How Nextcloud
stacks up

Why is Nextcloud the most popular self-hosted EFSS
and Content Collaboration Platform?

How Nextcloud stacks up

What makes Nextcloud
the best choice

Best security

Nextcloud is developed in a security-focused process as attested by a range of external experts and security pen-tests.

Industry-leading features include machine-learning based login protection, 2-factor authentication measures, brute force protection and unique capabilities like Video Verification, end-to-end and server-side encryption.

We put our money where our mouth is: our USD 10.000 security bug bounty program brings top security expertise in, keeping your data safe.

Largest ecosystem

As the most deployed self-hosted file sync and content collaboration platform, Nextcloud offers the widest range of add-on capabilities and integrations in the industry. Over 200 ‘apps’ offer powerful security capabilities, team productivity features and infrastructure integrations.

With Nextcloud you can eliminate a confusing mess of different SaaS platforms and the security, cost, compliance and productivity problems they bring with them.

Easiest to use

Powerful capabilities often result in complicated user interfaces, lowering productivity and hindering quick adoption in organizations. Without limiting their abilities, Nextcloud does not overwhelm users with unnecessary clutter. Our customers remark time and again how few support tickets it creates for their IT teams.

Accessibility features like keyboard and screenreader navigation, WCAG 2.1 compliant contrast and a dyslexia-friendly font are available only in the leading on-premises content collaboration platform!

How we stack up

See how Nextcloud compares to these popular closed-source services, and switch to a more open and transparent solution to protect your data!

Licensing Open source open source = any OSI approved license. Anything else is proprietary. Proprietary open source = any OSI approved license. Anything else is proprietary. Proprietary open source = any OSI approved license. Anything else is proprietary. Proprietary [ownCloud Enterprise Edition] open source = any OSI approved license. Anything else is proprietary. Proprietary open source = any OSI approved license. Anything else is proprietary. Proprietary open source = any OSI approved license. Anything else is proprietary. Proprietary open source = any OSI approved license. Anything else is proprietary. Proprietary open source = any OSI approved license. Anything else is proprietary.
Unlimited storage and amount of files Limits imposed by either the purchased plan or your own infrastructure when self-hosting Included The limit is customer infrastructure. There are no limits from the Nextcloud side. Included Included Included Varies per plan Not included Varies per plan Max 10 TB
Large file support Included Included 10GB Included 5GB 10GB 20GB 25GB
Self hosted / on premises Included can be hosted wherever you decide, including hybrid. Not included Not included Included Not included Included Not included Not included
Global Scalability Sharding across clusters and data centers Included single cluster: up to 100K active users. With Global Scale: unlimited. Included 5K in one group, 10K for educational organizations, unclear limits otherwise Included Not included Included Some limitations exist but nothing is clearly documented Not included 2K users in a share, more limits exist but not clearly documented Included Unclear various file limitations exist, unclear user limits
Clients
Mobile clients Apple Android Apple Android Apple Android Apple Android Apple Android Apple Android Apple Android free version only supports up to 3 client devices total Apple Android
Auto upload Images/Video/other files Included/Included/Included Included/Included/Not included* can do files with external app Included/Included/Not included* can be done with external app Included/Included/Not included Only paid. Files can be done with external app / Only paid. Files can be done with external app / Not included* Only paid. Files can be done with external app Included/Included/Not included* Extra paid feature. Files can be done with third party app Included/Included/Not included* Files can be done with third party app Not included/Not included/Not included*
Desktop clients Apple Windows Linux Apple Windows Apple Windows Apple Windows Linux Apple Windows Apple Windows Apple Windows free version only supports up to 3 client devices total Apple Windows
LAN synchronization Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Included Included
Extensible with Apps Allows third party to write apps that integrate apps in the cloud itself, adding functionality Included Over 200 apps available Not included No third-party apps that can be integrated Included Limited to Microsoft Apps Included Over 70 apps available Included Limited Microsoft office integration Not included No third-party apps that can be integrated Included Limited Microsoft office integration Included Pretty wide range of apps
Server features
Unified Search Cross-application search (Calendars, mails, chat messages, files etc) Included Full-text search costs money, cross-application search free Full-text search costs money, cross-application search free Included Not included full-text search paid, cross-app search not available full-text search paid, cross-app search not available Included full-text search only in paid versions, with 365 integration no cross-app search full-text search only in paid versions, with 365 integration no cross-app search Not included
File versioning Included limited limited Only for MS Office files Included limited 25-50 revisions depending on plan Included limited Max 1 month, up to 1 year with Business subscription limited max 3 revisions
File locking/Checkout Block a file temporarily from being edited while you work offline with it Included Does NOT block collaborative editing Not included Included Included Included Included* not available in web UI or WebDAV Included Only for business edition Included
Multiple link shares Included Not included Not included Included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Share note Add a note for the share Included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Dashboard Dashboard app with overview of info like recent files, chats, calendar items and more Included Included Included Not included Not included Included Not included Not included Admins have a dashboard, users not
View PDF, Images, Video, Gallery Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included
Integrated Audio/Video/Text chat Included/Included/Included Included/Included/Included Included/Included/Included Not included/Not included/Not included Unsupported Not included/Not included/Not included Included/Included/Included Included/Included/Included Not included/Not included/Not included
Integrated Groupware (Calendar / Contacts / Mail / Kanban) Included/Included/Included/Included Included/Included/Included/Included Included/Included Not included/Not included/Not included/Not included Only as unsupported (Nextcloud-developed) third party apps
not natively, third party app
Included/Included/Included/Not included Included/Included/G = through Google Apps G = through Google Apps Not included/Not included
Mobile calendar/Contact integration Included/Included both Android/iOS (Android with integrated 3rd party tool) Included Included Unsupported. Available for iOS, Android possible with tool from Nextcloud partner / Unsupported. Available for iOS, Android possible with tool from Nextcloud partner Unsupported. Available for iOS, Android possible with tool from Nextcloud partner Not included Not included Not included Not included
Online Office web/ Mobile apps Online Office web / mobile apps Included/Included 4 options With Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE, Hancom Office or MS Office Online Included/Included Included/Included feature-limited in web and mobile UI compared to desktop Included/Not included 3 options Collabora Online, OnlyOffice, MS Office Online Included/Included Through Microsoft Office Included/Included Microsoft Office 365 Included/Included Microsoft Office 365 Included/Included Microsoft Office 365
Knowledge management A knowledge base/wiki with articles/pages, sub pages, search and other basic knowledge base functionality is available Included Not included Included Not included Not included Not included Not included Included
Forms and surveys The platform allows creating forms and surveys and store and display the results Included Included Included Not included Not included Not included Not included Included
User-managed groups Normal users can create and manage groups without having to rely on the system administrator, a power user or a group admin Included Not included Included Not included Not included Included Included Not included
File Drop (customer file upload) Public link to folder recipient can upload to, which hides existing content of the shared folder Included Included Not included Included Not included Included Included Included
Video verification Protect public links with Video Verification Included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Inter-server sharing Sharing between separate cloud instances of different vendors. Example, Nextcloud users can share files with users on Pydio and ownCloud servers. Included Not included Not included Included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Workspaces Add context to a folder by having a space to add comments, notes and todo lists Included Not included Not included* Can pin files to the top of a folder, which gives a big preview. Not included Not included Not included Included Not included
Accessibility
Keyboard/Screen reader support Included Included Included Not included Included Included Included Could not find information Could not find information
WCAG 2.1 support AA/AAA AAA with optional theme Included Included Not included AA/AAA AAA with Box.com accessiblity site Not included Included Not included
Dyslexia-friendly font Included Included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Admin features
Access control lists Permissions on files and folders, inherited by default, can be overridden at any level. Included Included Included Not included Included Included Included Included
Content workflow automation Included Only via third party app Only via third party app Included limited to admins Included limited to admins Included limited to admins Included limited to admins Included limited to admins Included limited to admins
Approval process workflow Included Not included Included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Cryptographic document signatures Request documents signed with DocuSign or another technology Included DocuSign, EID-Easy and LibreSign Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Automatic script execution Included Not included Included Included Not included Included Not included Not included
Impersonate users Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included
Real time notifications files created, updated, shared, unshared and deleted by user or others, chat or call received etc. Included Included Included Not included Included Included Included Not included
Monitoring web/API interface Included/Included Included/Included Included/Included Not included/Not included Included/Included Included/Included Included/Included Included/Included
Data retention policy support Included limited Max 6 months Included Included Included Included Not included Included
Long term support (5-10 years) Life cycle matching your operating system Included N.A. Hosted only, customer has no control over when/what changes N.A. Hosted only, customer has no control over when/what changes Not included N.A. Hosted only, customer has no control over when/what changes N.A. Hosted only, customer has no control over when/what changes N.A. Hosted only, customer has no control over when/what changes N.A. Hosted only, customer has no control over when/what changes
Branding Included Easy self-service in UI or full custom CSS very limited Included Included Using paid ownBrander or manually changing CSS Included Varies per plan but mainly yes Not included very limited Included
Compliance features
Audit trail Mandatory if you have a legal requirement to find out who did what and when Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included
Imprint and privacy links Included Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Included Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Only to their imprint and privacy policy, not yours Included* If self-hosted
Built in data-request/account deletion Included Included You can request (deletion of) data Included You can request (deletion of) data Not included Included You can request (deletion of) data Included You can request (deletion of) data Included You can request (deletion of) data Included Yes
Terms-of-service Included You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms Not included You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms You and your customers you share with have to agree to their terms Included If self-hosted
Security features
Server side encryption Included Included Included Included Not included Included Not included Not included
Client side / End-to-end encryption Included Google is working to introduce this Google is working to introduce this Not included Not included Only offering a web E2EE solution without client support so failing to provide zero-knowledge protection Not included Not included Not included Not included
Video Verification Included Optionally verify identity of recipient by video call Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Brute force hacking protection Included Included Included Included There is an unsupported external app developed by community student, occasionally updated Not included Included Included Included
NIST compliant password policy Included Not included Included Not included Included Not included Not included Not included
Web UI secured with CSP 3.0 Included Included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Same-site cookie attribute Included Included Included Included Not included Included Included Not included
File Access Control Included Not included Not included Included Not included Can be done in limited way with third party applications Not included Not included Not included
App access rights Allow restricting mobile/desktop/third party applications access to filesystem or other data Included Included Included Not included Not included Not included Included Not included
Authentication
Enforceable 2-factor authentication U2F/OTP/SMS Signal/Telegram notifications Supports multiple factors U2F/OTP/SMS notifications Multiple factors U2F/OTP/SMS notifications Supports multiple 2nd factor options Not included Cannot be enforced, only supporting OTP SMS Supports multiple factors SMS SMS/U2F/OTP OTP/SMS OTP only via Duo Push
ML based suspicious login detection Uses machine learning technology to protect authentication Included Included Included Not included Included Not included Included Not included
LDAP/AD Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included
Native SAML Native SAML is implemented directly in the application without a requirements on external software like Apache modules. Native SAML is compatible with all webservers and supports group memberships, flexible session management, multiple identity providers and app specific passwords. Included Included Included Not included Included Included Included Included
Auth via env variable Authentication through Apache modules allows eg SAML/ShibbolethADFS, OAuth, OpenID, CAS and more. Included Not included Not included Included Not included Not included Not included Not included
Kerberos Included Not included Not included Included Not included Included Not included Included
Storage
File storage (local/NFS) Included Not included Not included Included Not included Included Not included Included
Object storage (S3/Swift) Included Not included Not included Only support for outdated V2 authentication Only support for outdated V2 authentication Not included Included Not included Included
CIFS/Windows Shares Included Also supports Kerberos Not included Included Included Not included Included Not included Included
Sharepoint Included 2013/2016 Not included Included Included 2013/2016 Not included Paid only Not included Not included
Extensible storage Included Not included Included Included Not included Included Not included Included

Based on public information to our best knowledge, gathered July 1, 2021. We understand the world is constantly changing, if you see we missed a feature or made a mistake, let us know. You can use our contact form.

Note that end-to-end encryption in a browser is not the same as client-side encryption as it fails to protect adequately from the server (it does not offer ‘zero-knowledge’ protection). Security experts consider javascript encryption in the browser “harmful”.

Top rated

Nextcloud is top rated amongst many of our competitors on all the major rating platform sites.

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