Building a Complete Remote Work Stack with Open Source Tools
·OSSAlt Team
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Building a Complete Remote Work Stack with Open Source Tools
Remote teams need reliable communication, collaboration, and project management. Here's a complete remote work stack built entirely on open source — for a fraction of the SaaS cost.
The Remote Work Stack
| Need | SaaS Default | OSS Alternative | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team chat | Slack | Mattermost | Threads, channels, integrations, mobile apps |
| Video calls | Zoom | Jitsi Meet | No account needed, instant rooms |
| Project management | Linear/Jira | Plane | Modern UI, cycles, modules |
| Documentation | Notion | Outline | Rich editor, search, collections |
| Scheduling | Calendly | Cal.com | Booking pages, round robin, team events |
| File sharing | Google Drive | Nextcloud | Files, calendar, contacts, office editing |
| Passwords | 1Password | Vaultwarden | All clients work, shared vaults |
| Monitoring | Better Stack | Uptime Kuma | 20+ monitor types, status pages |
| Async video | Loom | OBS + Nextcloud | Record + share via file sharing |
| Whiteboard | Miro | Excalidraw | Collaborative whiteboard, simple |
| Time tracking | Toggl | Traggo | Simple time tracking |
| Standup bot | Geekbot | n8n workflow | Automated daily check-ins |
The $20/Month Remote Stack
Infrastructure
| Component | Provider | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| App server (8 GB) | Hetzner CX32 | $7 |
| Communication server (8 GB) | Hetzner CX32 | $7 |
| Backups + SMTP + domains | Various | $6 |
| Total | $20/month |
SaaS Equivalent Cost (25 users)
| Tool | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Slack Business+ | $375 |
| Zoom Business | $333 |
| Linear | $200 |
| Notion Business | $450 |
| Calendly Teams | $300 |
| Google Workspace | $350 |
| 1Password Teams | $100 |
| Better Stack | $25 |
| Loom Business | $375 |
| Total | $2,508/month |
Savings: $2,488/month ($29,856/year)
Remote Work Workflows
Daily Standup (Automated)
Using n8n to automate standups:
Every weekday at 9 AM:
→ Post in #standup channel (Mattermost)
→ "What did you work on yesterday? What's planned today? Any blockers?"
→ Collect responses
→ Compile summary
→ Post compiled standup to #team channel at 10 AM
Meeting Scheduling
Cal.com handles:
- Team availability (shows when everyone is free)
- Round-robin assignment (distribute calls evenly)
- Buffer time between meetings
- Timezone-aware booking
- Integration with Mattermost notifications
Document Collaboration
Outline provides:
- Real-time collaborative editing
- Nested documents in collections
- Full-text search
- Markdown support
- Templates for common documents (meeting notes, RFCs, runbooks)
- Slack-style search with
/
Video Calls
Jitsi Meet:
- No account required (share a link)
- Screen sharing
- Recording (local or Dropbox)
- Chat during calls
- Calendar integration
- Up to 50 participants reliably
Team Onboarding with OSS
Day 1 Checklist (New Employee)
- Vaultwarden — Create account, join shared vaults
- Mattermost — Join team, key channels (#general, #standup, #random)
- Plane — Add to projects, assign initial tasks
- Outline — Read onboarding docs, company handbook
- Cal.com — Set up booking page, connect calendar
- Nextcloud — Access shared files and documents
- Jitsi — Test video call setup
Onboarding Documents in Outline
Create these collections:
- Company Handbook — Values, policies, PTO, expenses
- Engineering Docs — Architecture, coding standards, deployment
- Runbooks — How to do common tasks
- Meeting Notes — Organized by team and date
- Templates — RFC, post-mortem, 1:1 notes
Async-First Communication
Remote teams thrive with async communication. The OSS stack supports this:
| Communication Type | Tool | Async-Friendly |
|---|---|---|
| Quick questions | Mattermost threads | ✅ Reply anytime |
| Discussions | Mattermost channels | ✅ Catch up at your pace |
| Decisions | Outline pages | ✅ Comment and react |
| Updates | Mattermost posts | ✅ Read when available |
| Meetings | Jitsi (recorded) | ✅ Watch recordings later |
| Standups | n8n automated bot | ✅ Respond at your time |
| Documentation | Outline | ✅ Always available |
Integrations Between Tools
Mattermost as the Hub
Connect all tools to Mattermost for centralized notifications:
| Integration | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Plane → Mattermost | New issues, status changes, mentions |
| Cal.com → Mattermost | New bookings, cancellations |
| Uptime Kuma → Mattermost | Downtime alerts |
| Outline → Mattermost | Document updates, comments |
| n8n → Mattermost | Custom workflow notifications |
| Jitsi → Mattermost | Meeting links in channels |
Scaling the Remote Stack
| Team Size | Infrastructure | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 5-10 | 1 server (8 GB) | $10 |
| 10-25 | 2 servers (8 GB each) | $20 |
| 25-50 | 3 servers | $30 |
| 50-100 | 4 servers + dedicated DB | $50 |
| 100-250 | 6 servers + HA setup | $100 |
Even at 250 users: $100/month vs $25,000+/month on SaaS.
The Bottom Line
A complete remote work stack on open source costs $20/month vs $2,500+/month on SaaS for a 25-person team. That's a 99% cost reduction with full data ownership, privacy, and no vendor lock-in.
The tools are mature, the integrations work, and the experience rivals (and in some cases exceeds) the SaaS equivalents.
Build your remote work stack at OSSAlt.