As a hobby, I started building a personal web app to solve my needs as a Python community organizer and a public speaker. I call these my own “secret codes”, but there’s nothing secret about it. These are all open source Python web apps built on Django.
Why build my own when there are existing SaaS products out there?
Using SaaS products are free but they have hidden costs like: needing to accept third party cookies, having your data used/trained, having to pay for more powerful features.
In this talk I'll walk through what I built, why I built it instead of reaching for free tools, and what it would take to let others use it too. Convenience, privacy, and trust are worth paying for.
As a hobby, I started building a personal web app to solve my day to day needs as a Python community organizer. A QR code generator app, a personal scheduling calendar, surveys for collecting community feedback, and an expense tracker. I call these my own “secret codes”, but there’s nothing secret about it. These are all open source Python web apps built on Django.
Why build my own when there are existing solutions out there? There are pre-existing SaaS products that can solve these for me. Why not just use forms and spreadsheets? They are free, and without maintenance.
While it’s true some of these you can get for “free” without paying, but they have hidden costs like: needing to accept third party cookies, having your data used/trained, having to pay for more powerful features.
Building your own apps looks like overkill, and at first it is. But once you've paid that, others come for free: additional apps for the same cost of hosting. What you get is an app without any ads, third-party cookies, trackers, and full ownership of your own data and code.
In this talk I'll walk through what I built, why I built it instead of reaching for free tools, and what it would take to let others use it too. Convenience, privacy, and trust are worth paying for.
Mariatta is a Python Core Developer, open source maintainer, and community leader with over 15 years of experience in software development. She is passionate about workflow improvements and automation, as well as building inclusive developer communities.
As a serial conference organizer, Mariatta has helped kickstarted the PyCascades and PyLadiesCon conference.
For her contributions to the Python open source community, she has received the Python Software Foundation Community Service award, Google Open Source Peer Bonus award, and is a Microsoft MVP in 2026. She also appears in the official Python Documentary.