{"id":81932,"date":"2026-06-18T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dhblog.dream.press\/blog\/?p=81932"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:45:14","slug":"nextcloud-vps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/blog\/nextcloud-vps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Set Up Nextcloud on a VPS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nextcloud on a VPS is file sync, sharing, and collaboration software running on a Linux server you control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can install it three ways: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. The official All-in-One Docker image<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Manual Docker Compose<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Bare-metal LAMP stack<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The flat monthly VPS fee stays flat regardless of team size, while Google Workspace Business Standard scales linearly at $14 per user per month. Stack 8 (8 GB RAM) is the recommended baseline for most small teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Oh, Google Drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Keeper of lost documents and forgotten drafts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Charger of $14 per person per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What fresh new horrors await inside thine hallowed (and hollow) folders?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Wait\u2026 what\u2019s that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A spreadsheet called “Untitled spreadsheet (7)” that contains, against all odds, the company’s actual Q4 budget?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hmm. Okay, maybe it\u2019s time to clean things up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Next time you find yourself eyeing that Google Drive bill you\u2019ve been ignoring, here\u2019s a better idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Cue: Self-hosted Nextcloud<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Nextcloud is free software that runs the same kind of file-sync-and-share format on a server you own, with no curator, no ad-relevance scanning, and no per-seat charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here\u2019s how to get it running, what it actually costs, and whether the tradeoff is worth it for your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why Run Nextcloud Instead of Using Google Drive?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \"Diagram<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The short answer: your files, your server, your rules. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Google Drive stores your data on its own infrastructure and scans it against policy compliance. If served with a legal warrant, Google hands your files over, often without notifying you first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But self-hosted Nextcloud<\/a> stores your files on a server you control, in whatever jurisdiction you choose, with the encryption keys in your hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For a lot of small teams, that\u2019s reason enough. For those handling regulated data \u2014 medical records, legal files, anything touching GDPR or HIPAA \u2014 it\u2019s less of a preference and more of a requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The other reason is cost, which we\u2019ll get into more in the next section. But the short version is that Google Workspace charges per user per month. Nextcloud doesn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Where Google still wins: real-time co-authoring in Google Docs is more polished than Nextcloud\u2019s Office integrations, and Google Meet beats Nextcloud Talk on video call quality at scale. If those are your team\u2019s core workloads, that\u2019s worth factoring in.

    But if you mostly need file sync, shared calendars, contacts, and chat, Nextcloud covers all of it, on infrastructure you own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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