head to head · open source
Nextcloud vs Cozy
Nextcloud has 36,828 GitHub stars, 5,222 forks, 3,657 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Cozy has 1,269 stars, 141 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Nextcloud leads on adoption by 2,802% (36,828 vs 1,269 stars). Nextcloud is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; Cozy is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. Nextcloud has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, Cozy 11%. Nextcloud was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Nextcloud | Cozy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | PHP | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.2K | ⑂ 141 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Nextcloud if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Cozy if
- You want the Cozy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Cozy fits your workflow better
About Nextcloud
Nextcloud is a self hosted cloud collaboration platform built in PHP, licensed under AGPL 3.0. It enables organizations and individuals to store, synchronize, and share files, contacts, calendars, and other data on infrastructure they control, replacing reliance on third party cloud services. The project lives in the open source cloud software ecosystem and serves as a decentralized alternative to proprietary suites like Dropbox, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365.
read the full Nextcloud overview →
About Cozy
Cozy is a platform that brings web services into one private space. Cozy Stack is the core server of the Cozy platform, and it runs as a single process. The project is written in Go, is developed by Twake Workplace, and is distributed under the AGPL v3 license. It lives in the self hosted personal cloud ecosystem, and it targets users who want to install software on their own hardware instead of relying on a third party profile.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Nextcloud or Cozy more popular?
Nextcloud has 36,828 GitHub stars and Cozy has 1,269. Nextcloud has the larger community by that measure.
Are Nextcloud and Cozy free?
Both are open source. Nextcloud is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Cozy under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Nextcloud and Cozy?
Nextcloud is written in PHP and Cozy in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Nextcloud or Cozy?
Choose Nextcloud if you want the larger community (36,828 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Cozy if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.