HubSpot Marketing

Mautic

Marketing automation and campaigns.

Replaces Ghost(Pro), Substack, Medium

Ghost

Publishing, newsletters and memberships.

Replaces Airtable

Baserow or NocoDB

No-code databases and collaborative spreadsheets.

Replaces Tableau, Power BI, Looker

Metabase

Business intelligence and dashboards.

Replaces Contentful

Directus

Headless CMS and instant data APIs.

Replaces GitHub Team, GitLab SaaS

Gitea

Private git hosting with issues and CI.

Replaces 1Password, LastPass

Passbolt or Vaultwarden

Team password management and credential sharing.

Replaces Squarespace, Wix, WP Engine

WordPress Hosting

WordPress and WooCommerce on a private LEMP stack.

Replaces Zapier, Make, Workato

Apache Camel or Apache NiFi

Workflow automation and integrations.

Replaces AWS IoT Core, HiveMQ Cloud, CloudMQTT

Mosquitto

MQTT messaging for IoT, telemetry and event fan-out.

Replaces Home Assistant Cloud, Nabu Casa

Home Assistant

Home and building automation, dashboards and MQTT device control.

Frequently asked questions

Can I migrate data from our existing CRM or ERP into the open source equivalent?

Yes. We handle data migration as part of the deployment engagement. Most commercial platforms export to standard formats (CSV, XML or via API) and we build the import pipelines into the new system, with data validation and reconciliation before go-live.

Who provides support if something goes wrong?

Node provides managed operations and support for every application we deploy. We handle infrastructure incidents, application-level issues, security patching, upgrades and performance tuning. For complex customisation requirements, we have the development capability to extend the applications themselves.

How do users log in - do they need separate accounts for each application?

No. We integrate every application with Keycloak for single sign-on. Users authenticate once with their existing corporate credentials and access all Node-managed applications without additional logins. MFA, session policies and access rules are enforced consistently across all applications.

What is the typical timeline to deploy one of these applications?

For a standard deployment without complex customisation, most applications are production-ready in two to four weeks. This covers infrastructure provisioning, application configuration, identity integration, data migration and user acceptance testing. Complex ERP deployments with significant data migration take longer and are scoped individually.

Is open source software actually enterprise-ready?

Yes. ERPNext is used by tens of thousands of companies including manufacturing businesses and retailers with hundreds of millions in revenue. EspoCRM serves thousands of organisations globally. OnlyOffice powers document collaboration at major enterprises and government organisations. The quality and maturity of these platforms is not in question. The difference is that you own the infrastructure and pay no licence fees.

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