What does Nextcloud cost per user compared with SharePoint, and did Microsoft prices rise in 2026?

SharePoint is not usually bought on its own but paid for as part of Microsoft 365. On microsoft.com/de-de, Business Standard costs EUR 12.13, Business Premium EUR 19.06 and Microsoft 365 E3 EUR 37.78 per user per month net on an annual subscription, as of October 2026. Nextcloud Community is licence-free (AGPL-3.0). Nextcloud Enterprise costs EUR 71.29 (Standard), EUR 104.99 (Premium) or EUR 204.75 (Ultimate) per user per year net, from 100 users. Keep in mind that Microsoft 365 also includes mail, Teams and Office apps, while Nextcloud mainly replaces file storage and collaboration. Microsoft raised the list prices of most Microsoft 365 suites on 1 July 2026; existing agreements are affected from their next renewal.

Does SharePoint with EU data storage protect against the CLOUD Act, and is it GDPR-compliant?

Not on its own. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2713, US providers must disclose data in their possession, custody or control regardless of where it is stored. The EU Data Boundary governs storage and processing in the EU, and Microsoft documents exceptions, for example for remote access by personnel. With Nextcloud in your own data centre or with a European operator, access is governed by that operator's seat and jurisdiction. SharePoint is not unlawful under the GDPR across the board: transfers to the US have been covered since 10 July 2023 by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, and the EU General Court dismissed the action against it on 3 September 2025 (T-553/23). Not legal advice.

May professionals bound by secrecy in Germany use SharePoint or Nextcloud?

Section 203 of the German Criminal Code (StGB) prohibits neither service. Professionals bound by secrecy may disclose secrets to contributing service providers where necessary (Section 203 (3) sentence 2 StGB) and must bind them to confidentiality (Section 203 (4) sentence 2 no. 1 StGB). This applies to Microsoft as much as to a Nextcloud operator. Differences arise in contract design, access options and location. Not legal advice.

Does Nextcloud work with Teams and Outlook?

Partly, depending on the edition. Nextcloud Enterprise Ultimate includes an Exchange connector and a Teams integration. For Standard and Premium, an Outlook add-in for Windows is available as an option. Nextcloud does not offer the kind of integration that exists between Teams and SharePoint, where each team gets its own SharePoint site. If you keep Teams and Exchange long term, you keep paying for Microsoft 365.

Can several people edit Word and Excel files in Nextcloud at the same time?

Yes. Nextcloud Office is based on Euro-Office and supports real-time co-editing, including DOCX, XLSX and PPTX. Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE or Thinkfree Office can be connected instead. Microsoft desktop Office remains usable, with files opened locally through the sync client. Complex templates and Excel macros should be tested with real files before deciding.

Can Nextcloud connect to Active Directory or Entra ID?

Yes. Nextcloud's LDAP integration detects Active Directory without further adjustments. For single sign-on there is OpenID Connect and the SSO & SAML authentication app, which can also add Entra ID as an identity provider. Alternatively, an identity service such as Keycloak sits in between and later serves other applications as well.

How does a migration from SharePoint and OneDrive to Nextcloud work?

In steps: take stock (libraries, data volume, sharing, path lengths), define the target structure of group folders and shares, transfer files with rclone via the OneDrive and SharePoint interface, recreate sharing, test with a pilot group, then switch over with a delta run. rclone only transfers permissions between OneDrive and SharePoint targets; for Nextcloud they are recreated from a permissions list. Nextcloud also offers the migration as a guided project.

Does Nextcloud have files on demand like OneDrive?

Yes. The Nextcloud desktop client has supported virtual files on Windows since version 3.2, and on macOS there is the File Provider integration in Finder. Files appear in Explorer or Finder and are only downloaded when opened. There are separate clients for Linux, iOS and Android.

When is SharePoint the better choice?

If a business already licenses Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 and makes heavy use of Teams, Outlook, Power Automate, Power Apps and Purview compliance, SharePoint is usually the obvious storage, because the licence is already paid for and the integration works without extra effort. An intranet with communication and hub sites is also a native SharePoint function. Nextcloud's strengths are data control, operation in Germany, cost control and independence from a single vendor.

Is Nextcloud just file storage?

No. Besides file storage and sync, it includes browser-based office, calendar and contacts, Talk for chat and video meetings, and apps such as Collectives for knowledge collections. What Nextcloud does not include is a mail server. An intranet with pages and navigation as in SharePoint is not its focus either; a wiki is often the better fit for that.

Nextcloud vs. SharePoint: Comparison for Businesses and Public Sector, with Costs, Data Protection and Migration

Timo Wevelsiep11.10.2026

#Nextcloud
#SharePoint
#Microsoft365
#OneDrive
#DigitalSovereignty
#OpenSource

Editorial note: The information in this article was compiled to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. Technical details, prices, versions, licensing terms, and external content may change. Please verify the information provided independently, particularly before making business-critical or security-related decisions. This article does not replace individual professional, legal, or tax advice.

Evaluating Nextcloud as an alternative to SharePoint and OneDrive? WZ-IT operates managed Nextcloud in German data centres, handles the migration from SharePoint and OneDrive, and takes care of updates, backups and monitoring. Book a free initial consultation

For many businesses and public authorities, Nextcloud vs. SharePoint is not a product question but a platform decision: do files, sharing and collaboration stay in Microsoft 365, or do they live on an open-source platform running in your own data centre or with a German operator? Both systems store files, sync them and allow co-editing. The differences lie in the licence model, data location, integration and how easy a later switch will be.

This comparison sets out both platforms factually, gives prices from vendor sources, works through an example for 50 users, shows where SharePoint is clearly ahead, and describes the migration path from SharePoint and OneDrive to Nextcloud. As of October 2026.

Key points at a glance:

SharePoint is part of Microsoft 365 and is almost always paid for with the bundle. Nextcloud is open source (AGPL-3.0) and can be run without licence costs or with an Enterprise subscription.
SharePoint wins on integration with Teams, Outlook, Power Platform and Purview. Nextcloud wins on data control, choice of operator and replaceability.
Microsoft raised the list prices of most Microsoft 365 suites on 1 July 2026. Existing agreements are affected from their next renewal.
Files can be migrated with rclone. Sharing and permissions are rebuilt in Nextcloud, and version history does not move across.
The first step is often not a full switch but Nextcloud as file storage alongside Microsoft 365.

Short answer: when Nextcloud, when SharePoint
What Nextcloud and SharePoint are
Comparison table Nextcloud vs. SharePoint
Costs: licence model and an example for 50 users
Data location, CLOUD Act and GDPR
Collaboration and browser-based office
Permissions, Active Directory and single sign-on
Intranet, Teams and Power Platform: where SharePoint is ahead
Sync clients and offline work
Migrating from SharePoint and OneDrive to Nextcloud
Common misconceptions
Our approach at WZ-IT
Further guides

Short answer: when Nextcloud, when SharePoint

Starting point	Obvious choice	Reason
Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 is licensed, Teams, Power Automate and Purview are used heavily	SharePoint	Licence already paid, integration without extra effort
An intranet with communication and hub sites is central	SharePoint	Pages, navigation and web parts are core functions
Data should be under your own control or with a European operator	Nextcloud	Runs in your own data centre or with an operator of your choice
Public sector, schools, healthcare or professionals bound by secrecy with high data control requirements	Nextcloud	Location, access and operator are freely chosen and contractually controllable
Costs should stay predictable, independent of a vendor's price rounds	Nextcloud	Community version licence-free, Enterprise with published prices
Teams and Exchange stay for now, file storage should become independent	Nextcloud alongside Microsoft 365	Step-by-step switch, starting with the data

For businesses that want to replace Microsoft 365 entirely, the post Self-hosted Microsoft 365 alternative covers all building blocks from mail to sign-in. This post focuses on which platform should carry files and collaboration.

What Nextcloud and SharePoint are

SharePoint Online is the document and site service of Microsoft 365. It stores files in document libraries, provides team and communication sites, and is the storage behind Microsoft Teams: the Files tab of each standard channel is connected to a folder in the team's SharePoint site (Microsoft Learn, Teams-connected sites). OneDrive is each user's personal storage on the same technology. SharePoint runs only in Microsoft's cloud, and the Business plans are limited to 300 users (Microsoft Learn, SharePoint limits).

Nextcloud is an open-source platform for files and collaboration under AGPL-3.0 (GitHub, Nextcloud Server). The current version is 35.0.1, marketed as Nextcloud Hub 26 Summer (Nextcloud Changelog). It includes file storage with sync, browser-based office, calendar and contacts, Talk for chat and video meetings, and apps such as Collectives for knowledge collections (Nextcloud App Store, Collectives). Nextcloud runs on your own infrastructure or with an operator, for example as managed Nextcloud in German data centres. What to watch for when upgrading to version 35 is covered in the post Nextcloud 35 upgrade.

Comparison table Nextcloud vs. SharePoint

Criterion	Nextcloud	SharePoint Online (Microsoft 365)
Hosting and data location	own infrastructure or operator of your choice, location freely chosen	Microsoft cloud, EU storage via the EU Data Boundary
Cost model	Community licence-free, Enterprise from EUR 71.29 per user per year (from 100 users), plus operation	included in the Microsoft 365 subscription, Business Standard EUR 12.13, E3 EUR 37.78 per user per month
Storage	limited by your hardware or operator	1 TB per organization plus 10 GB per licence, plus OneDrive per user
Collaboration and office	Nextcloud Office (Euro-Office), alternatively Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE, Thinkfree	Word, Excel, PowerPoint in the browser and on the desktop
Intranet and sites	not a focus, Collectives or a separate wiki	communication and hub sites as a core function
Permissions	shares, group folders, LDAP/AD, OIDC, SAML	SharePoint groups, Entra ID, sensitivity labels with Purview
Integrations	Talk, calendar, hundreds of apps, Exchange connector and Teams integration in Ultimate	Teams, Outlook, Power Automate, Power Apps, Copilot
Admin effort	updates, backups, monitoring by your own team or an operator	operated by Microsoft, tenant and permission management remains
Exit and lock-in	open code, data on your own storage, operator replaceable	tied to the Microsoft tenant, export via APIs and tools

Prices net, as of October 2026, sources in the next section.

Costs: licence model and an example for 50 users

Microsoft 365. SharePoint is included in the Business and Enterprise plans. List prices on microsoft.com/de-de, net per user per month on an annual subscription billed annually, as of October 2026 (Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 Enterprise, Business plans compared):

Plan	with Teams	EEA without Teams	Note
Business Basic	EUR 6.07	EUR 4.67	web and mobile apps only, up to 300 users
Business Standard	EUR 12.13	EUR 9.34	desktop apps, EUR 14.56 on a monthly subscription
Business Premium	EUR 19.06	EUR 16.28	adds security and device management
Microsoft 365 E3	EUR 37.78	EUR 30.36	Enterprise, no 300-user cap
Microsoft 365 E5	EUR 58.13	EUR 50.71	advanced security and compliance

On 4 December 2025 Microsoft announced new list prices effective 1 July 2026, citing additional AI, security and management features (Microsoft 365 Blog). According to the licensing FAQ, affected plans include Business Basic, Business Standard, Microsoft 365 E3 and E5. Existing agreements keep their price until the next renewal after 1 July 2026 (Microsoft Licensing, 2026 pricing updates FAQ). Microsoft 365 Copilot costs an additional EUR 26.00 per user per month.

Nextcloud. The community version is licence-free and has no hard user limit. From 1,000 active users without a subscription, the free push service is throttled (GitHub, Nextcloud Subscription Registry). Nextcloud Enterprise is available from 100 users, prices net per user per year (Nextcloud Pricing):

Tier	from 100 users	from 200 users	Relevant for Microsoft environments
Standard	EUR 71.29	EUR 53.17	Outlook add-in (Windows) as an option
Premium	EUR 104.99	EUR 81.99	Outlook add-in as an option, 5+ years of maintenance per version
Ultimate	EUR 204.75	EUR 183.75	Exchange connector, Teams integration, Office Online Server connector

Talk, Groupware and Office are options in Standard and Premium. For organizations below 100 users, Nextcloud refers to its hosted service Nextcloud One.

Example for 50 users per year, net:

Option	Calculation	Cost per year	What is included
Microsoft 365 Business Standard	50 × EUR 12.13 × 12	EUR 7,278.00	SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange, Teams, Office apps
Microsoft 365 Business Premium	50 × EUR 19.06 × 12	EUR 11,436.00	as Standard, plus security and device management
Microsoft 365 E3	50 × EUR 37.78 × 12	EUR 22,668.00	Enterprise features, compliance
Nextcloud Enterprise Standard	minimum 100 × EUR 71.29	EUR 7,129.00	subscription only, operation and infrastructure come on top
Nextcloud Community operated by WZ-IT	from EUR 129.90 × 12 per workload	from EUR 1,558.80	operation with updates, backups, monitoring; storage and performance by configuration

The figures are not directly comparable. Microsoft 365 includes mail, Teams and desktop Office apps, while Nextcloud mainly replaces file storage and collaboration. If you use Nextcloud for files and leave mail and Teams with Microsoft for now, you keep paying for Microsoft 365, for example Business Basic at 50 × EUR 6.07 × 12 = EUR 3,642.00 per year. The cost side is therefore decided by which Microsoft services stay long term. What a complete switch including mail, chat and sign-in involves is described in the post Cloud exit for SMEs.

For public authorities and many businesses, data location is where the discussion starts. The facts, as of October 2026:

Topic	Fact	Source
CLOUD Act	US providers must disclose data in their possession, custody or control, regardless of whether it is stored inside or outside the United States	18 U.S.C. § 2713
EU Data Boundary	storage and processing of customer data in the EU, with documented exceptions, for example for remote access by personnel and for security data	Microsoft Learn, EU Data Boundary
EU-US Data Privacy Framework	adequacy decision of the European Commission of 10 July 2023	European Commission, IP/23/3721
Action against the Data Privacy Framework	dismissed by the EU General Court on 3 September 2025 (T-553/23)	General Court, press release 106/25
Professional secrecy (Germany)	disclosure to contributing service providers permitted where necessary, with an obligation to bind them to confidentiality	Section 203 (3) and (4) StGB

Three factual conclusions follow:

Storage location is not the same as access. An EU data centre does not answer who can compel access. Under the CLOUD Act, what counts is the provider's control over the data.
SharePoint is not unlawful across the board. Data transfers to the US currently have a legal basis in the Data Privacy Framework. Whether a deployment fits depends on contract, configuration and type of data.
Section 203 StGB does not decide between the platforms. Professionals bound by secrecy such as law firms, tax advisers or medical practices must bind service providers to confidentiality in both cases.

With Nextcloud, data sits on your own infrastructure or with a chosen operator. The question of access is then governed by that operator's seat and jurisdiction. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein shows how a public administration takes this route: Nextcloud is replacing SharePoint there step by step (Schleswig-Holstein, milestone for digital sovereignty). The background on US providers and European alternatives is covered in the post Move servers and data to European clouds.

Not legal advice. Consult data protection or legal counsel for specific questions. Trademarks belong to their owners.

Collaboration and browser-based office

Both platforms support real-time co-editing. The difference lies in the office component:

Criterion	Nextcloud	SharePoint
Browser-based office	Nextcloud Office based on Euro-Office, alternatively Collabora Online, ONLYOFFICE or Thinkfree Office	Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the web
Formats	DOCX, XLSX, PPTX as well as ODT, ODS, ODP	Office Open XML as the main format
Desktop office	Microsoft Office or LibreOffice locally, file via the sync client	Microsoft 365 Apps saving directly to SharePoint
Versions	versioning per file	up to 50,000 major versions per file
External sharing	links with password, expiry date, upload shares	sharing links and guest access via Entra ID

Sources: Nextcloud Office, Nextcloud App Store, ONLYOFFICE, Microsoft Learn, SharePoint limits.

Nextcloud Office is based on Euro-Office, which builds on the open-source ONLYOFFICE code and, according to Nextcloud, offers high format fidelity with DOCX, XLSX and PPTX. If you work a lot with external partners in Microsoft formats, test with real files anyway: templates with fields, spreadsheets with formulas and macros, presentations with slide masters. How the office components differ in detail is covered in the post Self-hosted Microsoft 365 alternative.

Permissions, Active Directory and single sign-on

SharePoint manages permissions through SharePoint groups and Entra ID. The supported limit is 50,000 unique permissions per list or library, with a recommended maximum of 5,000. Once a library holds more than 100,000 items, inheritance can no longer be broken at library or folder level (Microsoft Learn, SharePoint limits). Grown libraries with many individual shares are therefore often hard to oversee, regardless of the platform.

Nextcloud connects directories and identity providers directly:

Active Directory and LDAP: the LDAP integration detects Active Directory without further adjustments (Nextcloud Admin Manual, LDAP).
Single sign-on: OpenID Connect and SAML, the latter via the SSO & SAML authentication app (Nextcloud App Store, SSO & SAML). Entra ID can be added as an identity provider this way, so staff sign in with their existing accounts during the transition.
Group folders: department and project storage with permissions per group, comparable to SharePoint libraries per team.

If several applications are connected, an identity service such as Keycloak sits in between. It uses Entra ID or Active Directory as its source and gives Nextcloud and other services a shared sign-in. For AI applications that access documents from Nextcloud or SharePoint, carrying over permissions is a topic of its own, covered in the knowledge article Connect local AI to Nextcloud, SharePoint, or a DMS.

Intranet, Teams and Power Platform: where SharePoint is ahead

An honest comparison names the areas where SharePoint is the stronger platform:

Integration with Teams: each team has a SharePoint site, and files from channels open in Word or Excel with the same permissions. Nextcloud offers touchpoints with Talk and the Teams integration in Ultimate, but not the same depth.
Intranet: communication sites, hub sites and navigation across many areas are core SharePoint functions, with up to 2,000 hub sites per organization (Microsoft Learn, SharePoint limits). In Nextcloud this is not a focus, and content usually moves to a wiki such as XWiki or BookStack. The approach is described in the post Introducing a company wiki.
Power Platform: Microsoft 365 licences include a limited set of Power Automate capabilities with standard connectors, while premium connectors require a separate licence (Microsoft Learn, Power Automate licences). Workflows, forms and lists built on SharePoint have to be rebuilt when switching.
Compliance tools: retention policies, eDiscovery and sensitivity labels via Microsoft Purview are integrated in E3 and E5.
Existing licences: if you already pay for E3 or E5, SharePoint costs nothing extra. A switch then only saves money if other services are replaced too.

For organizations where several of these points apply, SharePoint is usually the right storage. Nextcloud then makes sense when certain data should stay under your own control, such as case files, HR data or data subject to professional secrecy, while Microsoft 365 remains for the rest.

Sync clients and offline work

Function	Nextcloud	OneDrive and SharePoint
Desktop clients	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS
Files on demand	Windows: virtual files since client 3.2; macOS: File Provider in Finder	Files On-Demand on Windows and macOS
Mobile	iOS and Android, with offline marking	iOS and Android
Recommended limit	depends on server and client	up to 300,000 files per synced library recommended
Path length	depends on the file system	400 characters including file name

Sources: Nextcloud, desktop client 3.2 with virtual files, Nextcloud manual, desktop client, Microsoft Learn, SharePoint limits.

Little changes for staff in everyday work: files appear in Explorer or Finder, are downloaded when opened and stay available offline afterwards. For very large libraries, test with the real number of files on typical workstations before switching over.

Migrating from SharePoint and OneDrive to Nextcloud

Microsoft's own tools such as the SharePoint Migration Tool are built for migrating into Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Learn, SharePoint Migration Tool). Moving to Nextcloud uses other tools:

What	Tool	What is carried over	What is rebuilt
Files from OneDrive and SharePoint libraries	rclone as source, Nextcloud via WebDAV as target	files, folders, modification times	version history stays in SharePoint
Sharing and permissions	export via the Microsoft Graph API as a permissions list	an overview of who has access to what	shares and group folders in Nextcloud
Accounts and groups	LDAP/AD or Entra ID via SAML/OIDC	accounts, groups as a starting point	passwords stay with the identity provider
SharePoint pages, lists, workflows	rebuild	content	wiki pages, forms, automation

rclone can only read and write permissions between OneDrive and SharePoint targets (rclone, OneDrive). For Nextcloud, shares are therefore recreated from the exported permissions list, ideally simplified to groups instead of individual shares. Nextcloud also offers migration from SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams and Exchange as a guided project, preserving permissions and metadata depending on the platform (Nextcloud, migrate from Microsoft 365).

The process in seven steps:

Take stock: sites, libraries, OneDrive accounts, data volume, number of files, external shares, paths close to the 400-character limit.
Clean up: identify orphaned sites and duplicate storage, and do not migrate data nobody needs.
Define the target structure: group folders per department or project, personal storage, permissions via groups from AD or Entra ID.
Set up sign-in: connect Nextcloud to AD, Entra ID or an identity service so that accounts exist before the data transfer.
Initial transfer: move files with rclone, split large volumes by library, compare checksums and file counts.
Pilot group: one department works in Nextcloud, and sync clients and browser-based office are tested in daily use.
Cut-over: delta run for changes since the initial transfer, set SharePoint libraries to read-only, send external shares again.

During the cut-over, SharePoint and Nextcloud run in parallel. Teams channels point to Nextcloud folders during the transition until the further path for Teams is decided.

Common misconceptions

Misconception	Correct is
"Nextcloud is just file storage."	Nextcloud includes browser-based office, calendar, contacts, Talk and apps such as Collectives. A mail server is not part of it.
"SharePoint is banned under the GDPR."	That blanket statement is not supported. The Data Privacy Framework applies, and permissibility depends on the individual case.
"With an EU data centre, the CLOUD Act does not matter."	Under 18 U.S.C. § 2713, the provider's control counts, not the storage location.
"Nextcloud is always cheaper."	With an existing E3 or E5 licence, SharePoint is already paid for. Nextcloud saves money when licences actually drop away or data control is decisive.
"Permissions from SharePoint move across automatically."	rclone transfers permissions only between OneDrive and SharePoint targets. In Nextcloud, shares are recreated.
"The Nextcloud community version locks at 500 users."	There is no user lock. From 1,000 active users without a subscription, the free push service is throttled.
"No co-editing of DOCX without Microsoft."	Nextcloud Office, Collabora Online and ONLYOFFICE co-edit DOCX, XLSX and PPTX in the browser.

Our approach at WZ-IT

WZ-IT supports the decision between Nextcloud and SharePoint and the path that follows. Each step has a defined result.

Initial call. We clarify how SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams are used today, which Microsoft services should stay, and which data should be under your own control.
Selection with a defined scope, if more than file storage is up for decision. The collaboration and Microsoft 365 alternative selection costs from EUR 3,900 net. Demo instances are available for the duration of the selection, and you try them out yourself. The result is a decision paper with licence costs from vendor information, migration path and operating model. If SharePoint fits better, the paper says so.
Migration. Inventory, target structure with group folders, connection to AD, Entra ID or Keycloak, transfer with rclone, pilot group and cut-over with a delta run.
Operation in Germany. As managed Nextcloud, we operate Nextcloud via Managed Open Source in German data centres, from EUR 129.90 net per workload per month, with updates, backups and monitoring. Alternatively, Nextcloud runs on your own infrastructure. Enterprise subscriptions, if needed, are purchased directly from Nextcloud.

Further guides

Self-hosted Microsoft 365 alternative, all open-source building blocks from files to mail.
Nextcloud, Seafile, OpenCloud or ownCloud, licence limits and ownership of file platforms.
Nextcloud 35 upgrade, upgrade path, PHP and database.
openDesk partner programme, what the German federal suite with Nextcloud means for SMEs.
Introducing a company wiki, when SharePoint pages are replaced as the intranet.
Cloud exit for SMEs, costs, dependencies and process of a complete switch.
Connect local AI to Nextcloud, SharePoint, or a DMS, permissions and sync for AI assistants.
Managed Nextcloud and Managed Open Source, operation by WZ-IT.

Nextcloud or SharePoint: prepare the decision with figures. We compare both platforms against your licences and requirements, plan the migration from SharePoint and OneDrive, and operate Nextcloud in German data centres. Book a free initial consultation