Nextcloud Talk

The first privacy-respecting collaboration platform for online collaboration through meetings, chat and webinars. All in one application.

Why Nextcloud Talk?

Nextcloud Talk empowers secure collaboration for hybrid teams, enhancing productivity and connectivity from anywhere.

Take back the control

Stay in control over your data and improve the resiliency of your critical communication platform! Nextcloud Talk offers digital sovereignty without vendor lock-in and dependencies on proprietary vendors. Its open-source architecture enables organizations to customize Talk to meet specific needs and integrate it into existing systems.

Nextcloud Talk is ideal for on premise private cloud deployments or hosting with a trusted, local provider!

Unlock advanced collaboration

Nextcloud Talk makes hybrid work easy. It combines chat, video calls, and webinars together with file sharing and document editing within a single application, supported by advanced AI-driven features designed to simplify daily workflows.

Collaborate with your colleagues on documents directly within chats or calls, or have a real-time brainstorming session with the whiteboard. For more mindfulness at work, Nextcloud talk comes with built-in functions for a healthier meeting culture.

Highly secure and compliant

With self-hosting options and robust data protection, Nextcloud Talk offers the security and compliance you need, without sacrificing control. It’s the first GDPR-compliant, private cloud collaboration tool that consolidates all essential functions for efficient collaboration in one application, and the only complete collaboration platform also deployable in airgap environments.

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Talk comparison

Main features

Nextcloud Talk lowers the barrier for communications and lets your team connect anytime, anywhere, on any device, with each other, customers or partners.

Federated chat and video calls

Nextcloud Talk supports federated collaboration. Join group chats on another Nextcloud server and use many of the core features like user mentions, markdown formatting, or polls. And even organize audio and video meetings across different Nextcloud Hubs — to meet with colleagues from another department, or maybe a partner who is using Nextcloud too.

Get personal with speaker video feed

Personal connection is always there during the stream with a speaker picture-in-picture present on the screen even when screen sharing. Once your video is on, participants will be able to see you while you are showing your screen or running a slide show.

Build a healthy meeting culture with Nextcloud

Nextcloud has honed in on what makes a healthy online culture – from meetings to file storage. This release brings you accessible, helpful and powerful tools that allow your work life to be less stressful, cluttered and overwhelming in Nextcloud Hub.

Unique protection

Nextcloud Talk protects your communication better than other team collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams or Slack, making sure your data stays on your servers. Nextcloud Talk goes further than other encrypted communication technologies by keeping even metadata from leaking. This ensures you stay in complete control of communications.

Designed for privacy

Nextcloud Talk is a fully self hosted, on premise audio/video and chat communication service. It features web and mobile apps and is designed to offer the highest degree of security while being easy to use. Message status indicators show when a message is sent and received – for more privacy, users can disable this on their side.

Private, group and public calls

Talk makes it easy to call customers and partners in one-to-one or group scenarios. Users can invite external chat participants with an URL into public rooms on the Nextcloud server. The chat, which remains open even when the user leaves a call, enables participants to easily exchange messages, links and notes. Configurable visibility on chats allows team members and/or guests to find and join open chat rooms.

Collaboration within Nextcloud

Documents can be shared directly into a chat from the Files app and are made available to all participants, both users and guests. Projects integration enables linking of chat rooms with files, calendars, tasks and other resources for easy finding. Our online office solutions provide a sidebar with Talk for chat and calls with the participants.

Integrated groupware, chat and project management

Nextcloud features tightly integrated chat, project management, mail, calendaring and more. Chat messages can be directly transformed into tasks, task deadlines are visible in the Calendar and files can be attached to a task from the sharing dialog. A single platform means there is no need to juggle different accounts, keep track of where in the many cloud platforms the latest version of a document is floating around, or worry about security threats and invisible costs.

Learn more

Bridging with other networks

Nextcloud Bridging allows the connection of Talk rooms to one or more channels on other Talk servers, but also other services like IRC, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Matrix, Mattermost, XMPP and many more. A bridge sends any messages from the third party network into the Talk room where it was configured, and any messages put in the Talk room to the bridged third party network. Multiple networks can be bridged into a single Nextcloud Talk room, so messages can go from Slack to Teams and IRC via Nextcloud.

Webinars and presentations

Share the content of a single window or a full desktop screen for presentations with chat-partners. Manage participants permissions for audio/video and screen sharing. Schedule meetings and be notified when they start. A lobby is provided for guests to wait until the call starts. Moderators can let a selected guest in early. Participants can raise their hand to get attention or be allowed to speak.

Video verification

In situations where extreme security is warranted and the identity of a recipient has to be verified with absolute certainty before they are granted access, Nextcloud includes the industry-first implementation of Video Verification. Video Verification enforces a Nextcloud Talk video call before access is given to a share, making sure the identity of the recipient is properly checked. The call can be picked up through the Nextcloud Talk Mobile apps as well as the web interface.

A platform you can trust

Nextcloud Talk is the only solution that consolidates all essential functions for efficient collaboration into a single application, while ensuring full data control and independence. It’s the only high security collaboration platform also deployable in airgap environments.

It benefits from the many security, encryption and authentication capabilities of Nextcloud. It’s multi-layered encryption, brute force protection, artificial-intelligence based suspicious login detection, password-less login and the backing of our USD 10.000 security bug bounty program provide customers the confidence that their communication and collaboration remains confidential.

Security in Nextcloud

Trusted by thousands of organizations

The most popular self-hosted collaboration solution for tens of millions of users at thousands of organizations across the globe

Compliance

Self-hosting communication simplifies compliance with national and international privacy and security regulations. By relying on existing, vetted infrastructure, your current compliance and security processes apply to Nextcloud Talk.

GDPR, CCPA and more

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) makes organizations liable for any violations of user privacy and deviations from a high data security standard.
Legislation like the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018) brings similar regulation to other countries.
Nextcloud has extensive GDPR compliance capabilities.

ePrivacy Regulation

The upcoming EU ePrivacy Regulation is designed as a complement to the GDPR. The objective is to reinforce trust and security in the Digital Single Market by ensuring that electronic communications from Europeans are confidential regardless of the technology used. The ePrivacy Regulation protects the confidentiality of electronic communications and information on devices, independently whether it is personal or non-personal data.

Nextcloud is designed to protect the confidentiality of communications and fully prepares customers for the upcoming ePrivacy Regulation.

Why metadata and self hosting matter

Metadata, often described as everything except the content of your communications, has less legal protections but can be incredibly revealing. From a list of who somebody talks to and when, much can be inferred!
The Electronic Frontier Foundation explains it well on their site.

Of course, service providers might promise not to store and track such meta data, but governments can simply force them if need be. For example, in the UK providers have been forced to record the website visits of their customers.

And that is not even mentioning the fact that even privacy-focused companies can suddenly be sold to a foreign entity. Like with the content of communication, the best way to protect metadata is to ensure it never leaks from your infrastructure in the first place.

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Benefits

Get more done

Clean interface, clean communication

Decrease travel costs

Meet as often as you need

Build better relationships

Working together in real time

Stay in control

End-to-end encrypted calls on your own server

Easy to get started

Install, invite & call in with one click

Be mobile

Mobile clients & browser support

Stay connected

Bridge with other servers and chat networks

Fully on-premise, 100% open source

Key capabilities

Remove and ban participants
Recording consent in meetings for more privacy
Interactive widgets, message editing and federated chatting
Invite to calls via phone number
“Note to self” – a personal safe space in Talk
Conversation filters (see only rooms with mentions or unread messages)
List open conversations
Show “Talking time” in participants list during a call
Group system message (X, Y and … others joined the call)
60 minute call popup (warning at 1 hour mark – to help avoid those endless meetings)
Basic text formatting (bold/italics/strike-through/headings, bullet lists, code and more)
Webhook based bots allow writing chat bots that integrate various third party services into Nextcloud
New Pexip integration – Manage and access Pexip calls from within Talk, Calendar, Mail or other locations in Nextcloud through the Smart Picker
User typing notification
Custom chat icon/avatar
Mention a group in your chat
Call reactions 🤩👍🎉
Smart Picker feature
Smart Picker linking to an user profile
Call transcripts of recorded video calls
Custom background / blurring it in calls
Translation integration with Nextcloud Translate
Record and track every call
Easy screen sharing
Self-hosted, no leaking of metadata
Permission management by moderators
Encrypted, peer-to-peer audio/video calls
Integration with Nextcloud Files and Groupware
WebRTC for cross-platform support
Mobile calls & chat with push notifications
Powerful bridging capabilities with other platforms
Commands to enable integration with other tools
Jump start conversations in breakout rooms
Individual and group calls & chat
Webinars & public video conferencing with lobby (needs Nextcloud Talk High Performance Backend)
Mobile apps for Android and iOS
SIP bridge: dial in by phone to a call (needs Nextcloud Talk High Performance Backend)
Join the same conversation and call from multiple devices
Send voice messages, share your location or contact details
Add groups to a conversation and new group members will automatically be added as participants
A preview of your audio and video is shown before joining a call
Assign general and individual permissions to participants
React to chat message
Quick and easy polls
In the sidebar you can find an overview of the latest shared items
Configure an expiration time for chat messages
Start calls without notifying others in big conversations. You can send individual call notifications once the call has started.
Send chat messages without notifying the recipients in case it is not urgent
beta apps for Talk on the desktop

Nextcloud Talk comparison

Keep your online conversations, meetings and video conferencing private and secure with Nextcloud Talk.
Find below a comparison with a number of video chat solutions on the market.


On-prem hostable	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Included	Included	Included
Open source	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Included	Included	Included
Desktop client	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included
Mobile client	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included
Phone dial-in	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included
Phone dial-out	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Included	Not included	Not included
Breakout rooms	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included
Stream to YouTube	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Search messages	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included
Filter conversations	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
AI Assistant features	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Note-taking/editing	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included
Office document editing	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Public office document editing (edit via public link)	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Accessibility features (screen reader support, dyslectic font, high contrast mode)	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included
Federation	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Included
Push notifications	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included
Together mode	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Message reminders	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Silent messages	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Call recording	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included
Moderation & lobby	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included	Included	Included
Voting/polls	Included	Included	Included	Included	Stack polls add-on	Simple polls bot	Included	Included	Included
Background blur & custom backgrounds	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Included	Not included
Rich interactive widgets	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included
View time zones or local time of colleagues	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Outlook integration to send invitations	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Not included	Not included
Note to self	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Filters in video calls	Not included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Quick slash commands	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included
Bots	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included
Threads	Roadmap	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included
Format messages	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included
Chat reactions (emojis)	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included
Animated reactions in call	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Message drafts	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Waiting music	Not included	Not included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Generate transcript	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Live captioning	Roadmap	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Live translations	Roadmap	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Integration with calendar app	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included
Sidebar view in calls	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included	Not included	Included
Profile cards	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included
Anonymous access	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included
Guest accounts	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included
User status	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Not included	Not included	Included
Send message later	Not included	Included	Included	Not included	Included	Not included	Not included	Not included	Not included

Based on public information to our best knowledge, gathered June 7, 2024. 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.

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Scalability

Easy for private use

Nextcloud Talk is designed for easy installation and operation. Nextcloud hosts a STUN server to facilitate usage behind firewalls and we recommend the installation of a local TURN server to improve connectivity further. Note that calls get fully routed through a TURN server, causing a lot of network traffic.

The peer-to-peer nature of Talk does inflate network traffic, creating one incoming and sending stream per other participant. This places practical limitations on calls that depend on network capabilities. A typical private Nextcloud Talk setup should handle dozens of calls with each up to 6-10 participants, up to 20 if all participants have a good network connection and do not use video. Enterprise limits, however, are in the thousands of participants per call.

Scaling in enterprise setup

To help with scaling, Nextcloud lowers video quality automatically and disables video on large calls. Sending audio and video, as well as the compute power required to decode the video streams on clients, are the biggest limiting factors, with most asymetric internet connections bottlenecked on upstream bandwidth and laptops and mobile devices especially having trouble decoding multiple video streams.

The High Performance Back-end offered by Nextcloud solves the bandwidth bottleneck and allows scaling a single call to much larger numbers of participants, up to hundreds or even thousands.

Scaling further: webinars, school classes

High Performance Back-end

Webinars and other large scale broadcasting type calls are possible with hundreds or thousands of participants. The High Performance Back-end setup includes special features for this.

The HPB also lowers the load from calls on the Nextcloud server, taking care of ‘signaling’ and optionally enables connecting a SIP bridge so users can dial in by phone into calls. The HPB runs on premise, like Nextcloud itself, or through a hosted offering by our partners. Customers should be aware that it has significant dedicated bandwidth and processing needs. The HPB is available through Nextcloud GmbH.

Sign up for a free 30 day test of the hosted HPB offering in the Talk settings page.

Enterprise-ready

The Nextcloud Talk High Performance Backend for large organizations offers the capacity, reliability and features enterprises need to conduct their business privately, securely and efficiently.

Dial-in anywhere

Let participants join through a phone line, wherever they are

No limitations

Improved connectivity behind firewalls and restrictive networks and more participants in a call

Get started quickly

Remote installation support from a certified Nextcloud engineer

The Nextcloud Talk High Performance Backend improves connection speed and reliability, decreases server load and allows more people in a call by improving network efficiency.

Try Nextcloud Talk for Enterprise