The family hub that lives in your home
The calendar, chores, lists, meals, and photos the whole household shares: on a wall display in the kitchen, on a desktop, and on everyone's phones. It runs on your own server, so your family's week stays yours.
Free · No subscription · No account with anyone
Everyone's week at a glance
Each person in their own colour. Subscribe to Google, Apple, and Proton calendars, see holidays, birthdays, countdowns, and the weather, and share Lantern's calendar back to the apps you already use.
Chores that get done
Rotations that take turns for you, morning routines a child can follow a step at a time, habits with streaks, and stars to save for rewards. Checking one off is a small celebration.
One list for the shop
A grocery list sorted the way your store is walked, with the products you buy remembered, and to-dos with days and people. Add to them from the wall display's own keyboard, or from anyone's phone.
Dinner, planned
Plan the week, keep a recipe box, and cook from a step-by-step view that keeps the screen on. Add a week's ingredients to the grocery list in one go. Recipes import from a link, even a TikTok caption.
Your albums, on the wall
The albums you choose from Immich, short videos included, on the dashboard and in the display's screensaver while nobody's using it.
A screen the whole family can use
Pair any screen from the app, in landscape or portrait. A Debian package turns a mini PC into a display, and a Raspberry Pi image does the same for a Pi. Night mode dims it, and an adult's PIN keeps the grown-up settings grown-up.
And in every pocket
Lantern Home works in any phone's browser and installs to the Home Screen, with notifications for reminders and chores. A native app for Android is on its way.
Private by design
Your server, your data
Everything lives in your household's own database, on a computer you run: a home server, a NAS, or a small PC with Docker.
No telemetry, no account
It calls nothing but the services an admin turns on, and there's no account with anyone, us included.
AI only if you want it
Turn school emails and flyer photos into events, with Anthropic's API or a model you run yourself. It's off until you choose.
Works alongside what you already run
Lantern Home isn't another home automation, pantry, or recipe system. It's the family's shared screen and app, on top of the ones you have.
- Home Assistant
- Keep your automations there. Lantern mirrors its lists into Home Assistant's to-do lists.
- Grocy
- Keep your pantry and stock there. Lantern mirrors the shopping list into Grocy.
- Mealie and Tandoor
- Keep your recipe library there. Lantern imports it, and mirrors lists into Mealie.
- Immich
- Keep your photos there. Lantern shows the albums you choose.
- Google, Apple, and Proton calendars
- Keep the calendars you have. Lantern subscribes to them, and shares its own back.
Lantern Home and Skylight
Skylight makes a well-loved family calendar you hang on the wall. Lantern Home does much of the same on screens you choose, and keeps it all at home. Here's how they differ.
| What | Lantern Home | Skylight |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | Free. No subscription, and nothing to buy from us. | A frame, starting at $149.99 for 10 inches and $569.99 for 27. Calendar Plus, for meal planning, rewards, and the photo screensaver, is $79 a year. |
| What you need | A computer that's always on and runs Docker, such as a home server or a NAS, and an evening to set it up. | Wi-Fi. The frame is ready out of the box. |
| The screens | Any screen with a web browser, as many as you like: a mini PC or a Raspberry Pi with a monitor, a tablet, a desktop, and phones. | Skylight's own frames, from 10 to 27 inches, and its phone app. |
| Where the family's data lives | On your own server, in your household's own database. No account with anyone, and no telemetry. | In a Skylight account. Photos and videos are stored with Skylight's cloud hosting provider. |
| Calendars | Subscribes to Google, Apple, Proton, and any calendar that publishes a link. | Syncs with Google, Apple, Outlook, Cozi, and others. |
| Chores, lists, and to-dos | Included | Included |
| Meal planning, rewards, and habits | Included | With Calendar Plus |
| A photo screensaver | Included, from your Immich albums | With Calendar Plus |
| Events from an email or a photo | Included, with an AI provider you choose, and off until you do | With Calendar Plus |
Skylight's details are from myskylight.com, checked on October 27, 2026: its US prices, which may change, and its privacy policy. Skylight is a trademark of its owner. Lantern Home isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Skylight.
Questions
Is it really free?
Yes. There's no subscription and nothing to buy from us. You need a computer to run it on, and any screens you'd like on the wall.
What do I need to run it?
A computer that's always on and runs Docker: a home server, a NAS, or a small PC. Lantern Home runs in Docker Compose with its own PostgreSQL database, and you'll want HTTPS in front of it. The docs walk you through both.
Do I need a wall display?
No. Lantern Home works in any browser, on a desktop or a phone. A display is what makes it the family's: any screen with a browser can be one.
Does it replace Home Assistant or Grocy?
No. It works alongside them, as the family's shared screen and app. It mirrors its lists into them, and leaves your automations, pantry, and recipe library where they are.
Does it need the internet?
Only for what you connect: calendar subscriptions, the weather, and AI if you turn it on. Displays keep showing what they last saw when the network drops.
Is AI required?
No. It's off until an admin chooses a provider, and while it's off, nothing is sent anywhere.
Where's the source?
On its way, under the AGPL-3.0. Anyone may use, change, and host it, as long as their version stays open source.