HyCanvas: a self-hosted Canva and Genspark alternative, with AI decks you can edit by hand

HyCanvas is a browser design tool in the Canva and Genspark space: social graphics, slide decks, video editing, whiteboards, docs, and sheets, with realtime collaboration. Decks can be generated from one sentence, and every generated slide stays fully editable.

The self-hosting side:

* One Go binary with the web app embedded. The only dependency is Postgres; no Redis needed.
* A first-run wizard sets up the database, storage (local disk or any S3 bucket), optional SMTP, and the first account.
* Images for amd64 and arm64. No telemetry; stock photo search uses Openverse and can be turned off.
* AI is optional and uses your own key: OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon Bedrock, and more, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including one on your own network.

Try it: download the latest build for your platform (Linux, macOS, or Windows) from [https://github.com/hyscaler/HyCanvas/releases/latest](https://github.com/hyscaler/HyCanvas/releases/latest), then, with a Postgres database you can start:

tar xzf hycanvas_*_linux_amd64.tar.gz
./hycanvas start

It prints a setup link and a one-time secret; the wizard in your browser connects Postgres, picks storage, and creates the first account. Run it as a regular user, not root.

Prefer Docker? The published image is hycanvas/hycanvas (amd64 and arm64), and the Docker guide has a compose file and every environment variable: [https://docs.hycanvas.com/operate/docker/](https://docs.hycanvas.com/operate/docker/)

License: Source-available under the Elastic License 2.0: free to self-host, modify, and fork, but not to provide as a hosted service.

* Self-hosting setup Video: a fresh install in one minute: [https://youtu.be/DN7V-4MbCyc](https://youtu.be/DN7V-4MbCyc)
* Code: [https://github.com/hyscaler/HyCanvas](https://github.com/hyscaler/HyCanvas)
* Docs: [https://docs.hycanvas.com](https://docs.hycanvas.com)
* Hosted demo: [https://hycanvas.art](https://hycanvas.art)

*Disclosure: I work on HyCanvas.*

Happy to answer questions!

https://redd.it/1x5rkjo
@r_SelfHosted