Hive-Pal

Self-Hosted

Open-source CSA management tool for farmers and community members

Overview

Hive-Pal streamlines Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) operations—manages member subscriptions, harvest scheduling, inventory tracking, and direct communication between farmers and members. It supports customizable share plans (weekly/bi-weekly), automated pickup/payment reminders, and real-time inventory updates for seasonal produce. Deployable via Docker or LAMP stack, it integrates with local payment gateways and lets farmers share harvest logs or recipes. Designed for small-to-mid CSAs, it prioritizes data ownership, giving full control over sensitive member/farm data without relying on third-party platforms.

Self-Hosting Resources

Find Official Image on Docker Hub View Source & Docs

Below is a reference structure for docker-compose.yml. ⚠️ Do NOT run blindly. Replace placeholders with official values.

docker-compose.template.yml TEMPLATE


version: '3'
services:
  hive_pal:
    image: <OFFICIAL_IMAGE_NAME>:latest
    container_name: hive-pal
    ports:
      - "8080:<APP_INTERNAL_PORT>"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
    restart: unless-stopped

Key Features

Customizable CSA share plan management
Harvest scheduling & real-time inventory tracking
Farmer-member communication hub (reminders, updates)

Frequently Asked Questions

? Is Hive-Pal hard to install?

Hive-Pal offers Docker compose for quick deployment—just pull the image and configure environment variables. For manual setups, it needs PHP/MySQL, with detailed docs guiding installation steps for beginners.

? Is it a good alternative to CSAware?

Yes—Hive-Pal covers core CSA features (subscriptions, inventory) without monthly fees. While CSAware has more integrations, Hive-Pal gives full data control and is customizable for niche CSA needs like seasonal share adjustments.

? Is it completely free?

Hive-Pal is open-source under the MIT License—use, modify, and self-host it for free. You only pay for server hosting costs if you don’t run it on your own hardware.

Top Alternatives

CSAware Search Google

Farmigo Search Google

Tool Info

Pricing Open Source

Category Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Platform Self-Hosted

Pros

⊕ Full data ownership (self-hosted, no third-party access)
⊕ No recurring subscription fees
⊕ Tailored for CSA-specific workflows (seasonal produce, share variations)

Cons

⊖ Requires basic server setup knowledge (Docker or LAMP)
⊖ Limited third-party integrations compared to SaaS alternatives
⊖ Smaller user community for troubleshooting support