About AutoButler
AutoButler is a bootstrapped hardware and software company that makes Quark, a home personal cloud on hardware you own, for households who want their photos and files kept at home instead of in a rented account.
What AutoButler does
We build and sell one product today, and we write the software that runs on it.
Quark
Quark is our flagship product. It is a device that plugs into your wifi router and turns your USB storage into cloud storage. Everyone in the house gets their own account and their own private space, there is a password vault, and you can reach any of it from outside the house over a private network only your household is on.
The outcome is that your photos, files, documents and spreadsheets live on a drive you own, in a room you can walk into.
What makes AutoButler different
Most home cloud storage is rented by the month and kept on someone else's servers. We set the company up differently.
You buy the hardware once
There is no subscription. You buy Quark, and it is yours, with no ongoing claim on your data.
No venture capital
We are bootstrapped by sales instead of investor money, and funded by ordinary people who wanted this to exist. That means we answer to customers, not to shareholders asking for this quarter's growth number.
Your data stays on hardware you own
Your files and photos stay on a drive in your own home. If you want your data off the internet, you unplug it.
No analytics and no tracking
Quark has no analytics and no tracking, and this website does not use analytics either. We do not train generative AI on your Quark photos or documents.
The source is public
All of the Quark code is public on GitHub under the MIT-0 license, so you can read it yourself. The documentation is there before you buy anything.
Who uses AutoButler
Quark is in beta, so this is who we are building it for:
- Households who want photos and documents on a drive in the house instead of in a rented account.
- People helping parents or family leave subscription cloud storage without setting up a NAS.
- Privacy-minded people who will read the source and will not accept analytics.
- Small teams, churches and shops that want local files and documents without an IT project.
The team behind AutoButler
We are Brandon Apol, James Orson, and the host of people who help out with this.
AutoButler started as a project to help Brandon's parents keep their data private. The choices were spending a lot of time setting up a finicky NAS or paying a subscription for cloud storage. We saw a need we could help with, and that project became Quark.
Brandon Apol
Brandon is one of our two founders. Quark began as his project to keep his parents' data private. He is on GitHub as brandonapol.
James Orson
James is one of our two founders, and has been building Quark with Brandon since it was a project for Brandon's parents.
How AutoButler works
- Email us at support@autobutler.org for questions and private inquiries.
- Report bugs and request features as GitHub issues on autobutler-org/quark, where we track them in public.
- Documentation and product support live on quark.autobutler.org.
- Quark is in beta. Friends-and-family access opens in early 2027, and you can join the waitlist to hear when it is ready.
We do not promise a response time yet. We would rather say that plainly than publish a number we have not earned.
Key facts
- Company name
- AutoButler
- Legal name
- AutoButler LLC
- Type
- Bootstrapped hardware and software company
- Founders
- Brandon Apol, James Orson
- Website
- https://autobutler.org
- Core offering
- Quark, a home personal cloud on hardware you own
- Products
- Quark
- Availability
- Beta. Friends-and-family access opens in early 2027.
- Pricing
- Hardware purchased once. No subscription.
- Funding
- No venture capital
- License
- MIT-0 (Quark source)
- Alternative to
- Subscription cloud storage and rented file storage
- Communication
- support@autobutler.org and GitHub issues
- GitHub
- https://github.com/autobutler-org
Frequently asked questions
What is AutoButler?
We are the company that builds and sells Quark. We are Brandon Apol and James Orson, plus the people who help out, and we run without a subscription and without venture capital.
What is Quark?
Quark is our product: a device that plugs into your wifi router and turns your USB storage into cloud storage for your household. Your files stay on a drive you own.
Is there a subscription?
No. You buy the hardware once. We have not published a price yet.
Where does my data live?
On a drive you own, in your home. You can reach it from outside the house over a private network only your household is on, and if you want it off the internet you unplug it.
Is the software open source?
The Quark source is public at github.com/autobutler-org/quark under the MIT-0 license.
How do I get one?
Quark is in beta, and friends-and-family access opens in early 2027. Join the waitlist and we will tell you when it is ready.
How do I contact you?
Email support@autobutler.org, or open a GitHub issue for bugs and feature requests. Both are on our contact page.