The Case for Self-Hosting Financial Data
Every time you connect a bank account to a financial app, you’re making a trade: convenience for control.
We think that’s a bad deal.
The Data Economy
Financial apps are often free for a reason: your data is the product.
Your financial data reveals your income, spending habits, relationships, health conditions, political donations, and more.
- Build credit profiles
- Target advertisements
- Train machine learning models
- Sell to data brokers
The Self-Hosting Alternative
Self-hosting means running software on infrastructure you control:
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Your Server │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ FIREla Instance │ │
│ │ ┌─────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Your Financial │ │ │
│ │ │ Data │ │ │
│ │ └─────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
You control this
- Privacy - No third-party access
- Ownership - Your data, your rules
- Permanence - No company can deprecate your data
- Customization - Modify the software to fit your needs
Common Concerns
”Isn’t self-hosting complicated?”
It used to be. FIREla runs in Docker:
That’s it. No DevOps degree required.
”What about security?”
Paradoxically, self-hosting can be more secure:
- Attack surface - Your server isn’t a high-value target like a SaaS with millions of users
- Transparency - You can audit every line of code
- Control - You decide who has access
”What if I’m not technical?”
We’re building managed hosting options. But the self-hosted option will always exist for those who want it.
The Bigger Picture
We believe in a future where:
- Individuals own their data
- Software is transparent and auditable
- Vendor lock-in is a choice, not a trap
FIREla is a small step toward that future.
