TheGarageLabs
Honest answers about owning a home cloud: what runs on the box, how it differs from iCloud or Dropbox, what it costs, and who it is not for.
We install open-source apps by module: Immich for photos, Vaultwarden for passwords, AdGuard Home for network-wide ad blocking, Frigate for cameras, Jellyfin for your own media library (files, DVDs, and rips — not a Netflix catalog), and Home Assistant for smart home. The same list is on What's included. Every module also has a written guide on the Guides page.
If you buy the parts, you order them from our published list and ship them to us; we configure, test, and ship the box back ready to plug in — usually days to a few weeks depending on shipping. If we buy them, it works the same way, except we order the parts at cost with receipts and ship the configured box to you. If you already own hardware, we assess it free, then configure it remotely or ship your machine back — often faster because nothing new is ordered. The timeline is never "Amazon Prime overnight"; it depends on the path.
No — and this is the core difference. iCloud and Dropbox run on their servers; you're paying to rent space there. TheGarageLabs sells you a physical box that lives in your house. Optional cover, billed monthly or yearly, is a service fee for a person to maintain it, not a fee for storage sitting somewhere else. If we ever went away, your box keeps working — your files stay on hardware you own.
No, and this is the thing we most want to be clear about. Every price we quote is our labor. The box and drives are bought separately, and it is your choice who buys them: order them yourself from the parts list we publish and post the hardware to us, or ask us to buy on your behalf at exactly what we paid, receipts shown, billed on as a separate line. The fee is the same either way because we don't mark hardware up. In practice the hardware has been running roughly $650 to $1,800 depending on how much storage you need, and drives are unusually expensive in 2026. If you already own something we can use, there's nothing to buy and you pay the flat setup fee only.
Yes, and we'd rather you did if that's what makes you comfortable. Tell us what you have — a Synology, a mini PC, an old desktop, even a Raspberry Pi — and we'll assess it for free. You get an honest answer about what it can realistically run. If it works, we configure it for a flat $199 covering up to two hours; anything beyond that we quote before touching it. Annual cover is available on your hardware exactly as it would be on ours.
Updates, security patches, and a real person to call when something breaks. It is optional after any setup path, and you can pay monthly (managed) or once a year (annual cover). Household cover has no published response-time guarantee — if you need next-business-day or same-day commitments, that is what the For business plans are for. Skip cover and the box keeps working; nothing is rented from us.
Households use the main site: one-time setup, and optional cover (monthly or yearly) — no rent on your data. Small businesses that need response times, multiple boxes, or staff onboarding should use For business — those plans are monthly support contracts on purpose. Creators and shops with a team usually belong there too.
Power, ethernet (preferred) or reliable wifi to the box, and a normal home internet connection. On your home network, phones and laptops talk to the box directly. Remote access away from home is optional — we only enable it if you ask, and we explain the route before you commit.
Yes. Not knowing the vocabulary is not a disqualification — explaining it is our job, and you will never have to open a terminal. If you can plug in a router, you can have this.
Your box keeps working. Hardware, data, and local apps stay in your house — cover is for a person on call, not for access to a platform that could disappear. We do not hold your files hostage on our servers because we do not run your storage.
You call a real person. If you have cover, that is included — not an extra call center fee. Without cover, we can still help as a paid one-off; the box itself does not lock you out.
It's your box. It moves with you like any other appliance — we'll help with reconnecting if you're on cover or a business plan.
On your home network, yes: your files, photos, and camera footage stay on the box in your house — traffic goes phone/laptop → box on your home network, not through our servers. If you want access away from home, we will set up an option you choose (often VPN or a direct tunnel) and explain exactly what routes where before you commit — no hidden cloud relay through us.
Not when you are on your home wifi — that traffic stays on your home network. Away from home, we only enable remote access if you ask for it, using a method we document for you. We do not run a proprietary cloud relay that stores or scans your files.
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