Open-source migration review
List the paid software your team uses. Our AI assistant maps each item to an open-source or custom replacement, flags what needs a pilot or must stay, and prepares a per-employee estimate for your cart.
Clayton Open Source
Stop paying for licences: move everything to open source, with training before and after the switch.
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Fixed prices and a written scope. Add what you need to your cart, then check out.
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Open-source migration (per employee)
Move each employee from paid desktop software to open source: Omarchy or another Linux desktop, office suite, mail and files, with training before and after the switch.
Pilot group in 2 to 3 weeks; the rest in waves of 10 to 50 people, typically 6 to 12 weeks in total
$390 per employee, one time
Own mail and calendar servers
Mail, calendar and contacts on servers you control, set up once for the whole organization instead of paying per mailbox each month.
About 2 to 3 weeks, plus mailbox migration time
$1,900 per organization, setup
Application conversion (per application)
One business application moved to an open-source or custom replacement: accounting or ERP, CAD, design, camera management, trading or another line-of-business tool.
Typically 3 to 10 weeks per application, depending on its data and integrations
$2,400 per application
Open-source operations, run by AI agents (per employee, monthly)
After the switch we keep it running: updates, fixes and requested improvements handled by AI agents, with a person when one is needed, plus a help desk.
Starts the day of the cutover
$19 per employee, per month
Extra training day (on site or remote)
A full day of additional training for your team, on site or remote, beyond the sessions included with the migration.
Scheduled within 1 to 2 weeks
$1,200 per day
After you purchase, we contact you within 1 hour, any time of day or night, to start onboarding.
No payment is taken online. When we call you within the hour we confirm the scope and send an invoice (ACH, card or crypto).
The aim is simple: nobody should be paying for a licence they do not need. Accounting software, an office suite, a camera system, a trading application, design tools such as Photoshop and CAD all have open-source answers today, and where one does not fit your business, we build it. Everything can be converted in spirit, and we are honest about the details: some proprietary file formats lose fidelity, a few specialist or regulated applications have no equivalent yet, and life-safety systems stay with licensed providers. For those we keep the tool, run it in a compatibility layer or a virtual machine, or build a replacement, and every move starts with a pilot group before anyone is cut over.
At a glance
Clayton Open Source moves a company off paid software and onto open source: Windows and macOS desktops to Omarchy and other Linux desktops, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace to an open-source office suite and your own mail servers, and accounting, cameras, trading tools, design, CAD and the rest to open or custom-built equivalents. It is priced per employee, includes training before and after the switch, and starts with a pilot group before anyone is cut over. Almost every category of paid software now has an open-source answer, and where one does not, we build it or keep the old tool running until we do. Nobody needs to keep paying licence fees for what they can own.
The problem
Most companies pay for software by the person, every month, forever: the operating system, the office suite, email, accounting, design, CAD, cameras and more. The bill rises with every hire, the vendor decides the price and the roadmap, and few owners realise how much of it can now be replaced. The usual objections are real: people fear losing a file format, a plug-in or a workflow they rely on, and nobody wants a switch that stops the business for a week. We answer both with an inventory of what your people actually use, a pilot group, training before and after the cutover, and an honest verdict on each tool, including the few that should stay for now.
The cost of per-user software is hard to see because it is spread over many invoices: the operating system, the office suite, email, accounting, design and CAD, the camera cloud, the file-sharing service. Added together, it was about $500 per person per year for the company in our case study, and it grew with every hire. People hesitate for good reasons: a file that will not open, a macro that breaks, a week of lost work. The answer is an honest inventory, a pilot, training and a safety net, not a leap of faith.
What we deliver
- Inventory and plan: every application, subscription and integration in use, with an owner, a verdict (replace, rebuild, keep or retire), the file formats at risk and the savings per line
- Inventory and plan: a written migration plan with a pilot group, waves, a cutover calendar and a rollback for each step
- Desktops: Windows and macOS machines moved to Omarchy or another Linux desktop, with one tested image, disk encryption, central management and automatic updates
- Office and email: the open-source office suite (LibreOffice, ONLYOFFICE or Collabora), your own mail servers with SPF, DKIM, DMARC, spam filtering and backups, shared calendars and contacts, and the mail history copied over
- Business applications: accounting and ERP (Odoo, ERPNext or custom), CRM and line-of-business tools moved to open source or built for you, with the source code handed over
- Specialist tools: camera and video management, trading and market-data applications, design and photo, CAD and electronics, and video editing moved to open equivalents, with the honest exceptions named in writing
- Training before the switch: role-based sessions, cheat sheets and a named person to ask, so the first day on the new system is not the first day anyone has seen it
- Training after the switch: a second round, weekly office hours and a priority line during hypercare, so questions are answered at the desk
- A compatibility layer or managed virtual machine for any application that has no replacement yet, until one is built
- AI-agent operations after the move: AI agents fix and update the software and build requested features, with a person approving anything that matters
- Licence cancellations tracked line by line, and a final report of savings against the plan
- Pricing per employee, quoted after scoping, so the cost grows with your headcount and not with the number of products
Training is part of the price, not an extra. Before the switch, people learn the new desktop and office suite on their own role's tasks. After it, a second round, weekly office hours and a priority line during hypercare make sure the questions that appear on day three get answered on day three.
You own what we build. Open-source software has no per-seat licence, and the source code and documentation of anything we write for you are delivered to your company. If you want us to keep running it, that is a separate, optional agreement, and AI agents keep it updated under human approval.
What we convert to open source
Desktop operating systems
Windows and macOS desktops and laptops move to Omarchy and other Linux desktops.
- Windows 10 and 11 laptops and desktops to Omarchy, our standard open-source desktop
- Standard fleet images with disk encryption, automatic updates and central management
- Kiosks, reception machines and shared workstations on locked-down Linux profiles
- Old hardware that Windows 11 no longer supports, given a second life
How we build it
We inventory what each person runs, build one tested desktop image with the office suite, browser, printing and VPN already set up, and move people in waves after a pilot. Devices are managed centrally, so updates, encryption and policy do not depend on each person.
Guardrail Some applications run only on Windows. Those are kept in a compatibility layer or a managed virtual machine until a replacement is built, and they are never forced onto a person who needs them that day.
Office suite
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace documents move to LibreOffice, ONLYOFFICE or Collabora.
- Word, Excel and PowerPoint files opened and saved in LibreOffice, ONLYOFFICE or Collabora Online
- Shared editing in the browser for teams that work on the same document
- Templates, letterheads and macros reviewed and rebuilt where needed
- PDF editing and signing tools that replace per-seat licences
How we build it
We test your real documents, the long spreadsheets and the legal templates, before anyone switches, and pick the suite per team: LibreOffice on the desktop, ONLYOFFICE or Collabora when people need browser editing, and we convert the templates.
Guardrail The common formats (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) open well, but complex macros, pivot-heavy workbooks and unusual layouts can differ, so we test them, fix what we can and tell you which few files need a person to look at them.
Email and calendar
Your own mail servers, shared calendars and contacts replace per-user hosted mailboxes.
- Dedicated mail servers with spam filtering, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and TLS
- Shared calendars, rooms, contacts and shared mailboxes
- Mail history copied from Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 before the cutover weekend
- Backups with tested restores, and archiving where regulation requires it
How we build it
Mail is copied ahead of time, the DNS records are lowered in advance, and the cutover takes a weekend. The old service stays read-only for a month as a safety net. After that, we monitor and patch the servers, and the mail runs with the same authentication discipline we apply to other clients.
Guardrail Running your own mail means keeping your servers' reputation clean. We set authentication and monitoring from day one, watch blocklists and keep a fallback relay for delivery problems. Regulated firms keep archiving and retention exactly as their rules require.
Accounting and ERP
QuickBooks-class accounting and paid ERP systems move to Odoo, ERPNext or a custom platform.
- Chart of accounts, customers, vendors and open invoices moved into Odoo or ERPNext
- Inventory, purchasing, payroll integrations and reporting rebuilt
- A custom platform where no open-source product fits the way you operate
- A parallel run of one full month-end close before the old system is switched off
How we build it
We map your chart of accounts and workflows, load a copy of your data, close a month in both systems side by side and compare the totals. Only when they match does the old system retire.
Guardrail Accounting is the one area where we move slowly. Your accountant signs off on the opening balances and the first close, tax and audit history stays readable, and the old system is kept in read-only form for as long as the law requires.
CRM and business applications
Paid CRM, ticketing, project and line-of-business tools move to open-source products or software built for you.
- CRM and sales pipeline moved to an open-source CRM or a custom module
- Help desk, projects, HR and document workflows on open-source platforms
- Custom software for work no product covers, built around your process and owned by you
- Integrations with email, calendar, accounting and the phone system
How we build it
Where an open-source product does the job, we deploy and integrate it. Where none does, our team builds the application with AI-assisted engineering, hands over the full code and runs it for you, as in our law-firm and 100‑person cases.
Guardrail You own the source code and the documentation, so you are never locked into us. Custom software goes through review, testing and a pilot before anyone depends on it.
Camera and video management
Cloud camera subscriptions and per-camera licences move to Frigate, ZoneMinder or similar systems on your own server.
- Video management on your own server in place of per-camera cloud subscriptions
- Motion and object detection that sends events, not hours of footage
- Retention rules and access logs for who watched what
- Camera VLANs, recorder hardening and remote viewing without port forwarding
How we build it
We keep the cameras you already own where they support standard protocols such as ONVIF and RTSP, add an on-site recording server, and set retention and access in writing. Detection runs locally.
Guardrail Cameras sit on their own segmented network with no route to the internet. Recording laws and your retention policy decide how long footage is kept, and cameras that only talk to one vendor's cloud are replaced rather than hacked around.
Alarm and building systems
Intrusion alarms, access control and building automation move to open platforms where it is safe to do so.
- Open building-automation and monitoring platforms such as Home Assistant or openHAB for non-critical functions
- Access control managed from your own server, with logs you own
- Intrusion-alarm events joined to your cameras and your dashboards
- Alerts routed to people and to a professional monitoring station
How we build it
We separate what can be open from what must not be. Dashboards, automations, access logs, door schedules and sensor data can run on open platforms. Monitoring contracts stay with a professional station that can dispatch.
Guardrail Fire alarm and life-safety systems are not converted. They stay with licensed providers, listed equipment and the fire code and the local authority. We integrate with them for visibility, and we do not replace or reconfigure them.
Trading and market-data applications
Paid terminals, feeds and execution tools move to custom software or open-source frameworks.
- Charting, research and screening tools rebuilt on open-source libraries or custom code
- Market-data ingestion and storage that you own, with exchange licences kept where needed
- Portfolio, risk and reporting dashboards built around how your desk works
- Backtesting and strategy tools on open frameworks
How we build it
We start from what your traders and analysts actually use every day, rebuild it as a custom application or on an open framework, and run both in parallel until the people on the desk trust the new one.
Guardrail Data feeds and exchange licences are separate from software licences and stay in place when the exchange requires them. Regulated firms keep the order records, communications archiving and supervision that regulators require, and the compliance owner signs off before anything goes live.
Design and photo
Photoshop and Illustrator workflows move to GIMP, Krita, Inkscape and Darktable.
- Photo editing and retouching in GIMP and Darktable
- Digital painting and illustration in Krita
- Logos, vector art and layouts in Inkscape, with Scribus for print layout
- Brand templates, fonts and colour profiles set up on every machine
How we build it
We test your real files and colour workflow with your designers first and give them time to learn. In most cases the tools are enough; where a file or a plug-in is the problem, we say so before the switch.
Guardrail Proprietary files such as layered PSD and AI files open with some loss of effects, smart objects and fonts. CMYK and print-heavy workflows need testing. Teams that exchange working files with outside agencies may keep a small number of licences, and we say so.
CAD and engineering
AutoCAD-class drawing and design tools move to FreeCAD, LibreCAD, QCAD and KiCad.
- 2D drafting in LibreCAD or QCAD, with DXF and DWG exchange
- Parametric 3D modeling in FreeCAD
- Electronics design in KiCad, from schematic to board files
- Drawing templates, layers and title blocks standardised for the firm
How we build it
We take a sample of your real drawings, open them in the open tools and show you the differences before you decide. Draftspeople train on their own projects, and we move one project at a time.
Guardrail DWG is a proprietary format, so complex drawings, xrefs and plug-ins can differ when opened in other tools. Engineering firms that must exchange native files with clients, or work with specialist simulation software, may keep or compatibility-run a few of them until a replacement is proven.
Video editing
Premiere-class editing moves to Kdenlive and Shotcut.
- Editing, colour correction and titles in Kdenlive or Shotcut
- Proxy workflows so edits stay smooth on modest hardware
- Shared project storage and render nodes on your own server
- Export presets for web, broadcast and social channels
How we build it
We set up the editing machines and the shared storage, train editors on a real project and migrate the templates and presets. Large productions are converted a project at a time.
Guardrail Some codecs and effects plug-ins have no direct equivalent, and edit decision lists exchange only the basics. Productions that deliver to a studio with a mandated tool may keep it for those projects.
Files and collaboration
Dropbox, Box, SharePoint and hosted chat move to Nextcloud-class file and collaboration platforms.
- File sync and sharing with permissions, links and expiry dates
- Shared document editing connected to the office suite
- Chat, video meetings and team rooms on open platforms
- Retention, versioning and encrypted backups under your control
How we build it
We move folders and permissions together, so people find files where they expect them, and set sharing rules, expiry and logging before launch.
Guardrail Permissions are the hard part, so we review who can see what before the move rather than copying every mistake. Large archives move in stages, and retention rules for legal holds carry over unchanged.
Licences: from rented to owned
Yearly software licence and subscription cost for a 250‑seat organisation, by category, before and after moving to open-source and self-hosted software. What remains after is paid support and hosting. Illustrative figures in US dollars.
Out of the server rooms before the storms
Fifteen months, five phases, for a distributor of about 1,000 people moving from two hurricane-exposed server rooms to Google Cloud and Workspace: roughly 300 virtual machines, 40 databases, 100 TB of files and 1,000 mailboxes in seven waves. The tightly coupled core went first so that every tier-1 system was in the cloud before the Atlantic hurricane season (1 June to 30 November) began. Illustrative case; figures rounded.
Superintelligence data flow
Every request is classified by sensitivity, so confidential data stays on models inside your walls while routine work can use the best frontier AI.
Mail that keeps flowing
Incoming mail is authenticated and scanned before it reaches anyone, mailboxes are copied across three regions so a server failure goes unnoticed, and outgoing mail leaves signed and encrypted.
Three approval tiers for AI agents
Every action an agent can take falls into one of three tiers: it runs on its own, a named person approves it first, or a human always does it. The examples are illustrative; each firm draws its own lines during scoping.
Our process
- 1
Inventory
We find every application and subscription in use, who uses it, what files and integrations depend on it, and what it costs. Each gets a verdict: replace, rebuild, keep or retire.
- 2
Train before
Before anyone switches, people get role-based training, a cheat sheet and a named person to ask. The goal is that the new desktop is familiar before it is the only one.
- 3
Pilot group
A small group from every department uses the new desktop, office suite and mail for real work. We fix what breaks for them before anyone else moves.
- 4
Cutover
Desktops move in waves, usually on a Friday evening so people return to a ready machine. Mail moves in one weekend, with the old service kept read-only as a safety net.
- 5
Train after and hypercare
A second round of training, weekly office hours and a priority line for the first weeks. We watch tickets, fix the repeats and cancel each old licence once its replacement has proved itself.
- 6
AI-agent operations
AI agents update and fix your applications and build requested features, on your own infrastructure, with a person approving anything consequential. The cost no longer grows with every product.
Work like yours
Mid-size company
A 100‑person company replaced about $50,000 a year of closed-source software with open source, its own email servers and AI-agent operations
Software cost that is nearly free instead of about $50,000 a year, at the same quality, with the company in control of its own systems and email.
Read the caseFinancial services
A major financial institution moved off Windows to Omarchy and open-source office tools
Operating-system and office-suite licence fees eliminated, with no loss in productivity.
Read the caseLegal
A law firm replaced its legal software with its own and stopped paying licence fees per user
About $100 per employee per month in licence fees eliminated, roughly $5,000 a month for 50 people, with software that fits each department…
Read the caseFrequently asked questions
Direct answers to the questions we hear most. Something else on your mind?
Send us a messageCan everything really be converted to open source?
Almost every category of paid software now has a serious open-source answer: operating systems, office suites, email, accounting, cameras, design, CAD, video and file sharing. Where a product does not fit, we can build custom software. A few things are different: life-safety systems, regulated software and some specialist tools may have to stay, and we say so before you commit.
How is it priced?
Per employee, quoted after scoping. The price covers the inventory, the migration, training before and after the switch and hypercare. You stop paying per-user licence fees, and an optional ongoing plan covers operations. Pricing is discussed during scoping.
What happens to our Word, Excel and PowerPoint files?
The common formats open in LibreOffice, ONLYOFFICE and Collabora, and we test your real documents before anyone switches. Complex macros, heavy pivot tables and unusual layouts can differ, so we find those in the pilot and fix them or tell you which files need attention.
What about software that only runs on Windows?
We list it in the inventory. Some applications run well in a compatibility layer such as Wine or Proton, others in a managed virtual machine, and for a few we build a replacement. Nothing is removed from a person who still needs it.
Is running our own email safe?
It is if it is done properly. We build the mail servers with spam filtering, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and TLS, monitor reputation and keep tested backups. Your mail is copied before the cutover weekend and the old service stays read-only for a month.
Can you convert our alarm and fire systems?
Not the life-safety parts. Fire alarm and life-safety systems must stay with licensed providers and follow the fire code and your local authority. We can connect them to dashboards for visibility, and we can convert the parts that are not life safety, such as access logs, building dashboards and camera systems.
What about trading applications and regulated firms?
Trading tools can be rebuilt as custom software or on open frameworks. Exchange data licences, order records, archiving and supervision required by regulators stay in place, and your compliance owner approves the plan before anything goes live.
Will our designers and engineers cope without Photoshop and AutoCAD?
For most work, yes: GIMP, Krita, Inkscape, Darktable, FreeCAD, LibreCAD, QCAD and KiCad are mature. Proprietary formats such as layered PSD and DWG can lose detail, so we test your real files in a pilot. Teams that must exchange native files with clients may keep a few licences.
How long does the move take?
A company of about 100 people took 12 weeks from inventory to the end of hypercare in our own case. Smaller companies are often faster, and the specialist categories are done a project at a time.
Who runs it afterwards?
We can. AI agents fix and update the software and build requested features, with a person approving anything consequential, as in our 100‑person case. You can also run it yourself, because you own the software, the source code and the documentation.