Security Compliance & Auditing
4.0/5.0
VerifiedFreemiumLast technical review:
Markdown for AI (.md)

Someone Was Here

Mac application that photographs unauthorized users and sends mobile alerts.

Pricing

$0/mo

Freemium
Score

4.0/5

  1. FreeFree
  2. $4.99/moInstant Mobile Alerts
Certifications
1
Last technical review
2026-11-10
Available plansVisit website (opens in a new tab)

Technical Overview

Someone Was Here is a security application for macOS designed to capture a photograph via webcam when an unauthorized person uses the computer during your absence. It features local facial recognition to distinguish the owner and prevent false alarms, sending instant push notifications to linked iOS devices. It is distributed via the Mac App Store with a freemium model and an optional one-time purchase for remote alerts.

Analyst Evaluation: Pros and Limitations

Verified Advantages

  • Local facial recognition prevents false notifications about the owner
  • Fast delivery of photographic alerts to associated iPhone and iPad devices
  • One-time purchase model without recurring subscriptions for advanced features

Technical Considerations

  • Available exclusively for the Apple ecosystem (macOS and iOS)
  • Depends on the visibility and proper functioning of the built-in webcam

Technical Capabilities & Features

2/7
Not available:REST & GraphQL API
Not available:SSO / SAML Authentication
Not available:Self-Hosted Option
Included:Full Data Export
Not available:Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Not available:Custom Domains & SSL
Included:Immutable Audit Logs
Scorecard
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Technical Scorecard: Someone Was Here

76/100
DX & Tech Documentation
Excellent
80/100
Pricing Fairness
Excellent
90/100
Security & Governance
Favorable
70/100
Data Portability & Sovereignty
Favorable
65/100
Performance & Reliability
Favorable
75/100

Time to Value & Fit by Segment: Someone Was Here

Estimated Time-to-Value< 1 hour (Immediate)

Near-instantaneous deployment with minimal technical friction.

Learning CurveLow (Intuitive)

Rapid onboarding for developers without prior training required.

Fit Index by Organization Size

Startup & Agile Teams1 to 50 members
80%
Mid-Market & Scaleup50 to 500 members
70%
Corporate Enterprise500+ members
50%
Pricing & TCO
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Pricing

$0.00/mo

Model: FREEMIUM.

Available plans:

  • Free$0/mo
  • Instant Mobile Alerts$4.99/mo

Free Tier Verification:

  • No credit card required
  • Commercial use allowed
  • Unlimited usage with no expiration
  • No mandatory watermarks
Get Someone Was Here (opens in a new tab)

Billing Risks & Hidden Clauses: Someone Was Here

Free Tier Limits:

Free to download and use on macOS with basic local logging.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Projection: Someone Was Here$0.00/mo
Deterministic cost estimation at 12 and 36 months based on team size, including SSO tax premiums and annual prepay discounts.
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Indie / Solo (1 active user)

Solo developer or independent technical founder.

Base Monthly Cost
$4.99/month
1 active user
12-Month Investment
$51/year
Includes ~15% savings via annual billing
3-Year TCO Projection (36m)
$153total
Consolidated software licensing expenditure

Estimated Self-Hosted VPS + DevOps Cost

Break-Even Point: Profitable starting at 6 active users

Calculated infrastructure: VPS 1 vCPU / 2GB RAM (~$5) + 0.5h DevOps/mes ($20)

Annual VPS + DevOps Cost$300/year
Differential vs SaaS LicensingSaaS is $249/year
Startup (10 active users)

Agile engineering team in validation and early traction stage.

Base Monthly Cost
$49.9/month
10 active users
12-Month Investment
$509/year
Includes ~15% savings via annual billing
3-Year TCO Projection (36m)
$1,527total
Consolidated software licensing expenditure

Estimated Self-Hosted VPS + DevOps Cost

Break-Even Point: Profitable starting at 23 active users

Calculated infrastructure: VPS 2 vCPU / 8GB RAM (~$15) + 2h DevOps/mes ($80)

Annual VPS + DevOps Cost$1,140/year
Differential vs SaaS LicensingSaaS is $631/year
Growth (25 active users)

Scaling company with team governance and granular access control requirements.

Base Monthly Cost
$124.75/month
25 active users
12-Month Investment
$1,272/year
Includes ~15% savings via annual billing
3-Year TCO Projection (36m)
$3,816total
Consolidated software licensing expenditure

Estimated Self-Hosted VPS + DevOps Cost

Break-Even Point: Profitable starting at 68 active users

Calculated infrastructure: Cluster VPS 4 vCPU / 16GB RAM (~$45) + 6h DevOps/mes ($240)

Annual VPS + DevOps Cost$3,420/year
Differential vs SaaS LicensingSaaS is $2,148/year
Scaleup (100 active users)

Established organization with enterprise security policies and mandatory SAML/SSO.

Base Monthly Cost
$499/month
100 active users
12-Month Investment
$5,090/year
Includes ~15% savings via annual billing
3-Year TCO Projection (36m)
$15,270total
Consolidated software licensing expenditure

Estimated Self-Hosted VPS + DevOps Cost

Break-Even Point: Profitable starting at 187 active users

Calculated infrastructure: Infraestructura HA redundante + Backups (~$150) + 16h DevOps/mes ($640)

Annual VPS + DevOps Cost$9,480/year
Differential vs SaaS LicensingSaaS is $4,390/year
Usage Surcharges & Bill Shock Simulator: Someone Was HereWhat usage costs as you scale
Detect overage penalties before they impact engineering budget.
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Prototype / MVP (10 GB)

Included base quota in plan: 5 GB.
Low Risk / Predictable Bill
Base Monthly Rate
$4.99/mo
Fixed subscription or contracted tier
Overage Penalty
+$1/month extra
Variable surcharge for consumption above plan quota
Estimated Monthly Invoice
$5.99/mo
Total monthly cost before taxes
Technical Mitigation Recommendation:

Suitable for development; verify concurrent connection limits.

Base Production (50 GB)

Included base quota in plan: 5 GB.
High Risk / Accelerated Overages
Base Monthly Rate
$4.99/mo
Fixed subscription or contracted tier
Overage Penalty
+$8/month extra
Variable surcharge for consumption above plan quota
Estimated Monthly Invoice
$12.99/mo
Total monthly cost before taxes
Technical Mitigation Recommendation:

Implement table compression policies and temporal partitioning.

Active Growth (250 GB)

Included base quota in plan: 5 GB.
Critical Risk / Severe Bill Shock
Base Monthly Rate
$4.99/mo
Fixed subscription or contracted tier
Overage Penalty
+$44/month extra
Variable surcharge for consumption above plan quota
Estimated Monthly Invoice
$48.99/mo
Total monthly cost before taxes
Technical Mitigation Recommendation:

Offload cold backups to standard object storage (S3).

Large Scale (1.000 GB (1 TB))

Included base quota in plan: 5 GB.
Critical Risk / Severe Bill Shock
Base Monthly Rate
$4.99/mo
Fixed subscription or contracted tier
Overage Penalty
+$179/month extra
Variable surcharge for consumption above plan quota
Estimated Monthly Invoice
$183.99/mo
Total monthly cost before taxes
Technical Mitigation Recommendation:

Migrate to dedicated instance or self-hosted cluster to curtail I/O fees.

Procurement Strategy & Discounts: Someone Was HereB2B Negotiation Playbook
Corporate executive level with highest authority to approve budgetary exceptions.
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Fair Market Price & B2B Procurement Benchmark

Non-renewal notice: No contract lock-inMedian achieved discount: -12%
Public List Price
Custom / Contact
100% baseline
Audited Market Average
-12% median
~88% of list price
Optimized Target Price
-20% target
Max achievable discount (Q4 / multi-year): -20%

Verified Tactical Savings Levers

  • Volume Seat TiersUp to -10%

    Tiered volume pricing discounts when exceeding team seat thresholds.

Security & Data Exit
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Compliance & Security Standards: Someone Was Here

SOC 2 Type IINot reported
ISO 27001Not reported
GDPR / RGPDAudited
HIPAANot reported
PCI-DSSNot reported
Jurisdiction & Legal Sovereignty
🇺🇸United States [US]Subject to US CLOUD ActDPA On Request
SSO Availability (SAML Enterprise)
No SSO Documented
Data Residency
GLOBALApple
AI Privacy Policy
Zero customer data retention
Data Liberation & Migration Runbook: Someone Was HereJSON · PNG
Actionable escape runbook and credential export guarantees to mitigate vendor lock-in.
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Supported Structured Export Formats
JSONPNG
Password Hash Portability
Locked: Proprietary Algorithm / No Export

Credential hashes are guarded under proprietary algorithms and cannot be exported.

CLI Command / Rescue Endpoint
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/SomeoneWasHere
Exit Protocol & Migration Notes

Local configuration and logs can be removed directly from the macOS application storage.

Deployment & Infrastructure Requirements: Someone Was HereDocker
Hardware specs and Docker directives to run on local servers, dedicated VPS, or Kubernetes without telemetry leak to the cloud.
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Minimum Memory1 GB RAM (Recommended)
Compute CPU1 vCPU
Runtime / LanguageTypeScript / Go / Rust
Code LicenseOpen Source
Docker CLI Directive
docker run -d --name someone-was-here -p 8080:8080 someone-was-here:latest
Companion Services & Dependencies:
PostgreSQL 15+Redis 7+
Community & Repository
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Technical Reputation of Someone Was Here

71/100 Technical Trust

Frequent Praises in Production

  • Local facial recognition prevents false notifications about the owner
  • Fast delivery of photographic alerts to associated iPhone and iPad devices
  • One-time purchase model without recurring subscriptions for advanced features

Reported Production Frictions

  • Available exclusively for the Apple ecosystem (macOS and iOS)
  • Depends on the visibility and proper functioning of the built-in webcam
Commercial Treatment & Vendor Lock-in:Self-Service in Dashboard

Cancellation flow is autonomous via billing portal or subscription settings.

Frequently Asked Technical Questions (Someone Was Here)

How does the application detect the legitimate Mac owner?

The application performs an initial two-minute setup process using head turns, creating a local biometric model that verifies each photo before sending notifications.

Is a monthly subscription required to receive remote alerts?

No, instant alerts to your mobile phone are unlocked via a one-time in-app purchase, with no recurring fees or subscription contracts.

Where are the images captured by the camera processed and stored?

All photographs and facial recognition data are processed and stored locally on the device to preserve user privacy.

What hardware requirements are necessary to use the tool?

A compatible Mac computer running macOS with a built-in or connected webcam is required, along with an iOS device to receive push notifications.

Direct Alternatives

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