ownCloud
Cloud content collaboration software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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€1.85 per user per year
Free TrialFree version
Small
Medium
Large
- Banking and insurance
- Information technology and software
- Energy and utilities
What is ownCloud
ownCloud is a file sync and share and content collaboration platform that organizations deploy to provide secure access to files across devices and teams. It supports on-premises, private cloud, and managed hosting deployments, and is commonly used by IT-led organizations that need data residency and administrative control. The platform provides web and desktop/mobile clients, sharing controls, and integrations for common enterprise identity and storage systems. It is available in open-source and commercial editions, with enterprise features and support offered by the vendor.
Flexible self-hosted deployment
ownCloud supports on-premises and private-cloud deployments, which helps organizations meet internal governance and data residency requirements. IT teams can run it on their preferred infrastructure and storage back ends rather than being limited to a single vendor-operated cloud. This model fits regulated environments where control over encryption keys, logging, and network boundaries is required.
Enterprise identity and access
The platform integrates with common enterprise identity providers (for example LDAP/Active Directory and SSO options depending on edition and configuration). Administrators can manage users, groups, permissions, and sharing policies centrally. These controls support collaboration use cases while maintaining policy enforcement across teams and external sharing.
Open-source foundation and extensibility
ownCloud has an open-source core and a plugin/app ecosystem that allows customization for specific workflows. Organizations can extend the platform with integrations, custom branding, and additional services, depending on edition. This can reduce lock-in for teams that want to inspect code paths and tailor deployments to internal standards.
Operational overhead for IT
Self-hosting requires ongoing administration for upgrades, backups, monitoring, and security hardening. Organizations may need dedicated expertise to operate the stack reliably at scale, especially in high-availability configurations. Compared with fully managed cloud collaboration services, time-to-value can be longer.
Collaboration features vary by edition
Advanced capabilities (for example certain governance, security, and enterprise support features) depend on the commercial offering and licensing. Teams evaluating the open-source edition may find gaps relative to enterprise-focused content collaboration suites. Buyers typically need to validate which features are included in their chosen edition and support plan.
Not a full content management suite
ownCloud focuses primarily on file sync, sharing, and access controls rather than end-to-end document management. Organizations needing deep records management, complex document workflows, or matter-centric features may require additional systems or integrations. This can increase solution complexity when broader content services are required.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Community | Free | Unlimited users; self-managed on-premises; 100% open source; access to community apps & forum; desktop & mobile clients. (Official: owncloud.com/pricing) |
| Standard | Contact sales (on-premises, from 25 users) | On-premises; annual commitment billed yearly; file sync & share; 9x5 email support with 2h reaction time; access to customer portal; commercial license for core and Enterprise modules. |
| Enterprise | Contact sales (on-premises or custom subscription, from 25 users) | Annual commitment billed yearly; enterprise features; 12x5 global email & phone support with 2h reaction time; customer portal; pro desktop & mobile features; commercial license; custom branding. |
| ownCloud.online — Single Users | €15 per user/month (yearly subscription, 1–4 users); €18 per user/month (monthly billing) | 500 GB storage; hosted in Germany; customer support; desktop & mobile apps; 180 days file recovery; AES & SSL/TLS encryption; MFA; E2EE; free guest accounts; File Firewall; 14-day free trial. (Official: owncloud.online/pricing) |
| ownCloud.online — Teams | €13 per user/month (yearly subscription, 5+ users); €16 per user/month (monthly billing) | From 1,000 GB base storage + 200 GB per additional user; hosted in Germany; customer support; admin features; 180 days file recovery; security features; 14-day free trial. |
| Private Cloud Office add-on (ownCloud.online) | €4 per account/month (or €48 annually) | Optional private Cloud Office add-on for online accounts. |
| Collabora Online (add-on) | From €1,000 per year (or $1,200) for 50 users (in addition to an ownCloud Standard/Enterprise subscription) | Online editing for documents/spreadsheets/presentations; ordered separately via ownCloud. (Official: oc.owncloud.com) |
| Large deployments / Education special pricing | From €1.85 per user/year (contact for quote) | Special/volume pricing for large deployments or educational institutions; requires contacting ownCloud for a quote. |
Seller details
ownCloud GmbH
Nuremberg, Germany
2016
Private
https://owncloud.com/
https://x.com/ownCloud
https://www.linkedin.com/company/owncloud/
