Nextcloud vs ownCloud: which one to choose in 2026?
Both are open source alternatives to Google Drive. We compare license, tech stack and features to help you decide which fits your team best.
| Nextcloud | ownCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Storage | Storage |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| GitHub stars | 27k | 8k |
| Tech stack | PHP, MariaDB/PostgreSQL | Go |
| Replaces | Google Drive, Dropbox | Google Drive |
Nextcloud has more GitHub stars, which usually indicates a larger community (not necessarily that it's the best option for your use case).
Nextcloud
File cloud and collaboration, an alternative to Google Drive.
Pros
- The widest ecosystem of self-hosted productivity apps
Things to consider
- Can feel heavy on small instances running many apps
ownCloud
File storage and sync, an alternative to Google Drive.
Pros
- New, very lightweight Infinite Scale architecture
Things to consider
- Smaller app ecosystem than Nextcloud
Key features
Nextcloud
- Cross-platform file sync
- Collaborative document editing (Collabora/OnlyOffice)
- Calendar, contacts and video calls (Nextcloud Talk)
- Hundreds of official and community apps
ownCloud
- Cross-platform file sync
- Link and permission-based sharing
- Modern architecture (Infinite Scale)