OpenCloud is a self-hosted platform for storing, syncing, and sharing files, in the same category as Nextcloud and ownCloud Infinite Scale. It is developed by OpenCloud GmbH and descends from the same Go-based architecture as Infinite Scale.

What makes it different

No database. Most file platforms keep metadata in MySQL or PostgreSQL alongside the files. OpenCloud stores everything, files and metadata, on the filesystem. There is one less service to run, tune, and back up, and the data directory is the whole state of the system.

OpenID Connect at the core. Authentication is built on OIDC. An embedded identity provider (LibreGraph Connect) works out of the box, or you can connect an external one such as Keycloak or Authentik.

Go, not PHP. It is a set of Go services rather than a PHP application, which generally means lower resource use and simpler scaling.

Features

• Web file management, sharing links, and spaces for teams
• Desktop and mobile sync clients
• Web office editing through Collabora Online or ONLYOFFICE
• Full-text search and thumbnails

Deployment

For a first test, the binary can initialise and start itself:

opencloud init
opencloud server

Data lives under $HOME/.opencloud/ by default. For real use, the project’s Docker Compose examples set up OpenCloud with a reverse proxy, TLS, and optional office integration.

Back up the data directory as a unit; because there is no database, a consistent filesystem snapshot (for example with Btrfs or ZFS) is a complete backup.

Nextcloud or OpenCloud?

Nextcloud has a vast app ecosystem: calendars, contacts, Talk, notes, and hundreds of add-ons. OpenCloud focuses on files and does that with a leaner stack. If you want a private Dropbox and Google Drive replacement that is simple to operate, OpenCloud is compelling. If you want a whole groupware suite, Nextcloud still does more.

License

Apache License 2.0.

Links

• Repository
• Website