Nextcloud

Nextcloud is a free, open-source, self-hosted file sync and collaboration server for organisations that want Dropbox or Google Drive functionality on their own hardware. A Nextcloud download gives you the server (PHP, runs on Linux), desktop sync clients for Windows, macOS and Linux, and mobile apps for iOS and Android. On top of files it adds calendars, contacts, Talk (chat and video calls), Mail, Office document editing and hundreds of optional apps.

The project forked from ownCloud in 2016 and is developed by Nextcloud GmbH in Germany together with a large community. The server is licensed under AGPL-3.0 (or any later version). Nextcloud GmbH sells Nextcloud Enterprise with support and long-term maintenance, but the Community release contains the same code; the difference is support, not features behind a paywall.

Nextcloud at a glance

What it does

• File storage, versioning, trash and sync with desktop and mobile clients, including virtual files on Windows so large folders do not fill laptop disks.
• Internal and public link sharing with passwords, expiry dates, upload-only drop folders and per-folder permissions; Federated sharing between Nextcloud servers.
• External storage mounts: SMB/CIFS shares, SFTP, S3-compatible object storage, WebDAV and more, so existing file servers appear inside Nextcloud.
• Calendar, Contacts and Tasks via CalDAV and CardDAV, Mail as an IMAP client, Deck for kanban boards and Notes.
• Talk: chat, audio and video calls and screen sharing; a separate High Performance Backend scales calls beyond a handful of participants.
• Nextcloud Office (Collabora) or ONLYOFFICE integration for editing documents in the browser.
• User management through LDAP and Active Directory, SAML and OpenID Connect single sign-on, two-factor authentication, group folders and quotas.
• Server-side and end-to-end encryption, file access control rules, retention and workflow automation, and a full REST and WebDAV API.

How sysadmins use it

Connect Active Directory users

1. Enable the “LDAP user and group backend” app under Apps.
2. In Administration settings > LDAP/AD integration, enter the domain controller, port 636 (LDAPS) and a read-only bind account.
3. Set the user filter to a group, for example (&(objectClass=person)(memberOf=CN=Nextcloud Users,OU=Groups,DC=corp,DC=example)), and verify that the test count matches the group.
4. Map sAMAccountName as the login attribute and displayName as the display name, then test a login. Groups from AD can now own group folders.

Mount an existing SMB file server

1. Install the smbclient package and the PHP smbclient module on the server.
2. Enable the External storage app and add an SMB/CIFS mount with the host, share and either “Log-in credentials, saved in session” or a service account.
3. Restrict the mount to a group, then let users sync it with the desktop client; the file server stays the system of record.

Keep the server healthy with occ

The occ command-line tool, run as the web server user, handles most administration:

$ sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ status
$ sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ maintenance:mode --on
$ sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ upgrade
$ sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ db:add-missing-indices
$ sudo -u www-data php /var/www/nextcloud/occ files:scan --all

Run occ files:scan after copying data into the data directory outside of Nextcloud, and schedule the background job cron.php every five minutes instead of relying on AJAX cron.

Install and first run

Requirements (Nextcloud 35). 64-bit Linux; PHP 8.3, 8.4 or 8.5 (8.5 recommended); Apache 2.4 with mod_php or php-fpm, or nginx with php-fpm; a database: MariaDB 10.11/11.4/11.8/12.3, MySQL 8.4/9.7, PostgreSQL 14–18, or SQLite for testing only. Plan at least 512 MB RAM per PHP process and an SSD for the database. Redis for file locking and memcache is strongly recommended.

Archive install on Ubuntu.

$ sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server php php-fpm php-mysql php-gd php-curl php-xml 
    php-mbstring php-zip php-intl php-bcmath php-gmp php-imagick php-redis redis-server
$ cd /var/www && sudo tar -xjf nextcloud-35.0.1.tar.bz2 && sudo chown -R www-data:www-data nextcloud

Create a database and user, point an Apache virtual host at /var/www/nextcloud with HTTPS, then finish the setup wizard in the browser (admin account, data directory, database). Put the data directory outside the web root. Afterwards, check Administration settings > Overview: it lists missing indices, PHP modules, memory limits and the cron status.

• Other methods: the snap package (Ubuntu), the official VirtualBox VM image, the web installer for shared hosting, NextcloudPi for single-board computers, and the AIO Docker image described above.
• Clients: the desktop client for Windows (64-bit), macOS and Linux (AppImage) and the mobile apps from the App Store, Google Play or F-Droid. Clients do not need admin rights.
• Gotchas: raise upload_max_filesize, post_max_size and memory_limit in php.ini; set overwrite.cli.url and the trusted domains in config.php when behind a reverse proxy; the AIO container must not share ports 80/443 with another web server on the host.
• Windows server: the server does not run natively on Windows. Use a Linux VM or Docker Desktop.

Limitations

• Nextcloud is a PHP application and performance depends heavily on tuning: PHP-FPM workers, opcache, Redis and database indices. A default install feels slow with many users.
• Sync of hundreds of thousands of small files is slower than block-based tools like rsync or commercial sync clients.
• Major versions arrive roughly three times a year and upgrades must go one major version at a time, which makes maintenance a recurring task.
• Browser document editing needs a separate Collabora or ONLYOFFICE server for anything beyond small teams.

Nextcloud vs alternatives

ownCloud is the project Nextcloud forked from; its current server, ownCloud Infinite Scale, is a Go rewrite with a smaller app ecosystem. Seafile is faster at raw file sync but offers far fewer collaboration apps. Syncthing syncs files between devices without a server at all and suits personal use rather than shared team storage. Among the catalogue pages here, Open365 tried to bundle a similar office-and-files stack but has been abandoned since 2016, and hMailServer pairs well with Nextcloud Mail if you want a self-hosted mailbox behind the Nextcloud web client.

FAQ

Is Nextcloud free?

Yes. Nextcloud Server and the desktop and mobile clients are free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence, with no user limits. Nextcloud Enterprise is a commercial support offering built on the same code.

Where is the Nextcloud download?

The official website offers the server archive, the All-in-One Docker image, a VM image, the snap package and the desktop and mobile clients. Verify the checksums or PGP signature that are published next to each archive.

Nextcloud vs ownCloud: which one?

Nextcloud has the larger app catalogue, built-in Talk and Office integration and faster development. ownCloud Infinite Scale is lighter and focused on files. Most new self-hosted deployments choose Nextcloud.

What is Nextcloud AIO?

All-in-One is the official Docker-based deployment. One master container manages Nextcloud, PostgreSQL, Redis, Collabora, Talk, ClamAV, Imaginary and BorgBackup containers and handles updates and TLS certificates for you.

How do I install Nextcloud with Docker?

Use the AIO image for a managed stack, or the plain nextcloud image with your own database and reverse proxy if you want full control over the Compose file.

What does Nextcloud Talk do?

Talk adds one-to-one and group chat, audio and video calls and screen sharing inside Nextcloud. Calls with more than a few participants need the High Performance Backend, which is a separate component.

Is there a Nextcloud desktop client?

Yes, for Windows 10 and later, macOS 12 and later and Linux. It syncs selected folders, supports virtual files on Windows and can manage several accounts.

Last checked against official sources: 6 October 2026 (developer website: nextcloud.com). Versions and licence terms change — confirm on the developer's site before deploying in production.