Zola

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Zola

A curated collection of the 1 best self hosted alternatives to Zola.

Zola is an all‑in‑one wedding planning and registry platform offering customizable wedding websites, guest list and RSVP management, gift registries, vendor coordination, and tools to organize events and invitations.

Alternatives List

#1
Christmas Community

Christmas Community

Self-hosted web app for family wishlists to share gift ideas, avoid duplicate gifts, supports SSO, CouchDB/PouchDB storage and Docker deployment.

Christmas Community is a lightweight web application for families to create and share wishlists for events such as Christmas. It centralizes gift ideas, helps avoid double-gifting, and provides simple permissions and guest access modes.

Key Features

  • Per-user wishlists with optional public/guest viewing and guest password access
  • Configurable display modes (table or card view) and optional Markdown in item notes
  • Product data auto-fetching via an external product-data proxy for site scraping
  • Storage via embedded PouchDB or any CouchDB-compatible server; optional local DB directory
  • Single sign-on support with Google or any OIDC provider (client ID/secret configurable)
  • Docker and Docker Compose deployment with persistent data volume support
  • Profile picture uploads and configurable default profile images; custom CSS and HTML snippet hooks
  • Admin setup flow on first run and update-check notifications (configurable)

Use Cases

  • Family members maintain a shared wishlist for holidays to coordinate gift purchases
  • Event hosts create a single shared list for birthdays, weddings, or group gift registries
  • Small communities track requested items and avoid duplicate purchases during group events

Limitations and Considerations

  • Multi-group/multiple-family support is not implemented; instances are intended for one family or group per deployment
  • Product site coverage depends on available scrapers; new sites require contributions to the product-data scrapers
  • Designed for small-to-medium deployments; CouchDB/PouchDB choices affect multi-user scaling and sync behavior

Christmas Community is focused on simplicity and privacy for family gift coordination. It is Docker-ready and configurable for SSO, storage backends, and UI preferences, making it suitable for self-hosted family or small community use.

401stars
64forks

Why choose an open source alternative?

  • Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running