Introduction
An introduction to running TRMNL on your own hardware.
There are 4 flavors to building the perfect setup for your needs:
Default - buy our device, that runs our firmware, and pings our server
BYOD - build your own device, that runs our firmware, and pings our server
BYOD/S - build your own device, mod our firmware, and ping your own server
BYOS - buy our device, mod our firmware, and ping your own server (recommended)
Choosing your stack
After starting TRMNL and going down the rabbit hole of DIY smart home, IoT, e-ink, and gadget communities, it became clear that end-to-end ownership, security, and data privacy are critical ingredients to building trust.
With this in mind we decided to open source our firmware and provide free guides to reproduce the TRMNL experience without our servers in the middle.
When considering how to build your own e-ink dashboard, it is our opinion that...
If you're not comfortable with coding, Option #1 is ideal.
If you're comfortable with high-level programming languages, Option #4 provides an 80/20 approach to privacy + security without breaking the bank or spending hours coding.
If you have experience in C/C++, or have experience with micro controllers and Python, Option #2 will give you the pride of full control over the look and feel of your peripheral device.
If you are a l33t programmer or simply have access to AI (half joking), Option #3 is the most comprehensive offering to customize TRMNL however you'd like.
Prerequisites
Options 1, 3, and 4 are available to all customers for no extra charge.
Option 2 requires a small monthly fee to cover your compute time on our servers, since we don't make any revenue on a device sale.
Next steps
Once you've determined the best setup for your needs, find the relevant guide on the left underneath "DIY TRMNL."
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