Sounds like the next step in your journey is combing through this list and seeing what’s out there: https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted
So much great stuff! But most of it has drawbacks, like missing features or less attractive UI. But it’s free and open source so we love it all the same.
I have a series of containers that use the host network and share messages over MQTT. Works well. One of them launches other containers when specific trigger phrases are said in specific topics. Another one sends trigger phrases based on a schedule.