Nextcloud

For anyone who wants their own cloud for files, calendars and contacts and can set aside time to maintain a server.

AGPL-3.0 Reviewed on October 29, 2026

By Jorge Aguilar · Checked against the official documentation · Updated October 29, 2026

View on GitHub (opens in a new tab) Official documentation (opens in a new tab)

What it does.

store and sync files, calendars and contacts across your devices
share content and collaborate with other people
extend it with hundreds of apps, such as Calendar, Contacts, Mail and video calls
protect access with encryption and two-step verification

Systems: 64-bit Linux server: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 recommended; also Ubuntu 24.04, RHEL 9, Debian 13, SLES, openSUSE, CentOS Stream and Alpine. All-in-One runs wherever Docker does. Clients: Windows 10+, macOS 12+, Linux, iOS and Android.

What you need.

RAM, minimum: 128 MB Per process Per PHP process; it is not the server total. Per-process figure, not the total: the total depends on how many processes run and on the database, the cache and the apps. It cannot be added up without those assumptions. The server calculator shows it, but does not add it up. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
RAM, recommended: 512 MB Per process Per PHP process; the docs say total memory varies a lot with users, apps, files and activity. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
RAM, another documented figure: 256 MB Depends on the load To use the built-in updater. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
Database: the table in the 35 docs marks PostgreSQL 18 and MariaDB 12.3 as recommended; MariaDB 11.8 (and 10.11 and 11.4) and PostgreSQL 14-17 appear as supported versions, not recommended, and it also lists MySQL 8.4 / 9.7. SQLite only for testing or minimal installs. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
Web server Apache 2.4 (with mod_php or php-fpm; it is the recommended one) or nginx with php-fpm, and PHP 8.3, 8.4 or 8.5 (8.5 is the recommended one). source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
For All-in-One: Docker (not the snap version). source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)

Documentation version reviewed: Nextcloud 35 (administration manual 35; the "latest" path may point to another version). Reviewed on October 29, 2026. The figures do not include: The database, the cache, the apps, concurrent users and how many PHP processes run at once: the docs do not model them.

Check whether your machine can handle it. It adds up its RAM, CPU and disk together with other repos.

How to install.

Install Docker from Docker's official documentation (the snap version is not supported).
Launch the All-in-One master container with the README command: it publishes ports 80, 8080 and 8443 and mounts the Docker socket read-only.
Open the AIO interface by IP at https://your-ip:8080 and follow the wizard to choose a domain and services.
Alternative: manual install on a web server, following the install guide in the documentation.

Commands taken from the official documentation. Read them before you run them: it is your machine.

Permissions and data.

The All-in-One command mounts /var/run/docker.sock: the master container can create and manage other containers on your server.
It uses ports 80, 8080 and 8443; automatic certificates require 80 and 8443 to be reachable and a domain pointing at your server.

Limits and warnings.

All-in-One assumes you do not already have a web server or reverse proxy; if you do, there is a different guide.
32-bit installs have documented limitations (dates before 1970 or after 2038, and some apps).
For critical use in an organization, Nextcloud offers paid Enterprise support.
On macOS and Windows it runs on Docker; the README has its own sections for those platforms.

Real cost and cloud.

The software is free; you pay for the server, the disk and your time to keep it updated. AIO includes optional backup with BorgBackup.
You can avoid self-hosting: the project lists providers that host it and machines with Nextcloud preinstalled.
AIO can register a free domain through deSEC (dedyn.io) or be installed on the local network only, without exposing it to the internet.

License.

AGPL-3.0 Open source with copyleft

AGPL-3.0 or later: strong copyleft. If you modify Nextcloud and offer it over a network, you must publish your changes under the same license.

This is a summary to orient you, not legal advice. For commercial use, read the original LICENSE file.

Where all of this comes from.

Checked against the official documentation on October 29, 2026; this is not a lab test. Nothing was installed or measured to write this guide. If something has changed, the project's documentation is the authority.

How I review each repo.

Similar repos.

See all repos