Dropbox and Google Drive read your files to build a profile, and they answer to whoever asks. Nextcloud gives you the same sync and sharing on hardware you rent in your own name, or in no name at all. Hosted offshore with no KYC, the storage is not filed under your identity.
What you get
- Files, calendars, contacts, notes and Talk, plus hundreds of apps
- Sync clients for desktop and mobile, exactly like the commercial services
- Runs light: around 512 MB of memory to start
- Offshore, no KYC, crypto billing, with an optional Tor mirror
Get it running
Size the server for your data
Nextcloud itself is modest, but your files are not. Start on an offshore VPS sized for what you will actually store, and move up as the library grows.
Install it in one click
Install Nextcloud from the catalog with the hostname you intend to keep. HTTPS is issued automatically. See how one-click installs work.
Set the admin account during the install
Provide the admin user and password as part of the install so the instance comes up already configured, rather than sitting on an open setup wizard.
Connect your devices
Point the desktop and mobile sync clients at your own hostname. Calendars and contacts sync over CalDAV and CardDAV to the apps you already use.
If you install without an admin user and password, the first visit lands on the browser install wizard. On a public hostname that means whoever loads it first can configure your instance and own it. Set both during the install, or keep it unreachable until you have finished setup yourself.
A sync client mirrors deletions and encryption by ransomware just as faithfully as it mirrors your work. Take real backups of the server, keep a copy off it, and test a restore. See manage your VPS from chat.
Nextcloud treats the hostname you install with as its canonical, trusted domain and advertises it to sync clients. Changing it later means reconfiguring clients, so choose the domain before you roll it out to devices.
Nextcloud can publish a Tor v3 .onion address alongside the public hostname. For a personal archive you do not want scanned or indexed, an onion-only instance is a strong option. See how to publish a Tor .onion site.
Start now
Spin up an offshore VPS and install Nextcloud from the catalog, or read the documentation.