myUSBdrive is built on trusted, open-source software. Those building blocks are free and always have been, so we did all the hard work to bring them together into a complete system that is ready to use from the moment you plug it in.
Raspberry Pi OS provides the foundation, with a collection of mature open-source projects handling the heavy lifting behind the scenes:
- Samba shares your files with computers across your home network.
- nginx serves the myUSBdrive dashboard.
- FFmpeg handles your music and video.
- Avahi makes myusb.local work without configuring your network.
- NTFS-3G and exfatprogs let you use drives in common formats.
- smartmontools monitors drive health and can warn you about potential problems.
- FastAPI and Uvicorn run the application itself.
- Pillow creates image thumbnails.
- bcrypt securely protects your password.
You could install and configure all of this yourself. But that's where things get complicated. You need to choose the right components, configure them correctly, make them work together, and keep everything updated as the underlying software changes.
That's what myUSBdrive does for you.
We select the components, integrate them, test the complete system across multiple Raspberry Pi models, and maintain it as the software underneath evolves. Updates are delivered automatically, and Raspberry Pi OS security updates are applied for you.
You get the benefit of all that software without having to spend your weekend configuring it.
So what do you pay for?
Nothing for the software that runs on your own hardware. Your myUSBdrive is yours, and the core software remains free.
Remote access is optional. If you choose to use it, your personal web address, encrypted Cloudflare tunnel, certificates and the infrastructure that keeps your myUSBdrive securely accessible from anywhere all have ongoing costs.
So the choice is simple: use myUSBdrive entirely at home for free, or add remote access when you need it.
Full component list and licences
Everything myUSBdrive is built from, and the licence each component is published under. Nothing here is ours: our work is choosing them, wiring them together and keeping them working.
On the Raspberry Pi
Python components
In your browser
