What is Nextcloud? The functions and ad­vant­ages explained

Nextcloud allows you to manage your data on your own cloud server without having to hand over data sov­er­eignty to companies such as Google or Apple. With Nextcloud, companies without an IT de­part­ment, as well as private in­di­vidu­als, benefit from the ad­vant­ages of a location- and device-in­de­pend­ent cloud on their own private or hosted servers.

What is Nextcloud?

Nextcloud is a high-per­form­ance, non-com­mer­cial cloud software used for self-hosting and cloud computing, which is suitable for both private and business purposes. The software is a fork, i.e., a parallel de­vel­op­ment branch of the OwnCloud project. OwnCloud and Nextcloud serve as open-source al­tern­at­ives to com­mer­cial cloud storage, such as Amazon AWS, Google Drive or iCloud. The same de­vel­op­ment team around founder and developer Frank Karl­itschek is behind both cloud solutions. Just like OwnCloud, Nextcloud is available in a free, com­pre­hens­ive version as well as a paid en­ter­prise solution.

Which platforms support Nextcloud?

To enable access for as many users as possible, Nextcloud offers cross-platform support. It can be used with the following operating systems for desktop PCs and mobile devices:

• Windows
• macOS
• Android
• Linux
• iOS

Nextcloud also offers simple in­teg­ra­tion with services such as Amazon S3, Google Drive, Microsoft Azure and Dropbox.

What ad­vant­ages does Nextcloud offer?

As non-com­mer­cial cloud software for self-hosting, Nextcloud offers many ad­vant­ages for both private and business use. These include:

• Com­pletely free open-source solution
• Free choice between cloud computing with private servers on site or with host servers at locations with high data pro­tec­tion reg­u­la­tions
• Secure, GDPR-compliant cloud storage with a high level of data pro­tec­tion
• Anonymous file upload
• Two-factor au­then­tic­a­tion
• Encrypted data on servers and SSL/TLS en­cryp­tion for data trans­mis­sion
• Data sov­er­eignty remains with private in­di­vidu­als and companies that implement Nextcloud
• Cent­ral­ised cloud computing in­de­pend­ent of location or end device
• Includes Nextcloud Clients, such as Nextcloud Android app for cross-device syn­chron­isa­tion of local dir­ect­or­ies
• Active community prevents security vul­ner­ab­il­it­ies in Nextcloud’s open-source code
• Open-source approach prevents ‘back doors’ for data access by third-party companies
• En­ter­prise variants offer spe­cial­ised support and on-demand storage and computing power

What functions does Nextcloud offer?

From flexible data exchange and central cloud storage to practical teamwork tools, Nextcloud includes a wide range of cloud and team functions. The most important ones include:

• Uploads/Downloads: Nextcloud works similarly to Google Drive or other cloud al­tern­at­ives and allows you to upload and download single and multiple files and folders. Accessing and editing is also in­de­pend­ent of device and location.
• Nextcloud Files: With Nextcloud, you not only use self-defined access rights for files, but also public sharing URLs. This allows you to work on a document as a team as required and benefit from features such as the comment function, real-time col­lab­or­a­tion and app in­teg­ra­tion for Microsoft Office documents.
• Nextcloud Office: The cloud solution provides you with your own online office suite, including col­lab­or­at­ive tools and support for all important file formats.
• Nextcloud Hub: This is the central user interface via which you integrate, control and manage the four most important Nextcloud functions — Files, Talk, Office and Groupware.
• Nextcloud Talk: This feature offers your work­groups and teams practical tools for video calls, con­fer­ences, screen sharing or tra­di­tion­al text chat.
• Nextcloud Groupware: As a helpful calendar and ad­min­is­tra­tion tool, Groupware serves as an address book, ap­point­ment planner, contact list and more.
• Nextcloud Assistant: The Nextcloud Assistant is firmly in­teg­rated into the Nextcloud user interface. Among other things, the AI assistant sum­mar­ises email dis­cus­sions, offers sug­ges­tions when writing a document and trans­lates chat messages.

What Nextcloud apps and plugins are there?

The per­form­ance and ver­sat­il­ity of your own Nextcloud solution can be cus­tom­ised and extended using various Nextcloud apps and plugins. This allows you to optimise your cloud functions according to your needs or workgroup. Here’s a selection of practical apps and plugins for Nextcloud:

• Only­Of­fice: Office app is com­pat­ible with Microsoft Word, including support for all important document types (text, tables, present­a­tions, forms), chat function, shared document editing and versions for mobile or desktop.
• Reader: E-reading app for e-books and file formats such as Epub, PDF, CBR or CBZ, with flexible page view, night mode and con­fig­ur­able fonts and text colors.
• Nextcloud Deck: Or­gan­isa­tion app with clear display for managing ap­point­ments, tasks, deadlines or in­ter­me­di­ate project statuses.
• Passwords: App for managing and editing passwords of one or more people.
• Nextcloud Talk: The app is one of Nextcloud’s key products for video and audio calls, live chats, con­fer­ences and screen sharing.
• Cookbook: Practical cooking app for saving, col­lect­ing and managing recipes.
• Nextcloud Calendar (Android / iOS): Practical organiser for syn­chron­ising ap­point­ments, tasks and deadlines across devices — including reminder and in­vit­a­tion function.
• News: Concise app for news feeds with reference to all Nextcloud news.
• Nextcloud Notes: Effective app for taking notes in the style of Microsoft’s OneNote.

How much does Nextcloud cost?

Nextcloud is available in both a high-per­form­ance free version and a paid en­ter­prise version. The paid versions include:

• Basic: From 100 users for 37.49 euros (around £30) per year/user
• Standard: From 100 users for 67.89 euros (around £55) per year/user
• Premium: From 100 users for 99.99 euros (around £85) per year/user
• Ultimate: From 100 users for 195 euros (around £160) per year/user

Is Nextcloud suitable for companies?

Although Nextcloud is also in­ter­est­ing for private users, the in­stall­a­tion proves to be somewhat complex for in­ex­per­i­enced users. Nextcloud is therefore par­tic­u­larly relevant for companies that invest time in Nextcloud in­teg­ra­tion and receive their own cloud with a high level of data control and cloud security in return. The following aspects in par­tic­u­lar make Nextcloud in­ter­est­ing for companies:

• Teamwork and Office features in­teg­rated or ex­pand­able via apps and plugins
• Location- and device-in­de­pend­ent cloud use with desktop PCs and mobile devices
• Central storage and cross-device syn­chron­isa­tion of files
• High, GDPR-compliant data security and data sov­er­eignty
• In­di­vidu­al access rights and password as­sign­ment
• In­teg­rated en­cryp­tion for uploads and downloads, as well as for data stored on the server side
• Flexible en­ter­prise sub­scrip­tions depending on company size, storage re­quire­ments, support and in­teg­rated Nextcloud functions

How does Managed Nextcloud work?

If you’re looking for a secure, high-per­form­ance cloud without the hassle of setup and con­fig­ur­a­tion, Managed Nextcloud is an ideal solution. With managed cloud hosting, a pro­fes­sion­al host takes care of im­ple­ment­a­tion and main­ten­ance, allowing you to focus entirely on the benefits of a central cloud solution.

These benefits include col­lab­or­at­ive teamwork and office functions, cus­tom­is­able access rights and per­mis­sions, and the seamless storage, editing, and sharing of files and documents via your own private cloud. Plus, 24/7 support is typically available should you need as­sist­ance.

Ad­vant­ages of Managed Nextcloud

In terms of the time and main­ten­ance effort involved in self-hosting with your own private cloud, a con­veni­ent Managed Nextcloud solution offers the following ad­vant­ages:

• No hassle with in­stall­a­tion, main­ten­ance and updates
• Secure server in­fra­struc­ture for hosts with American server locations such as IONOS
• All Nextcloud features are available via desktop PC or mobile
• Basic functions can be expanded with apps and plugins
• Complete data sov­er­eignty and high data pro­tec­tion standards