Nextcloud Hub: The European alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace - Nextcloud

Many organizations rely on work tools running on infrastructure they don’t control: file storage, email, chat, and document editors hosted by external providers with their own servers, policies, and business incentives. It’s a convenient setup, but it also means the data is subject to someone else’s terms, jurisdictions, and priorities.

Since its inception in 2016, Nextcloud has evolved from a self-hosted file sharing and sync software to a comprehensive collaboration platform that includes email, calendar, and contacts apps, tools for team chats and video calls, document, spreadsheet, and presentation editors, as well as AI and automation tools. Together, these make up Nextcloud Hub, a secure digital workspace that puts you and your team in control of your data. By running it in a private cloud, you can take back ownership of your daily work tools, the files your create with them, and your team’s communication.

Let’s take a closer look at Nextcloud Hub’s key components — Nextcloud Files, Talk, Groupware, Office, Assistant, and Flow — and how they come together to create a unified collaboration platform for your organization.

Secure file storage with Nextcloud Files

At the heart of Nextcloud Hub lies the core technology for storing, sharing, and syncing files.

As an alternative to OneDrive and Google Drive, Nextcloud Files lets you store your data on a server you control, access it from a web browser, desktop client, or mobile app, and sync changes automatically across your devices.

Fine-grained sharing and permissions

Nextcloud Files offers fine-grained control for sharing files with others, including expiration dates, passwords, and download limits. Permissions can be set per file or folder, distinguishing between viewing, editing, and re-sharing rights. Internal links ensure everyone in your organization has access to a file, while public links can be shared with anyone who needs it.

Organization and version control

Every saved change to a file is kept as a previous version you can browse and restore, and deleted items are first moved to a trash bin to prevent data loss. Assigning tags to files makes it easy to organize and filter large collections without relying on a rigid folder structure, and colored labels let you spot related items at a glance.

External storage and enterprise-grade security

Nextcloud Files connects to external storage mounts such as S3, FTP, or SMB and lets you share files with users on different Nextcloud servers as though they were on your own. Optional end-to-end encryption, storage quotas, and detailed audit logging make it a scalable solution fit for use in organizations of all sizes.

Team chats, video conferences, and webinars with Nextcloud Talk

Nextcloud Talk brings real-time communication via text messages and video calls into your Nextcloud, giving you a private alternative to tools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Slack.

Seamless integration with Nextcloud Files

Due to its integration with Nextcloud Files, you can share links to documents, images, and anything else on your cloud storage without leaving the chat window. Moving from text messages to a video call only takes a single click, including in group chats.

Chat wherever you’re working

Just as your other Nextcloud apps are only a click away, you can instantly start chatting with others no matter what you’re working on at the moment. Opening a discussion from a file automatically creates a new channel you can come back to. And if a quick video call is in order, you can start one from the contacts list accessible from the app’s top bar.

Private and secure video conferences

Video conferences in Nextcloud Talk support screen sharing, background blur, a webinar mode with moderator controls and the ability to mute or remove participants. Calls can be recorded for later reference, and integrated polls make it simple to gather quick feedback or make decisions without switching to a separate app. For sensitive communication, you can enable end-to-end encryption.

Hosting webinars and large-scale events

When you expect a large turnout, you can use the optional High Performance Backend and let each participant send a single stream to be distributed by the server — an approach well-suited to one-to-many streaming like webinars or remote teaching lessons.

Hosts get the moderation tools to match: Room permissions can be configured so attendees can only post messages and reactions by default, with the option to grant microphone access to individual participants. Separate moderation settings govern who can join, what can be shared, and how long chat messages remain visible, keeping a large public session as orderly as a small team meeting.

Telephone and SIP integration

Nextcloud Talk also lets external participants dial into a call from any regular telephone. This is handled through an optional SIP bridge as part of the High Performance Backend setup, which also takes care of call signaling and reduces the load on the main Nextcloud server.

Desktop and mobile apps

Mobile users can install the free Nextcloud Talk apps for iOS and Android, both of which support push notifications for incoming calls and messages, so nothing gets missed while a device is locked. On the desktop, dedicated Talk clients for Windows, macOS, and Linux bring calls, chats, and notifications out of the browser and into their own window, with quick access to notifications, calls, and screen sharing.

Nextcloud Groupware: email, calendars, contacts, and more on your own infrastructure

Nextcloud’s Outlook equivalent and alternative to Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts is Nextcloud Groupware. It brings your email communication and appointments back under your control and comes with additional productivity features for cross-team collaboration.

Nextcloud Mail: integrated email with powerful delegation features

Nextcloud Mail features a web-based email client with support for multiple accounts, threaded conversations, and file attachments pulled straight from Nextcloud Files. The built-in delegation feature goes beyond out-of-office messages and lets your team members know you’re out-of-office and whom to contact instead across Nextcloud Mail, Talk, and Calendar. You can also let whoever’s filling in for you read and reply to incoming emails.

Nextcloud Calendar: organize meetings without the back-and-forth

Scheduling meetings in Nextcloud Calendar is straightforward: Create a proposal, add your team members, and you’ll see free slots at a glance, thanks to free-busy checks that show when invitees are actually available. If you delegate your calendar to a team member while you’re away, they can attend meetings in your stead.

Nextcloud Contacts: your organization at a glance

Nextcloud Contacts is where information about your team members and external contacts lives: every user has a detailed profile with fields for location, timezone, role, and more. By defining custom groups, you can give access to files, chats, and tasks to everyone involved in a project at once. If you need an overview of the people in your organization, Nextcloud Contacts can automatically create an organization chart with sub-levels for team members managed or overseen by others.

Nextcloud Deck: kanban boards and Gantt charts for work management