head to head · open source
Nextcloud vs Firefiles
Nextcloud has 36,828 GitHub stars, 5,222 forks, 3,657 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Firefiles has 371 stars, 57 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. Nextcloud leads on adoption by 9,827% (36,828 vs 371 stars). Nextcloud is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; Firefiles is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Nextcloud has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, Firefiles 15%. Nextcloud was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacktoberfest), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | Firefiles | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 371 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | PHP | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2025-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.2K | ⑂ 57 |
| 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 Firefiles if
- You want the Firefiles feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Firefiles 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 Firefiles
Firefiles is an open source, self hosted alternative to Dropbox: a TypeScript and Next.js web application that turns your own cloud storage buckets — such as AWS S3, Backblaze, or Firebase Cloud Storage — into a single browser based drive with a familiar file system interface, built for people who want Dropbox style file management while keeping their files in storage they already own.
read the full Firefiles overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Nextcloud or Firefiles more popular?
Nextcloud has 36,828 GitHub stars and Firefiles has 371. Nextcloud has the larger community by that measure.
Are Nextcloud and Firefiles free?
Both are open source. Nextcloud is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Firefiles under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Nextcloud and Firefiles?
Nextcloud is written in PHP and Firefiles in TypeScript. 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 Firefiles?
Choose Nextcloud if you want the larger community (36,828 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Firefiles if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.