TrustRadius Insights for ownCloud are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
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.
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.
Pros
Open plaform, one can federate with others' OwnCloud and share files.
Easy to upload and download documents.
Scalable and lightweight solution for cloud storing.
Cons
The Web user interface can be a little be slow sometimes.
No online video viewer by default.
No online document editor.
Likelihood to Recommend
I'd easily recommend ownCloud to small businesses or teams within organizations. I've not used ownCloud in large deployments, so I'd hesitate before suggesting it in a situation where more than 10 users need support. That said, ownCloud is easy to set up and multiple instances could be used to service a large user base.
We use ownCloud in the export department of the organization to exchange files with our customers. Some users use it for their personal cloud to work from with all their files and media 100% in the cloud. It solves quick and painless file exchange with no password issues. The links can be set to expire after a certain time.
All data is on our own servers, we don't have to be afraid of misuse of our information/industrial espionage, etc. we are 100% in control of our own data.
Pros
100% of our data is stored ONLY on our servers and workstation. No external hosting anywhere.
Open source, no recurring fees for any amount of data we need.
Feature rich browser based application.
Mature desktop sync client for PC and Mac.
Cons
The iOS app is sometimes slow or hangs
The sync conflicts are displayed in detail in the client application, but you have to resolve manually
Likelihood to Recommend
+ Excellent for a personal or small business file server
+ Collaboration server
+ Replacing Exchange server with WebDav Calendar sharing and Contact Sharing
- Easier integration for WebDav in Outlook, you have to do some research on your own
VU
Verified User
Project Manager in Information Technology (51-200 employees)
I currently use ownCloud for cloud services such as file syncing, centralized calendar and contacts, as well as file sharing—even large files—with others. As an IT contractor, ownCloud has been great for enabling my access to business information anywhere I have access to the Internet (with limited functionality offline as well). I'm able to use my mobile device so I can schedule events that appear on my phone's calendar, as well as on my desktop/laptop machines. I don't need to worry about forgetting files, because I can always reach out over the net to retrieve them. If I save files on my laptop while with a client, I can access them on my office computer effortlessly. ownCloud is an elegant solution for much of my vital digital resources.
Pros
File Synchronization
Synchronized Contacts
Synchronized Calendar
File Sharing
Cons
Online Document Editor (new feature)
Web Media Player (new feature)
Likelihood to Recommend
I'd easily recommend ownCloud to small businesses or teams within organizations. I've not used ownCloud in large deployments, so I'd hesitate before suggesting it in a situation where more than 10 users need support. That said, ownCloud is easy to set up and multiple instances could be used to service a large user base.
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.
Pros
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!
Cons
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.
Likelihood to Recommend
OwnCloud/Nextcloud is a great application for cloud storage of files, and makes sharing specific files or folders easy and fast. It also makes a great tool for real-time collaboration, including real-time chat and simultaneous editing of documents or spreadsheets. I have used ownCloud to assist clients in sending large files that could not be emailed -- for example, one of my clients is a Video Production agency. They produced a commercial to air, but could not email the file as it was 400MB. OwncCloud came to the rescue. I set up a temporary share and allowed him access to upload into that folder. Once the file was in the folder, I generated a share link that was then forwarded to TV stations for instant viewing in a browser. Each TV station then downloaded it and was able to add it to their scheduling system quickly.
From the Photography side... I am able to deliver large amounts of files quickly and easily to my clients, and they can download or view on mobile devices easily.
Since I use ownCloud on a daily basis, I cannot think of any reason why I would not use this software.
I use it to store my personal files as the free solutions (Gdrive and such) do not offer enough storage.
We do not use it inside the organization but I think ownCloud would be a great fit for small to medium enterprise as it offers enterprise features and it's really simple to set up and operates. Of course, the main problem is that you need to host it but there is a lot of cloud-hosted instances of ownCloud that can be worth it IMO.
Pros
Great sync apps on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. (was even better then gDrive client for a while but they caught up)
A lot of Security features including End-to-End encryption, server-side encryption
Control on where your data is stored
Plugin marketplace allows for unlimited features
Incomparable transfer speed if hosted locally
Always has the latest feature because it's open source
Expiration date/timer on sharing (either to someone directly or on links)
Cons
Requires you to manage the infrastructure, software updates, backups and security because it is self-hosted
The picture viewer in ownCloud is not really snappy by default (You need to setup plugins or some kind of cache)
No video viewer by default
The web UI requires a cache setup to have reasonable load times (to be fair, it is recommended in the admin page)
I stopped using the calendar and contacts plugins because after each update they would break
Likelihood to Recommend
OwnCloud is a great replacement to local SMB shares, in my opinion. It supports Webdav and it can be easily and safely published on the internet for remote access to the data without VPN. OwnCloud would also be great for a small to medium enterprise that can't afford the real enterprise alternatives, need way too much storage or need/want to control where their data is stored. I don't think ownCloud is well suited for big enterprises unless you really need to control/secure your data. I feel it would need a lot of investment to scale on a large user and data scale and stay responsive.
As a web design company, we work with several clients and use OwnCloud to store and transfer design assets and large files. We use lots of photography and OwnCloud has the capacity to store these files for safe keeping.
Pros
OwnCloud has a nice filing system where users can create lots of different folders and subfolders to help keep things organized.
OwnCloud has lots of space depending on your plan and it's great for holding files and storing things you wouldn't want to take up space on your desktop or an external hard drive.
Cons
The more files OwnCloud has, the slower it seems to be. Viewing files inside OwnCloud can be really cumbersome and I have found other tools to be much more user friendly in finding what I'm looking for.
Viewing photography assets stored in OwnCloud is extremely slow and not as helpful as something like Google Drive or even DropBox would be.
Likelihood to Recommend
It's well suited if you are storing lots of files for a project and want to keep things organized by multiple projects. It's also nice because you can package up links and send them to clients without them having to have an account.
OwnCloud is used as a way to upload, managed, and access documents across the district, especially when we are not in the same building. It is used across our organization and also used in our department.
Pros
Easy to upload and download documents
Easy and efficient to use
Easy to organize
Cons
I haven’t come across many issues.
Likelihood to Recommend
I have a giant Excel spreadsheet and a Notebook document I use to upload for someone else to look at. They are able to download and look at it as if we were sharing the same screen. I appreciate being able to upload large documents and not having to send it through an email in a compressed or Zip file.
We use ownCloud across the whole organization. We manage file sharing in a secure way with employees, partners, and customers through our private cloud infrastructure. We have implemented our own ownCloud Solution based on an appliances format, so we can deploy ownCloud in a few minutes with enhanced features developed by ourselves. The information from several sources is replicated to the exact folder of ownCloud so it is available in real time by the suitable people with the suitable permissions.
Pros
Easy to deploy
Easy to manage
Cost-effective
Likelihood to Recommend
I believe that ownCloud is suitable for any kind of company for normal file synchronization and file sharing. It is less recommended for companies that use very large files based on images.
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.
Pros
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).
Cons
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.
Likelihood to Recommend
Perfect for a smaller company having no solid document server. Without any major costs you can go from 3 to 30 to 60 users with the same hardware or VPS and if self-managed, no payment per user per month. Less appropriate when users absolutely require collaborative editing of documents. Pick Office365 or G Suite (Google Documents for work) instead.
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.
Pros
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!
Cons
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
Likelihood to Recommend
It's perfectly suited for agencies, where customers and clients are constantly sharing files with each other. Owncloud allows for this, and it's really easy to go back and see what files were shared and when! Having an archive is really useful as we don't have to go back to the client and request it again!
