Nextcloud ISV Partner Program: connecting app developers with enterprises

Last year, we added options to the App Store that allow developers to link to donation campaigns or paid support offerings. Today, we’re taking the next step by introducing the Nextcloud ISV Partner Program. It supports independant software vendors (ISVs), a group of app developers that has, until now, remained largely invisible to the broader community.

The problem we’re solving

Some developers build highly specialized Nextcloud apps. Think workflow tools for municipalities, compliance apps for regulated industries, or niche integrations for specific verticals. These apps are real and organizations actively use them, but they are not available on the App Store. The developer builds them, delivers them to the customer, and that’s it. No one else ever sees them.

That’s a missed opportunity for everyone: other potential customers can’t discover the app, and the developer has no easy way to reach them.

What the Nextcloud ISV Partner Program does

The goal of the Nextcloud ISV Partner Program is to enable vendors to offer subscriptions for their applications and facilitate support and documentation by providing stable, scalable apps with long-term support. We handle the go-to-market side for the apps, while you, as a developer, focus on what you do best: building and maintaining your apps. In return, participating apps must meet Nextcloud’s quality bar: be stable, scalable, secure, and aligned with our core principles around privacy, local data processing, and zero data leakage.

To be clear about the scope of the program: It does not affect existing apps on the App Store, which will remain free. The Nextcloud ISV Partner Program will also not affect the core Nextcloud features. The net result is a larger ecosystem with more apps available to everyone using Nextcloud. The main focus is on specialized apps for specific use cases: for example, an app for a local administration tracking tax payments, not a cookbook app or a personal expense tracker.

Nextcloud is more than a company or a product. It’s a platform that we shape together with our community and organizations in our ecosystem. In the next chapter, we want to be good stewards and do more than just offer our app building tools. With the new program, we help independent software vendors grow their audience, promote apps and provide support to their customers via the Nextcloud platform. It’s in our DNA not to lock anyone in — developers included. We want them to grow with us, not depend on us.

Frank Karlitschek

CEO and founder of Nextcloud

Who the Nextcloud ISV Partner Program is for

The Nextcloud ISV Partner Program is aimed at developers who build Nextcloud apps for specific enterprise or public-sector use cases, and who want to reach more customers without building a full commercial operation from scratch. These apps do not need to be made publicly available on the Nextcloud App Store.

To make it easier to participate for developers, we update our developer support strategy, including resources, APIs and a dedicated Developer Relations team to improve interaction with app developers.

Four companies are joining the Nextcloud ISV Partner Program at launch:

• VoxCloud (Netherlands) — enterprise apps for metadata management, SharePoint-style dashboards, and more
• Leviia (France)— scalability components for large Nextcloud deployments
• HKN (Germany) — apps built around AI integration
• Conduction (Netherlands) — process tracking and automation for municipalities

There is high demand to participate in the Nextcloud ISV Partner Program. Ultimately, both sides benefit: As our partners succeed, our platform and our footprint grow too. Partners and ISV developers are therefore a strategic pillar of our business model, and we intend to develop this area significantly in the future.

Heike Radtke

VP Marketing at Nextcloud

Let’s talk!

The program is still evolving and we’re actively looking for more ISVs to join. If you’re a developer building apps for specific industries or use cases that are currently not published anywhere, we would like to hear from you.

More updates for developers arriving with Nextcloud Hub 26 Spring

Our latest release empowers independent developers through the Nextcloud ecosystem, Besides the new Nextcloud ISV Partner Program, we extend our API libraries, revise our developer resources and grow our DevRel team. Discover our new release for more details.