Why Federated

Proven open source applications

The applications in the Software Library are used by tens of millions of people. They match or beat the proprietary software they replace, and their code is open for anyone to inspect. Organizations are moving from Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace to Nextcloud, from Salesforce to EspoCRM, from Mailchimp to Listmonk, and from Zoom to Jitsi, to regain control of their data and their costs.

Integrated, not just installed

A Core isn’t a collection of separate installs. Every application is connected to the same sign-in, storage, and update system, so people use one account for everything and administrators manage people and access in one place.

AI on your own terms

Most AI-powered software asks you to trust a company you don’t control with your email, customer records, and source code, and that data often ends up training their next model. Federated brings AI to your data instead, on infrastructure you run.

• One index across your applications. The Organizational Brain builds a live index across the applications on your Core, so staff can ask one question and get an answer drawn from shared documents, forum threads, tickets, and more.
• Scoped, auditable connections. Every AI agent reaches your applications through MCP (Model Context Protocol), using a scoped connection. You can see exactly what each agent can access, and revoke any single connection instantly without breaking the others.
• A safe place to build. Explore your data with local AI in Jupyter notebooks. Build in Gitea with CI/CD, and test automations in digital twin environments before they touch live data.
• Visibility into what AI is doing. Grafana and Prometheus monitoring shows what your agents and automations are doing, not just whether the server is up.
• Federated learning, not data harvesting. If you choose to take part in a shared model trained across many organizations, your Core trains locally and sends only encrypted model updates. Your raw data never leaves your servers.
• Room to grow. When you want agents running next to your data, add the Agent Sandbox.

Every tier includes AI and MCP features. Developer and Platform add Data & Controls (version control, testing, and monitoring), and Platform includes all AI and MCP capabilities. See Plans and Pricing and AI on Federated Core for what’s available today and how to connect AI tools safely.

Private and secure

Nothing is shared between Cores. Each one is single-tenant, installed on its own VM for one organization. Once you change the admin password (which we recommend on day one), Federated can’t see your data unless you give us access for a support request. Your data is never used for advertising or AI training.

Each Core sits behind a firewall and traffic router (Traefik). You can also install Headscale so the Core can only be reached over a private VPN.

Kept up to date

Federated tests every application and its integrations, then releases updates and security patches once a month, with a note describing what changed. Updates are strongly recommended for security, but you can turn them off for an individual Core if you need to.

Monitored around the clock

With the Monitoring add-on ($10/month per Core), Federated’s monitoring, built on Prometheus and Grafana, watches the Core and fixes common problems such as full disks and memory issues without your intervention. It covers the software on the Core, not your underlying infrastructure. Alerts can go to your own systems, such as a Slack channel or a customer dashboard.

Help when you need it

Developer and Platform tiers include human technical support. The Customer Service add-on ($20/month per Core) adds end-user support, so the people using a Core can get help learning the software from Federated directly. See Support and Services.

Flexible and customizable

Open source applications have open APIs, so you can connect them without anyone’s permission. For example, you can build a customer list in your CRM, use AI to draft a message for each customer, and send it through Listmonk. Federated has used the same building blocks to create solutions for medical, entertainment, publishing, and other industries. See Industry Solutions.

Many languages

Most applications support a wide range of languages, including the major European and Asian languages, Arabic, Hebrew, and Russian. Language support varies by application and keeps growing.

Better economics

Every Core has unlimited users, so a growing organization doesn’t mean a growing software bill. Organizations that replace per-seat software typically save 80% or more. If you offer Federated Core to your own customers, that gap leaves room for healthy margins and for the services you sell alongside it. See Partners.