Which cloud solution is best? ownCloud vs Nextcloud compared

When storing files, security is always top of mind, es­pe­cially when it comes to sensitive data. Hosting your own cloud service is a great way to ensure your files are secure. Two powerful solutions for self-hosted cloud storage are ownCloud and its spin-off Nextcloud.

Overview of ownCloud vs Nextcloud

(Updated: March 2025)

ownCloud vs Nextcloud in-depth com­par­is­on of the open-source clouds

On June 2, 2016, Frank Karl­itschek, founder of ownCloud, left the fin­an­cially weakening ownCloud project as did most of the de­velopers. In the same year, the newly formed team released its own cloud solution, which focused more on col­lab­or­a­tion. It was named Nextcloud. The software has been con­tinu­ously expanded over the past few years and today, the platform is one of the most popular self-hosted col­lab­or­a­tion solutions in the world.

Licensing issues were a sig­ni­fic­ant factor in the split. The key dif­fer­ence between the two open-source clouds lies in their approach to licensing. This is because ownCloud restricts certain func­tion­al­it­ies to its En­ter­prise edition, which requires a com­mer­cial license, whereas Nextcloud offers all of its com­pon­ents under the free AGPLv3 license. In what follows, we will explore the two cloud ap­plic­a­tions and the features that set them apart.

ownCloud

The ownCloud project was launched by Frank Karl­itschek in 2010. It was intended to offer users a free al­tern­at­ive to com­mer­cial cloud services. Prior to this project, the German-born software developer had primarily been an active member of the KDE community, which is dedicated to the de­vel­op­ment of free software. At the heart of ownCloud is the server ap­plic­a­tion ownCloud Infinite Scale, which can be installed on any server or web hosting space.

In terms of ad­di­tion­al software, man­u­fac­tur­ers have provided the following spe­cific­a­tions for the current version of ownCloud:

When the ownCloud server is installed and set up, files can be uploaded to it using the desktop program. This is a Digital Guide article ex­plain­ing how to do this on a Raspberry Pi. In addition to free desktop clients for macOS, Windows and Linux, there are also mobile apps for Android and iOS in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Using these ap­plic­a­tions, you can create your own local directory, which can be syn­chron­ised with the cloud server whenever and wherever you want (assuming you are connected to the internet). Thanks to the file-sharing feature, files can also be shared with other users (password-protected if necessary).

For busi­nesses, the ownCloud team op­tion­ally offers pro­fes­sion­al, paid support, with two different sub­scrip­tion models available (as of March 2025):

• The Standard Sub­scrip­tion includes email support on business days and starts at €5.24 (around £4.50) per user per month (for a minimum of 25 users). The price decreases as the number of users increases. This support model is tied to the standard free AGPLv3 license, meaning that all modi­fic­a­tions to the cloud software must be shared with the community.
• The more expensive En­ter­prise Sub­scrip­tion, starting at €15.67 (around £13) per user per month (for a minimum of 25 users), is linked to the ownCloud Com­mer­cial License. It provides companies with global email and phone support, along with access to a range of exclusive en­ter­prise features.

ownCloud offers various ad­di­tion­al features that optimise the cloud’s usability. Here is an overview of the product:

The ownCloud package is rounded off with various security features, although there are some minor dif­fer­ences between those included in the free version and the En­ter­prise edition.

Nextcloud

When Nextcloud was released for the first time in 2016 as an in­de­pend­ent spin-off of ownCloud, it was es­sen­tially just an open-source version of the same software, but with a new design. Since then, Nextcloud GmbH, which includes Karl­itscheck and other former ownCloud de­velopers, has sped up their software redesign.

The basic ap­plic­a­tion is Nextcloud Server and can be installed on almost any web hosting space or server. The de­vel­op­ment team re­com­mends at least 512 MB of memory for stable cloud operation. Nextcloud does not differ sig­ni­fic­antly from its pre­de­cessor in terms of software re­quire­ments either.

Desktop clients are available for all common operating systems so that users can upload files onto the ready-to-use Nextcloud server. Windows and macOS users will find the in­stall­a­tion files on the program’s website. Linux users (openSUSE, Arch Linux, Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian) can find them in their Linux dis­tri­bu­tion’s package man­age­ment. Free apps for Android and iOS can be used to access the server on mobile devices. The client allows one or more local folders to be syn­chron­ised with the server. Thanks to the file manager and file-sharing feature, all stored files can be easily viewed and shared with others in the cloud or via public links.

Since a com­mer­cial license does not align with the philo­sophy of the de­vel­op­ment team, all Nextcloud com­pon­ents are ex­clus­ively licensed under the free GNU AGPLv3 license. However, Nextcloud GmbH also offers paid en­ter­prise packages (starting at 100 users) that include pro­fes­sion­al support, col­lab­or­a­tion tools, and various in­teg­ra­tions. Customers can choose from four different pricing models:

• Basic: Starting at €37.49 (around £30) per user per year (for a minimum of 100 users), this package includes email support (response within three business days), access to the Nextcloud knowledge portal, and one year of long-term support.
• Standard: At €67.89 (around £60) per user per year, this sub­scrip­tion offers branding, in­stall­a­tion review, phone support during official business hours, and one year of long-term support.
• Premium: Priced at €99.99 (around £85) per user per year, the Premium package provides planning security for 5+ years, extended phone and email support, and as­sist­ance with scaling cloud storage if needed.
• Ultimate: Starting at €195 (around £165) per user per year, the Ultimate package grants access to the full Nextcloud feature set, including 24/7 support, pro­fes­sion­al tool in­teg­ra­tions, and a SIP bridge that connects Nextcloud Talk to pro­fes­sion­al IP telephony via a SIP provider.

Nextcloud is not just limited to uploading and down­load­ing files, it is also packed with features that make it easy for both basic users and ad­min­is­trat­ors to simplify file storage:

Thanks to its modular structure, one of the cloud storage platform’s strengths is its high degree of ex­pand­ab­il­ity. Nextcloud apps can be used to add a wide range of func­tion­al­ity to different Nextcloud areas such as ‘In­teg­ra­tion’, ‘Mul­ti­me­dia’, ‘Office & Text’ and ‘Au­then­tic­a­tion & Au­thor­iz­a­tion’. Nextcloud lists all of­fi­cially supported ex­ten­sions in its app store. You will not only find doc­u­ment­a­tion and download links for the over 200 ex­ten­sions available, but also a guide on how to program modules.

Equally crucial to having an extensive range of features is the safe­guard­ing of data stored within ‘private’ clouds via the software. This is why Nextcloud provides operators with effective tools to ensure the best possible pro­tec­tion:

To test Nextcloud, you do not have to download and install the cloud software. On the website, you can try a demo of the software and try out the features listed here for one hour.

What are the main dif­fer­ences between ownCloud and Nextcloud?

In many respects, it has become clear that Nextcloud is much more ambitious than ownCloud when it comes to col­lab­or­a­tion. Since the 2016 release, Nextcloud has evolved from a simple file syncing and sharing solution to a premium al­tern­at­ive to cloud suites like Microsoft 365. The dif­fer­ences in terms of file storage and file sharing are only minor.

Key dif­fer­ences come when you look at add-on and security features. On the one hand, ownCloud’s licensing policy ensures that certain com­pon­ents such as full-text search, workflow man­age­ment or branding are only available to paid En­ter­prise customers. Nextcloud users do not have these lim­it­a­tions, as only support and update services cost extra.

With features such as in­teg­rated real-time document man­age­ment or audio and video calling, Nextcloud has outshone its pre­de­cessor in terms of func­tion­al­ity just as it has in terms of security. Built-in brute force pro­tec­tion, easily im­ple­men­ted two-factor au­then­tic­a­tion and server-side file en­cryp­tion are just a few of the Nextcloud security features worth men­tion­ing.