Reitti

Personal location tracking, honestly reviewed. No marketing fluff — just what you get when you stop handing your movement history to Google.

TL;DR

• What it is: Open-source (MIT) personal location tracking and analysis application — your location history lives on your server, not Google’s [2].
• Who it’s for: Privacy-conscious individuals who relied on Google Maps Timeline and lost data when Google changed its retention defaults, travelers who want a permanent “time machine” of where they’ve been, and families who want shared location visibility without a subscription [1][2].
• Cost savings: The main alternative (Google Timeline) is technically free but requires trusting Google with your entire movement history. The closest paid self-hosted alternatives run $5–10/month in VPS costs anyway. Reitti itself costs nothing — just the server [2].
• Key strength: Goes beyond raw tracking. The Memories feature turns GPS data into narrative travel logs with text, images, and maps — closer to a travel journal than a location database [2][3].
• Key weakness: Not a tracking app itself — it’s a hub. You need a separate mobile app (OwnTracks, GPSLogger) to push data to it. The stack is heavier than most self-hosted tools: PostGIS, RabbitMQ, Redis, and Java 24 [1][2].

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What is Reitti

Reitti is a personal location tracking and analysis application. The name comes from Finnish, meaning “route” or “path” [README]. The project started on June 5, 2025 when developer Daniel Graf pushed v1.0.0 with a simple personal goal: “I wanted to track my movements so that I could look back a year later and easily bring back memories of where I had been and what I had done. I wanted that ‘Time Machine’ feeling, but I didn’t want to hand my entire life’s history over to another entity to get it.” [2]

That framing — a time machine, not a tracker — is the most useful mental model. Reitti doesn’t compete with real-time fleet tracking or employee monitoring software. It competes with Google Maps Timeline, the feature Google quietly degraded in 2024 when it switched from cloud-first to phone-first storage and added a default 90-day retention window that cost many users years of history [1].

What Reitti does is take all your location data — from your phone, from past Google exports, from GPX files of hikes and bike rides — and give it a permanent, queryable home on your own infrastructure. It then analyzes that data to surface visits to significant places, detect how you traveled between them, and let you build visual timelines and shareable travel logs.

As of this review, the project sits at 1,953 GitHub stars with 46 releases in its first year, 9 languages supported, and 15 code contributors [2][merged profile].

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Why people choose it

The decision to run Reitti is almost always triggered by a specific Google Timeline failure. XDA Developers writer Dhruv Bhutani describes it directly: “Google’s recent changes to how Timeline data is stored and managed are a reminder that you don’t really own your history. Unless you manually enable backups, hidden deep within the settings, Timeline only keeps a limited window of history by default, and I’ve first-hand experienced — just a bit too late.” [1]

That 90-day default retention isn’t a bug, it’s a policy shift. And it’s exactly the kind of change you can’t push back on when your data lives on someone else’s infrastructure.

Reitti’s response to that problem is simple: your database, your rules. The data never leaves your server, and there is no retention policy you didn’t write yourself [2].

Beyond the privacy pitch. The XDA review [1] is useful because it comes from someone who actually uses both. Bhutani’s conclusion is that Reitti isn’t just a privacy upgrade — it’s a functional upgrade on several dimensions. The import story is better: Google Takeout JSON, GPX tracks, GeoJSON, and the live-push integrations via OwnTracks and GPSLogger mean you can consolidate data from multiple sources into one timeline [1]. Google Timeline only knows what Google’s own app recorded.

The multi-user and federation features are genuinely novel. Live cross-instance sharing — seeing friends’ or family members’ locations on your map even if they run separate Reitti instances — is something Google doesn’t offer without a paid Family Sharing arrangement [2][3].

Daniel Graf’s Reddit post [2] describing the year-in-review has 1.1K upvotes in r/selfhosted, which is a reasonable community signal that the project landed where it said it would.

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Features

Based on the README, website documentation, and third-party writeups:

Core location analysis:

• Visit detection with configurable algorithms — automatically identifies places where you spend time [README]
• Trip analysis with transport mode detection (walking, cycling, driving) [README]
• Significant places: recognize, name, and categorize frequently visited locations [README]
• Interactive daily timeline showing visits and trips with duration and distance [README]
• Raw GPS track visualization for complete movement paths [README]
• Polygon boundaries for places (added in v3.1.0) — exact shapes instead of circles [2]

Sharing and live view:

• Multi-user map view showing all connected family/friends on one map [README]
• Cross-instance federation: live location sharing with users on separate Reitti installs [2][3]
• Live mode: auto-refreshing map display without page reload [README]
• Fullscreen kiosk mode combined with live mode [README]
• Magic link sharing (v1.5.0): share your location view with anyone, no account required, with configurable expiry [3]
• Two magic link modes: full historical access or live-only (for marathons, road trips) [3]

Memories feature:

• Transform GPS data into narrative travel logs with text, maps, and images [2]
• Customizable content blocks per memory [README]
• Create, edit, and share memories; shareable via links [README]
• Long-term roadmap: local AI to generate natural-language travel diaries from raw coordinates [2]

Data import and integration:

• Google Takeout JSON and Google Timeline exports [1][README]
• GPX file import (hiking, running, cycling tracks) [1][README]
• GeoJSON import [1][README]
• Real-time location push via OwnTracks and GPSLogger mobile apps [1][README]
• Immich integration: view photos from your self-hosted photo server overlaid on location timeline [README]
• Home Assistant integration [README]
• OwnTracks Recorder integration [README]
• OwnTracks Friend Data support (v3.1.0): view friends’ OwnTracks data directly [2]
• REST API for programmatic ingestion and access [README]

Geocoding and localization:

• Nominatim and custom geocoding provider support [README]
• Automatic address resolution from coordinates [README]
• 9 languages: English, Finnish, German, French, Dutch, and more [2][README]
• Imperial and metric unit support [README]
• Custom tiles server support for offline or private map tiles [README]

Security and access:

• Multi-user with individual data isolation [README]
• API token management [README]
• OpenID Connect (OIDC) support with automatic account creation [3]
• Docker Secrets support for hardened deployments (v3.1.0) [2]

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Pricing: SaaS vs self-hosted math

Reitti has no SaaS tier. There is no hosted version, no subscription, no free-with-limits plan. It is MIT-licensed software you run yourself [README][2].

Self-hosted cost:

• Software: $0
• VPS (Hetzner CX22, 4GB RAM): ~$5–7/month
• Or NAS you already own: $0 additional

The Google Timeline comparison: Google Maps Timeline costs nothing in dollars. The cost is privacy — your complete movement history on Google’s infrastructure — plus the risk that default settings change under you. The 90-day retention default that wiped Bhutani’s history costs $0 and zero warning [1].

Paid alternatives in this space:

• Wanderer (self-hosted travel journal, similar concept): free, lighter stack, less analytical
• Dawarich (self-hosted Google Maps Timeline replacement): free, also uses PostGIS, direct competitor
• Life360 (commercial family location sharing): $8–$15/month depending on plan
• Google One with extended Timeline: free tier still applies, you’re trusting Google with the data

There’s no real paid SaaS product that does exactly what Reitti does, which makes the “vs self-hosted math” calculation simple: if you want this capability with full data control, you self-host it. A $6/month VPS is the whole budget.

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Deployment reality check

This is where Reitti is honest about its complexity, and where you should be honest with yourself.

What you’re deploying: The stack is heavier than a typical self-hosted tool. Reitti requires:

• Java 24 or higher
• PostgreSQL with the PostGIS spatial extension
• RabbitMQ for background task queuing
• Redis for caching
• Docker and Docker Compose

Bhutani [1] notes this directly: “it’s worth knowing that Reitti makes use of multiple different services to handle your location data. PostGIS is used to store and query location data while RabbitMQ manages background tasks and Redis handles the caching.”

The default Docker Compose file bundles all of these, so you don’t configure them individually — but you’re running five services instead of one. That matters for resource planning.

ARM64 note: The default PostGIS image doesn’t support ARM64 (Apple Silicon, Raspberry Pi). You need to swap to imresamu/postgis:17-3.5-alpine in the compose file. This is documented in the README but easy to miss [README].

Geocoding setup: The bundled geocoding service (Photon) requires setting a REGION environment variable matching your main location for accurate address resolution. v1.5.0 included a breaking change to this configuration that required a manual docker-compose.yml update [3].

Mobile client setup: Reitti doesn’t include a mobile app. You need OwnTracks (available on iOS and Android, free) or GPSLogger (Android) configured to push to your Reitti endpoint. This is a one-time setup but adds a step that a non-technical user might not expect [1].

Realistic time estimates:

• Technical user (knows Docker, Linux): 45–90 minutes to a working instance
• Non-technical user following documentation: 3–5 hours including domain setup, reverse proxy, and mobile app configuration
• ARM64 platform: add 20 minutes to identify and apply the PostGIS workaround

The r/selfhosted post [2] didn’t surface significant complaints about installation difficulty, which is a reasonable signal. The documentation site is thorough with dedicated pages for OIDC, custom tiles, Docker Swarm, federated connections, and the API.

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Pros and Cons

Pros

• Full data ownership. Location history never leaves your server. No default retention windows, no policy changes, no data for sale [1][2].
• Google Timeline migration path. Imports Google Takeout JSON and Google Timeline exports directly — you can migrate years of history in one upload [1][README].
• MIT license. No commercial restrictions, no “Fair-code” caveats, no contributor license agreement. Fork it, embed it, do whatever [README].
• Memories feature is genuinely differentiated. Most location trackers are databases with maps. Reitti adds a layer that turns GPS data into shareable narrative logs — closer to a travel journal [2].
• Active development cadence. 46 releases in the first year, 404 commits, 250 issues closed. This isn’t an abandoned project [2].
• Federation and live sharing. Cross-instance real-time location sharing — see friends on your map without everyone sharing an account — is a feature the commercial alternatives don’t offer at this price [2][3].
• Magic link sharing. Share your location view with anyone (expiry-controlled) without requiring them to create an account [3].
• OIDC support. Integrates with existing identity providers for teams or households already running SSO [3].

Cons

• Not a tracker — you need a separate app. Reitti is a hub. If you don’t set up OwnTracks or GPSLogger, you’re only importing historical data, not capturing new data [1].
• Heavy stack. PostGIS + RabbitMQ + Redis + Java is more infrastructure than typical single-binary self-hosted tools. Heavier resource requirements and more services to maintain [1][2].
• ARM64 requires a workaround. The default compose file doesn’t work on Apple Silicon or Raspberry Pi without a manual image swap [README].
• Geocoding configuration can be fiddly. The Photon region setup and v1.5.0’s breaking geocoding change are the kinds of surprises that catch people mid-update [3].
• Young project. First release was June 2025. That’s under a year old. The Memories feature has been substantially rewritten, the processing pipeline has been rebuilt multiple times [2]. The upside is active improvement; the downside is ongoing churn in core components.
• No hosted option. There is no “pay $X to have someone else run this.” It’s self-host or nothing — which means non-technical users have a steeper onboarding than Reitti alternatives with managed tiers.
• Local AI future is roadmap, not shipped. The developer mentions AI-generated travel diaries as a future direction [2]. Don’t buy for that feature — it doesn’t exist yet.

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Who should use this / who shouldn’t

Use Reitti if:

• You lost Google Maps Timeline history due to the 90-day default retention change and want it back — and don’t want to lose history again.
• You travel regularly and want a permanent, searchable record of where you’ve been that isn’t controlled by a third party.
• You’re running a NAS or home server already and adding a few Docker services is routine.
• You want to share live location with family members without paying Life360 $15/month or trusting Google Family Sharing.
• Privacy isn’t just a preference — it’s a requirement. Location data is among the most sensitive data you generate.

Consider Dawarich instead if:

• You want the Google Timeline replacement concept with a lighter stack and less ambition — Dawarich is the closest direct competitor with a simpler architecture.

Skip it and stay on Google Timeline if:

• You’ve accepted the privacy trade-off and Google’s retention defaults haven’t bitten you.
• You don’t own or rent any server infrastructure and aren’t willing to start.
• You need iOS-native location tracking without a separate app setup.

Skip it and use OwnTracks alone if:

• You only care about real-time sharing, not historical analysis or timeline features.

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Alternatives worth considering

• Dawarich — the most direct competitor. Also self-hosted, also replaces Google Timeline, lighter stack (no RabbitMQ). Less polished on the social/sharing features. Worth comparing if the five-service stack feels heavy.
• Traccar — primarily a fleet/asset tracker, but handles personal tracking. More mature, more complex. Overkill for personal use.
• OwnTracks — handles the tracking side but minimal analysis. Pairs well with Reitti (Reitti ingests OwnTracks data).
• Google Maps Timeline — the incumbent. Free, zero setup, full mobile integration. Costs: your privacy, and whatever Google decides to do with default retention settings next year [1].
• Life360 — commercial family location sharing. Works well for its intended use case, $8–15/month, no self-hosting option.
• Wanderer — self-hosted travel journal with map support, but more focused on planned trips than automatic tracking.

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Bottom line

Reitti is a well-executed answer to a specific, real problem: Google changed the rules on your location history and you can’t trust them not to do it again. The project is honest about what it is — a hub that needs a separate mobile tracker, a heavier stack than typical self-hosted tools, and a development history that’s still young. But for someone who’s lost timeline data to a default retention window, or who simply doesn’t want their entire movement history on Google’s servers, the trade-off is straightforward: a $6 VPS, an afternoon of setup, and you own everything permanently.

The Memories feature is the project’s biggest differentiator and its best argument for using Reitti instead of simpler alternatives. If you want location history as a database, Dawarich is lighter. If you want location history as a time machine you can actually show someone — narratives, photos, shared links — Reitti is the only self-hosted tool building toward that.

If the setup is the blocker, that’s exactly what upready.dev deploys for clients. One-time fee, running on your infrastructure, no ongoing subscription.

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Sources

1. Dhruv Bhutani, XDA Developers — “I self-hosted my own location tracking service, and it’s better than Google Maps” (Jan 20, 2026). https://www.xda-developers.com/self-hosted-location-tracking-service-its-better-than-google-maps/
2. Daniel Graf (_daniel_graf_), Reddit r/selfhosted — “Reitti v3.1.0: A year of self-hosting my location history (1.1k stars and 46 releases later)”. https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1q3sy46/reitti_v310_a_year_of_selfhosting_my_location/
3. dedicatedcode.com — “Reitti v1.5.0 is Here: Get Ready for Live Sharing, Smarter Times, and More!” (Sep 9, 2025). https://www.dedicatedcode.com/blog/2025/09/reitti-v1.5.0-is-here-get-ready-for-live-sharing-smarter-times-and-more/
4. Ethan Sholly, selfh.st — “Self-Host Weekly (9 January 2026)”. https://selfh.st/weekly/2026-01-09/
5. Ethan Sholly, selfh.st — “Self-Host Weekly (31 October 2025)”. https://selfh.st/weekly/2025-10-31/

Primary sources:

• GitHub repository and README: https://github.com/dedicatedcode/reitti (1,953 stars, MIT license)
• Official documentation: https://www.dedicatedcode.com/projects/reitti