How Nextcloud stacks up
Why is Nextcloud the most popular self-hosted EFSS
and Content Collaboration Platform?
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!
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| 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. | ||||||
| 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 IN8 Hub side. | Included | |||||||
| Large file support | Included | Included | 10GB | ||||||
| Self hosted / on premises | Included can be hosted wherever you decide, including hybrid. | 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 | ||||||
| Clients | |||||||||
| Mobile clients | Apple Android | Apple Android | Apple Android | ||||||
| Auto upload Images/Video/other files | Included | Included can do files with external app | Included can be done with external app | ||||||
| Desktop clients | Windows Linux | Windows | Windows | ||||||
| LAN synchronization | Not included | Not included | Not 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 | ||||||
| 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 | |||||||
| File versioning | Included | limited | limited Only for MS Office files | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| Multiple link shares | Included | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| Share note Add a note for the share | Included | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| Dashboard Dashboard app with overview of info like recent files, chats, calendar items and more | Included | Included | Included | ||||||
| View PDF, Images, Video, Gallery | Included | Included | Included | ||||||
| Integrated Audio/Video/Text chat | Included/Included/Included | Included/Included/Included | Included/Included/Included | ||||||
| Integrated Groupware (Calendar / Contacts / Mail / Kanban) | Included/Included/Included/Included | Included/Included/Included/Included | Included/Included | ||||||
| Mobile calendar/Contact integration | Included/Included both Android/iOS (Android with integrated 3rd party tool) | Included | 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 | ||||||
| Forms and surveys The platform allows creating forms and surveys and store and display the results | Included | 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| Video verification Protect public links with Video Verification | Included | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| Inter-server sharing Sharing between separate cloud instances of different vendors. Example, IN8 Hub users can share files with users on Pydio and ownCloud servers. | 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. | ||||||
| Accessibility | |||||||||
| Keyboard/Screen reader support | Included | Included | Included | ||||||
| WCAG 2.1 support | AA/AAA AAA with optional theme | Included | Included | ||||||
| Dyslexia-friendly font | Included | 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 | ||||||
| Content workflow automation | Included | Only via third party app Only via third party app | Included limited to admins | ||||||
| Approval process workflow | Included | Not included | Included | ||||||
| Cryptographic document signatures Request documents signed with DocuSign or another technology | Included DocuSign, EID-Easy and LibreSign | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| Automatic script execution | Included | Not included | Included | ||||||
| Impersonate users | 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 | ||||||
| Monitoring web/API interface | Included/Included | Included/Included | Included/Included | ||||||
| Data retention policy support | Included | limited Max 6 months | 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 | ||||||
| Branding | Included Easy self-service in UI or full custom CSS | 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| Built in data-request/account deletion | Included | Included You can request (deletion of) data | Included You can request (deletion of) data | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| Security features | |||||||||
| Server side encryption | Included | Included | Included | ||||||
| Client side / End-to-end encryption | Included | Google is working to introduce this Google is working to introduce this | Not included | ||||||
| Video Verification | Included Optionally verify identity of recipient by video call | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| Brute force hacking protection | Included | Included | Included | ||||||
| NIST compliant password policy | Included | Not included | Included | ||||||
| Web UI secured with CSP 3.0 | Included | Included | Not included | ||||||
| Same-site cookie attribute | Included | Included | Included | ||||||
| File Access Control | Included | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| App access rights Allow restricting mobile/desktop/third party applications access to filesystem or other data | Included | Included | Included | ||||||
| Authentication | |||||||||
| Enforceable 2-factor authentication | U2F/OTP/SMS Signal/Telegram notifications Supports multiple factors | U2F/OTP/SMS notifications Multiple factors | |||||||
| ML based suspicious login detection Uses machine learning technology to protect authentication | Included | Included | Included | ||||||
| LDAP/AD | 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 | ||||||
| Auth via env variable Authentication through Apache modules allows eg SAML/ShibbolethADFS, OAuth, OpenID, CAS and more. | Included | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| Kerberos | Included | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| Storage | |||||||||
| File storage (local/NFS) | Included | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| Object storage (S3/Swift) | Included | Not included | Not included | ||||||
| CIFS/Windows Shares | Included Also supports Kerberos | Not included | Included | ||||||
| Sharepoint | Included 2013/2016 | Not included | Included | ||||||
| Extensible storage | 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.
Nextcloud on
Capterra
Nextcloud on GetApp
Nextcloud on
Software Advice
Nextcloud on SourceForge
Nextcloud on G2
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