head to head · open source
Nextcloud vs ownCloud
Nextcloud has 36,828 GitHub stars, 5,222 forks, 3,657 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ownCloud has 2,122 stars, 274 forks, 628 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Nextcloud leads on adoption by 1,636% (36,828 vs 2,122 stars). Nextcloud is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; ownCloud is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Nextcloud has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, ownCloud 13%. ownCloud was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (file-sharing), 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Nextcloud | ownCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | PHP | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.2K | ⑂ 274 |
| 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 ownCloud if
- You want the ownCloud feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and ownCloud 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 ownCloud
ownCloud Infinite Scale (oCIS) is a self hosted file sync and share server written in Go under the Apache 2.0 license. It lives in the ownCloud ecosystem and uses reva as a scalable backend with open APIs such as WebDAV and CS3. It presents itself as the foundation for a data management platform and as an open alternative to Google Workspace and Google Drive.
read the full ownCloud overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More File Management & Sync projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the File Management & Sync field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nextcloud or ownCloud more popular?
Nextcloud has 36,828 GitHub stars and ownCloud has 2,122. Nextcloud has the larger community by that measure.
Are Nextcloud and ownCloud free?
Both are open source. Nextcloud is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ownCloud under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Nextcloud and ownCloud?
Nextcloud is written in PHP and ownCloud 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 ownCloud?
Choose Nextcloud if you want the larger community (36,828 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ownCloud if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.