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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Nextcloud Has a Free Self-Hosted Cloud Storage Platform

Nextcloud is a free, open-source cloud storage and collaboration platform. It replaces Google Drive, Dropbox, Google Calendar, and more — all on your own server.

What Is Nextcloud?

Nextcloud gives you complete control over your data. File sync, calendar, contacts, office documents, video calls — all self-hosted.

Key features:

  • File sync and share (like Dropbox)
  • Calendar and contacts (replace Google)
  • Office documents (Collabora/OnlyOffice integration)
  • Video calls (Talk)
  • Email client
  • Notes, tasks, bookmarks
  • End-to-end encryption
  • 300+ apps in app store
  • Desktop and mobile sync clients
  • Federation (connect multiple Nextcloud instances)

Quick Start

docker run -d -p 8080:80 \
  -v nextcloud:/var/www/html \
  nextcloud
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Open http://localhost:8080. Create admin account. Your cloud is ready.

Sync Clients

  • Desktop: Windows, macOS, Linux (auto-sync folders)
  • Mobile: iOS, Android (auto-upload photos)
  • Web: Full-featured browser interface

Nextcloud vs Google Workspace

Feature Google Free Nextcloud
Storage 15GB Unlimited
Calendar Yes Yes
Contacts Yes Yes
Docs/Sheets Yes Yes (Collabora)
Video calls Meet (60min) Talk (unlimited)
Email Gmail Yes (Mail app)
Privacy Google scans 100% private
Cost $0-$12/user $0

App Store

300+ apps including:

  • Deck (project boards like Trello)
  • Forms (like Google Forms)
  • Polls, Maps, Music player
  • Password manager
  • Markdown editor
  • Draw.io integration

With 28K+ GitHub stars. Your cloud, your rules.


Store scraped data in your cloud! Check out my tools on Apify. Custom solutions: spinov001@gmail.com

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