Where do my users hang out? / Self-hosted & open source
Where do self-hosters and open-source users hang out online?
Someone just got a renewal email for a tool they used to love. Price up 40 percent, data still on someone else's server. By midnight they are reading compose files, looking for the thing that runs on their own box. If your repo is not linked in the first line, they have already scrolled past.
That scene is a composite, not a real person. The rooms below are real, picked by hand, and nobody paid to be on this list.
The rooms where self-hosters and open-source users already talk
- r/selfhosted: Repo and Docker compose first; hosted demo second.
- r/opensource: License, contribution, and problem fit.
- r/homelab: If it runs on a home box.
- Self-Hosted Discord: Live chat with self-hosters; share the compose file, not a landing page.
- LowEndTalk: Cheap VPS and self-host setups; honest hardware talk.
- Open Source Stack Exchange: Licensing and contribution questions that builders actually ask.
Rules change. Read each sidebar before you post, and check whether self-promotion is allowed at all.
How to post there without getting removed
Link the GitHub repo in the first line. Hosted SaaS alone gets cold looks.
- Write a post that is useful even if nobody clicks your link.
- Say plainly that you are the maker. People forgive a builder; they do not forgive a disguise.
- Stay for an hour and answer every reply. The comments are where the first users come from.
- Post in one room, learn, then adapt the words for the next. The same text pasted into three rooms reads as spam in all three.
Your next two moves
Run the finder on your own app →
The finder matches your one-line description against every niche map, then gives you a checklist, a share link and a fill-in-the-blanks first post written for r/selfhosted.
Then find self-hosters and open-source users on X: seven saved searches that catch people describing the problem right now, built for the word self-hosted. Change it to your own.
Builder rooms, for feedback rather than customers
- r/SideProject: Best default builder room for "I made this."
- r/indiehackers: Solo founders; revenue and lessons beat polish.
- r/alphaandbetausers: Ask for specific testers and say what they get.
- r/roastmystartup: Cheap, blunt landing-page critique.
Builders give great critique and rarely pay. Use these for testers, then go back to the rooms above. More in Best subreddits to launch a SaaS.
FAQ
Where can I find self-hosters and open-source users as early users?
Start with r/selfhosted, r/opensource, r/homelab, Self-Hosted Discord, LowEndTalk, Open Source Stack Exchange. These are rooms where self-hosters and open-source users already discuss the problems they want solved. Read each sidebar before posting; rules change.
How do I post to self-hosters and open-source users without getting removed?
Link the GitHub repo in the first line. Hosted SaaS alone gets cold looks. Say you are the maker, make the post useful without the click, and stay to answer every reply.
Is this list paid or sponsored?
No. Get100Users picked these rooms by hand for its free finder. Nobody paid to be listed.
Other niche maps
Freelancers & solo operators · Shopify & ecommerce sellers · Teachers & education · Developers & tooling · Designers & creatives · Writers, content & SEO · Marketers & agencies · Sales & CRM · Productivity & notes · AI tools & assistants · No-code & builders · Personal finance & money · Health & fitness · Parents & families · Real estate & landlords · Legal & compliance · HR & recruiting · Music & audio · Games & game makers · Pet owners · Remote & distributed teams · Privacy & security
Want the rooms researched for your exact product?
Ten builders get a free launch plan by hand: the rooms, the words for each one, and the timing. Send my story →