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One key use case of ownCloud is its ability to facilitate easy collaboration on documents, solving the problem of exchanging files only …
Starting at $5 per month
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What is ownCloud?
ownCloud is a self-hosted open source file syncing and sharing option, from the Boston-based company of the same name.
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Popular Features
- Reliability (13)9.191%
- Performance (13)8.888%
- File organization (13)8.787%
- Document collaboration (12)7.878%
Pricing
Standard
$5
Cloud
per month
Enterprise
$12
Cloud
per month
For Teams
$13
Cloud
per month
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
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- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
ownCloud Demo (Dropbox alternative) Cloud file sharing with data hosted in Canada
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demo IBM cloud Object storage with owncloud
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利用 QNAP NAS 及 ownCloud 打造高彈性檔案同步與共享系統
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Configuración de Owncloud en Servidor de Hosting Gratuito
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介紹與基本功能｜利用 QNAP NAS 及 ownCloud 打造檔案同步與共享系統
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OpenTodoList for ownCloud - Early Demo
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What is ownCloud?
ownCloud Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
ownCloud is a self-hosted open source file syncing and sharing option, from the Boston-based company of the same name.
Reviewers rate Access control highest, with a score of 9.5.
The most common users of ownCloud are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
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- Pros
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- Recommendations
One key use case of ownCloud is its ability to facilitate easy collaboration on documents, solving the problem of exchanging files only via email. Users in organizations can access and share documents across different departments through the ownCloud desktop sync apps. With virtual users having different main folders that can be shared with groups for read-only or read-write access, teams can collaborate seamlessly within their respective areas of expertise.
Additionally, ownCloud offers a secure and convenient way for users to access files on the go through its mobile app. This feature is especially beneficial for IT contractors and business professionals who need to access business information anywhere with an internet connection, even with limited functionality offline. The software's auto-backup feature also ensures that all company data is securely stored on a remote server, providing peace of mind for businesses.
For small to medium enterprises, ownCloud is considered a great fit due to its enterprise features and ease of setup. It allows businesses to manage file sharing securely with employees, partners, and customers through a private cloud infrastructure based on ownCloud. This makes it ideal for sharing work with clients, providing full control over file usage and the ability to set up individual folders for clients. Moreover, ownCloud provides full control over data, eliminating concerns about information misuse or industrial espionage.
In educational districts and research groups, ownCloud serves as a reliable solution for uploading, managing, and accessing documents across different locations. Its cloud services, file syncing capabilities, and the ability to share large files among team members make it an indispensable tool for collaboration. Additionally, web design companies utilize ownCloud to store and transfer design assets and large files, especially in photography projects. The software's easy sharing of files through sharable links and secure browsing of online pictures make it a versatile solution for various industries.
Personal users also find value in ownCloud due to its storage capacity, offering more space compared to free solutions like Gdrive. They appreciate the ease of file exchange with no password issues and the ability to set expiration dates for shared links. Furthermore, ownCloud serves as an access point for mobile users to connect with the corporate office, ensuring seamless integration of personal and corporate data while enjoying enterprise-level features for personal needs.
In conclusion, ownCloud offers a wide range of use cases across different industries. Whether it's facilitating collaboration within organizations, providing secure access to files on the go, or managing file sharing with clients and partners, ownCloud has proven to be a valuable solution. Its enterprise features, ease of setup, and full control over
High Scalability: Many users have praised ownCloud for its high scalability, with several reviewers mentioning that the software is suitable for businesses of various sizes. This indicates that ownCloud can efficiently handle a large number of users and adapt to different environments.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Numerous reviewers appreciate ownCloud's sync clients for all major platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, Android, and iOS. This allows users to seamlessly access their files across different devices and operating systems.
User-Friendly Interface: Several users have mentioned that setting up the environment in ownCloud is easy and quick. They found it simple to create user groups, assign folder ownership, and manage user permissions. This suggests that ownCloud offers a user-friendly interface for managing user access and organizing files.
Inefficient Collaborative Editing: Some users have expressed that the collaborative editing feature in ownCloud is not as efficient as other platforms like Office365 or desktop online Office editing. They feel that the integration with Collabora Libreoffice online is still sub-par, impacting their productivity.
Absence of Calendar and Contacts Apps: Several reviewers have mentioned that the absence of Calendar and Contacts apps in the basic core of ownCloud makes it difficult to deploy them in common email clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird. They point out that separate CalDAV and CardDAV plugins need to be installed, adding complexity to the setup process.
Accidental Data Movement: There have been reports from users about accidentally moving important folders or files to another location through random drag-and-drop actions on Windows. This can break public links that cannot be restored, causing inconvenience for both users and recipients of shared content.
Users commonly recommend Owncloud for several reasons. Firstly, they suggest using Owncloud for home cloud storage and file sharing, as well as for companies with a system administrator or programmer with basic Unix skills. Additionally, users appreciate Owncloud's cross-platform compatibility, stability, reliability, and support for various file formats. Another common recommendation is due to the simplicity and ease of use of Owncloud. Users find it simple to set up and navigate, making it suitable for both personal and professional use. Furthermore, Owncloud is often praised for its affordable pricing, good backup services, and bulk file sharing capabilities. Lastly, users highlight Owncloud's secure and low-cost cloud file management. They find its user-friendly interface convenient for file storage and sharing purposes. Many users recommend integrating Owncloud into a company's internal cloud infrastructure to ensure data security. Similarly, freelancers can benefit from Owncloud if they have a reliable server with unlimited storage capacity. While recommending Owncloud, some users also suggest considering Nextcloud as an alternative option. They advise making regular backups and ensuring sufficient space on the web server when using Owncloud. Overall, users recommend Owncloud for its reliability, efficiency, and easy functionality in hosting files on-premises.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-4 of 4)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
August 27, 2019
The ideal tool for sharing files across your team!
In our research group, we used ownCloud for cloud services such as file syncing as well as file sharing—even large files—with others members of the team. It allows us to store files and share them among different people and have our own individual folders. We don't need to worry about forgetting files, because we can always reach out over the net to retrieve them.
- Open plaform, one can federate with others' OwnCloud and share files.
- Easy to upload and download documents.
- Scalable and lightweight solution for cloud storing.
- The Web user interface can be a little be slow sometimes.
- No online video viewer by default.
- No online document editor.
84.28571428571429%
8.4
80%
8.0
86.66666666666666%
8.7
- Maintenance is very simple for Linux developers.
- Enhanced organization and increased productivity.
- It is a suitable option for institutions that pay cloud hosting and that can this way save money every month.
The most important advantage for our research group is security and access control to our files, which cannot be guaranteed with 3rd party services
The sync client is great and outperforms OneDrive for sure and sometimes even Google Drive depending on the number and size of the files.
The sync client is great and outperforms OneDrive for sure and sometimes even Google Drive depending on the number and size of the files.
If you already have your own home-lab or server room, it's really not expensive to buy a couple hard drives and have TBs of storage. Compared to any other online solution, it's really not expensive.
I own a computer service and support company, and I also own a Photography business. OwnCloud -- now NextCloud -- has been an indispensable suite of applications that has allowed me to continue to serve my customers on both business fronts, and has allowed me to grow my business by being able to offer real-time sync and file shares as needed. I absolutely love ownCloud, and am very grateful that this project exists.
OwnCloud has enabled me to increase my services and my offerings, therefore increasing my bottom line without substantial cost increases and without monthly subscription charges. In my opinion, there are more features and more value in ownCloud than there are on paid cloud storage/collaboration platforms.
OwnCloud has enabled me to increase my services and my offerings, therefore increasing my bottom line without substantial cost increases and without monthly subscription charges. In my opinion, there are more features and more value in ownCloud than there are on paid cloud storage/collaboration platforms.
- Attention and dedication to making the product a world class product with continual product updates.
- Ease of use from an administration standpoint, and a very Clear UI.
- The price -- you can't beat free!
- Mobile applications are great.
- Integration with public S3 cloud providers like AWS S3 and Wasabi S3.
- 2FA authentication is supported and works great!
- Marketplace Add-Ons: I love this! For example, I can install an add-on that natively opens raw images. I am a photographer as well, and being able to quickly view the CR2 Raw Files direct from the camera is fantastic! This was made possible by a marketplace add-in.
- Embedded Media Players: Photos, Music, and Video files can be viewed and played right in the browser window.
- Sync application to keep local files on a computer updated with the files on the server.
- Access control and permissions -- shareable links!
- Backup and redundancy -- I wish there was a method right in the interface to completely back up the entire system. I use it on a VM, so I can snapshot and backup the VM, but there is nothing directly in the ownCloud interface to be able to do.
- Docker/Container/MVM Function. I would love to see ownCloud natively support docker or virtualizations where it could host and spin up a VM or run containerized applications.
100%
10.0
100%
10.0
100%
10.0
- The ability to offer more services and faster delivery of files -- this has given me the ability to sell my photography, as well as to provide a secure and easy way to share files. This results in a higher bottom line.
- Cost Effective -- ownCloud is free, and therefore is not costing me a bunch of money each month to offer file sharing and collaboration services.
- It runs on my own equipment -- I know the data is safe, and can use this as a selling point when bidding on a job.
- Dropbox Business, Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service), Google Drive and FreeNAS
I have a very similar experience between Google Drive and Dropbox. Both offer real-time sharing and collaboration. Google Drive limits external access and requires the recipient of shared files to have a Google account. In the case of both Dropbox and GoogleDrive, they limit the amount of storage on the free plan. OwnCloud offers as much storage as my server will allow, and this can be increased as needed. Right now, I have 2TB of storage without the cost or subscription.
FreeNAS is great as far as storing files and sharing the files locally on the network. It is possible to share files through FreeNAS as well, but there really isn't much in the way of collaboration. So while storage is great, working as a team is not really possible.
Amazon S3 is great for reliable and secure data storage. But, by itself, it isn't great for collaboration either. And there is substantial cost involved with large amounts of data storage. The AWS S3 power is truly unlocked when paired with ownCloud-- then it's like magic!
FreeNAS is great as far as storing files and sharing the files locally on the network. It is possible to share files through FreeNAS as well, but there really isn't much in the way of collaboration. So while storage is great, working as a team is not really possible.
Amazon S3 is great for reliable and secure data storage. But, by itself, it isn't great for collaboration either. And there is substantial cost involved with large amounts of data storage. The AWS S3 power is truly unlocked when paired with ownCloud-- then it's like magic!
December 18, 2017
ownCloud is a reasonable document management solution for SMB
We use it in the whole organization as the main document server. All employees including the management have the ownCloud desktop sync apps installed. Virtual users own different main folders (e.g. SALES, FINANCE etc.) and these are shared to groups read-only, read-write. Each user gets, therefore, a different set of folders according to the needs of each employee etc. Some people use it on a mobile, too.
It solves the key problem the company had when I joined it and no document server/cloud storage was present: each of the at-the-time few employees had its own set of files and folders and data were exchanged only via emails. Another important aspect is auto-backup of all company data to remote server. Easier collaboration on documents is also important.
It solves the key problem the company had when I joined it and no document server/cloud storage was present: each of the at-the-time few employees had its own set of files and folders and data were exchanged only via emails. Another important aspect is auto-backup of all company data to remote server. Easier collaboration on documents is also important.
- Runs fine on a inexpensive Linux VPS with a few CPU cores and little RAM and is able to serve well for dozens of users. The scalability at almost no extra cost is perfect.
- Sync clients are available for all major platforms: MS Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and mobile apps on Android and iOS are available too and work very well. We use all these platforms and are able to exchange documents transparently.
- Initial setting up the environment for users - such as creating a few user groups, virtual users owning particular folders and assigning users to these groups, is quite easy and quick. Auto-sync of data to local devices on all platforms is also perfect, users don't have to manually select anything, default is to sync (or admin can set on the desktop clients how big folders are auto-synced).
- Inability to easily collaboratively edit the same document by several people. Some advances have been made with Collabora (LibreOffice online) but it is still very sub-par compared to Office365 and desktop/online Office editing Sharepoint or OneDrive documents.
- Apps for Calendar and Contacts are not part of the basic core, and although now quite supported they cannot still be easily deployed in common email clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird, separate CalDAV and CardDAV plugins need to be installed. Embedding an email solution and plugins for major email clients so they can work just by entering username and password would be good.
- Risk of moving important folders/files to another location just by random drag-and-drop on Windows. Sometimes this breaks public links that cannot be restored anymore. Reverting such mistake by any of the users is impossible automatically.
- When some user deletes some data in a shared folder it is put into recycle bin of the owner of the folder. The user who deleted cannot himself/herself revert such action as he/she does not see the recycle bin (trash) of the owner. Also, there is no log in the recycle bin who deleted that file or folder.
78.57142857142857%
7.9
76.66666666666667%
7.7
76.66666666666667%
7.7
- The company grew from 4 employees in 2013 when ownCloud was initially deployed to about 40 in 2017 and still using it with a very similar setting without any major upgrade on the same Linux VPS. 95% of all company data are stored and shared via ownCloud successfully. No clear data about ROI but clearly the perfect adoption rate by all people and its ubiquitous use makes it an essential part of the company workflow.
- Office365 and MS SharePoint
Due to the need to support many external workers it was mainly cost effectivity of open source solution: ability to allow external workers to access company files without the need to pay a license for each of them every month. Unfortunately, ownCloud does not offer until now as good collaborative editing of typical office documents so now we are complementing ownCloud with Office365 but for several months very little has been migrated and the vast majority of documents and projects is still on ownCloud.
No
We are managing our own VPS with the ownCloud and ask on the IRC/forums to the developers, or submit bug reports and contribute on gitHub project page.
Yes
Several very important bugs were resolved after submitting them to Github and this was crucial for our continued use of ownCloud. Compared to mainstream projects such as Office365 and its Onedrive sync client where it feels impossible to achieve recognition of some software bug by the developers, the open approach on the Github issue tracker is a more pleasant experience in general.
Especially important were some concrete and individual tips by the senior ownCloud developers how to do some very specific tasks directly on the SQL database layer to achieve things not possible via any regular GUI.
Especially important were some concrete and individual tips by the senior ownCloud developers how to do some very specific tasks directly on the SQL database layer to achieve things not possible via any regular GUI.
When a user unshares a shared folder shared not to him exclusively but to a whole group of users, there is no way how this user nor admin can restore this shared folder to this user. Only a direct database modification can restore such action. We would not be able to know which fields in which tables and which commands in the SQL could achieve that. Fortunately, we received a direct guide from the devs what queries to perform and what modifications to do in specific fields of the db to overcome this issue.
December 06, 2017
Fantastic software for design agencies!
We use OwnCloud to share work with clients. Before this we were using WeTransfer, but the issue is you can't go back and look at files.
Using OwnCloud meant we could host the files on our own server, therefore having full control over the usage, and then we could just simply set up users for clients and then files are just shared in their own folder within OwnCloud.
Owncloud also allows sharable links, so clients can easily send downloads to us through there.
Using OwnCloud meant we could host the files on our own server, therefore having full control over the usage, and then we could just simply set up users for clients and then files are just shared in their own folder within OwnCloud.
Owncloud also allows sharable links, so clients can easily send downloads to us through there.
- File Sharing - getting sharable URL of a file for quick access
- Users - we can make clients their own accounts so they can store their own files
- Security - Its really nice knowing the files are hosted on our server, as we know it's secure!
- I think the UI is a little outdated now
- The usage on our server seemed quite large compared to others
- I think adding a built in file editor would be super useful
66.66666666666667%
6.7
66.66666666666667%
6.7
86.66666666666666%
8.7
- It speeds up getting docuemtns from clients, for instant and future use