Opportunities › Personal computer backup and restore › Proposed app
Nightshelf
Backups you control: your folders, your rules, any storage, local and cloud.
- Score
- 50
- confidence 63
- Evidence
- 6
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 3
- named in sources
- First version
- 60 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop app
- PWA: runs in the browser, installs on Mac and Windows
- Market since
- 2007
- Mature market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop app: Backup configuration, retention policies, and file restoration are complex admin tasks done seated with a machine, requiring dense interfaces and keyboard work. Sample screens on a computer, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Machines
All destinations reachable3 of 3 healthy
About this appAI proposal
Nightshelf backs up laptops and homelab machines on a schedule you set. You choose every folder, every exclusion and how long each snapshot is kept. No folder is off limits, including synced cloud folders.
A small agent on each machine sends encrypted snapshots to one or more destinations at once: an external drive, a home server, or a cloud bucket you own. A web app on your phone or desktop shows status, policies and restores.
It is for people who left a consumer backup service for a hand-built setup and want that control without writing scripts. Change a destination later and your policies and history come with you.
- Tagline
- Your files, your rules, safe by morning.
- Voice
- CalmPlainPrecise
- Why this name
- A shelf holds copies you can reach for, and night is when backups quietly run. Two plain words joined, easy to say.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Rules for every folder
Include any path, including synced cloud folders. Exclude by pattern, size or file type, with a preview of what each rule changes.
No member yet
Retention you define
Keep nightly, weekly and monthly snapshots your way. See what the next prune will delete before it runs.
No member yet
Several destinations at once
Send the same snapshot to a local drive and a cloud bucket. Each destination has its own schedule and retention.
No member yet
No storage lock-in
Add a new destination, copy history across, then retire the old one. Backups use an open, documented format.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#1F5F5BDeep Teal · primary#F6F1E7Paper · surface#1F2A2EInk · text#D9822BLamp Amber · accent#4F7CACSlate Blue · data
Typography
Aa
Nightshelf
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
Your files, your rules, safe by morning.
PricingAI proposal
Verified: Backblaze lists a free plan and two paid plans from $6.95 to $15 by usage. These tiers sit near that range as a starting point to test. Storage is bring-your-own, so cost is not tied to capacity.
Free
Free
- One machine
- One destination you own
- Custom exclusions and retention
- Email failure alerts
Plus
$5 a month
- Up to 3 machines
- Multiple destinations at once
- Compression and deduplication
- Restore from any device
Homelab
$12 a month
- Up to 15 machines
- Copy history between destinations
- Integrity checks and reports
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- No loop in the product. Nightshelf reaches customers through content, communities and word of mouth among self-hosters and laptop users. Backups are private, so use does not expose the product to others.
- Do they become customers?
- Test whether people who post about leaving consumer backup services will install the agent and upgrade for multi-destination and alerts within 30 days.
- First customers
- Homelab owners and developers with 1 to 5 machines who have left or are considering leaving a consumer backup service and now hand-configure backups.
- Where to reach them
- Hacker News and Reddit: Share a write-up on exclusions, retention and switching storage backends, with a free tier people can try.
- Homelab communities: Offer early access in self-hosting forums and Discords, and ask for restore-test feedback.
- Technical blog posts: Publish guides on migrating off consumer backup, aimed at searches for alternatives.
- First milestone
- Fifty free installs, with ten paying Plus customers within 60 days among homelab and developer users.
Why people already pay for this
- Public claimUser switched from Backblaze personal backup to restic + B2 for greater control over exclusions and retention policies.
- Public claimUser-configured backups can run frequently with minimal time overhead.
- Public claimUsers value ability to easily switch between storage backends without lock-in.
- Public claimUsers want complete control over backup exclusions and retention.
- Verified
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · Desktop and server agentSmall cross-platform command-line agent with an open formatBackups must read local files and run on a schedule; a browser app cannot do that.
- This app · Encryption and dedup engineClient-side encryption with chunked deduplicationKeeps data private and runs fast; the service never sees file contents or keys.
RisksAI inference
- TechnicalBackup agents must handle open files, permissions, and OS differences on Windows, macOS and Linux. Silent failures would destroy trust, so testing restores is essential.
- CommercialUsers who already run free open-source tools may not pay for a dashboard. Willingness to pay for policy management and alerts is unproven.
- DataLost encryption keys mean unrecoverable backups. Key storage and recovery must be clear without the service holding readable keys.
- PlatformA PWA cannot run backups itself and depends on the agent being installed. Install friction could hurt activation.
- CommercialBackblaze and others could restore or widen folder support, weakening the reason to switch.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.