Introduction
Nextcloud cloud and collaboration software offers businesses and individuals flexible and secure hosting and cloud computing without the need to resort to commercial solutions. Nextcloud offers high standards of data protection and a range of different Nextcloud applications such as Nextcloud Talk and the online office suite Nextcloud Office.
Nextcloud Office was developed in collaboration with Collabora Productivity and integrated into Nextcloud. The goal was to meet the needs of a modern, digital workplace. It prioritizes powerful online functions for editing, attaching and sharing documents, for calculating spreadsheets and creating presentations. Seamless integration into the Nextcloud ecosystem ensures that the office suite seamlessly supports all Nextcloud tools, popular web browsers, a variety of file formats and diverse editors. Nextcloud Office is also part of the Nextcloud Hub unified collaboration platform with all key Nextcloud tools such as Groupware, Files, Talk and Office.
When is Nextcloud Office used?
Nextcloud Office is available for free with all the important standard functions for private use. For business use, Nextcloud offers a paid version – the Nextcloud Enterprise Plan, which offers more stable and scalable performance. Nextcloud Office includes the same functions and the well-known office applications Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace or the corresponding Microsoft Office alternatives.
Its most important features and functions are:
- Create and edit documents in real time (including video calls or chats).
- Commenting functions in documents
- Insert an image from your Nextcloud storage
- Share and collaborate on documents via browser or mobile apps
- Edit documents with internal or even external links for people without Nextcloud (with limited access)
- Spreadsheets
- Create and edit presentations, drawings, and notes
- Track version history and changes
- Navigation functions for document browsing
- Integration with Microsoft Word
An overview of Nextcloud Office components
Nextcloud Office is designed to handle the full range of office tasks in digital workplaces via the cloud. The office suite lets you create, edit, and share documents with your team, regardless of location or device. You can even use document editing in team meetings and automatically sync changes. Administrator rights let you limit the number of people with access rights.
Below are all the details of Nextcloud Office.
Nextcloud Write
Similar to Word in Microsoft 365, Nextcloud Write is the heart of the Nextcloud Office suite. Here, documents can be created and edited collaboratively, shared, and saved. The app is designed to be collaborative and supports Microsoft Word. Real-time cursor tracking lets you track changes made by your team.
Nextcloud Spreadsheet
Nextcloud Spreadsheet can be considered the equivalent of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet application. Spreadsheet provides you with a comprehensive set of functions, formulas and tools for creating and collaborating on spreadsheets. The highest level of data protection is guaranteed. Strong access controls ensure that spreadsheets containing sensitive business data are only edited by authorized individuals and teams. Microsoft Excel integration is possible.
Nextcloud Present
Nextcloud Present is a presentation app that helps you give PowerPoint a unique makeover. Design simple or complex slides in your own style and layout, choosing from ready-made templates or custom settings. Its intuitive interface ensures that you can captivate any audience with insightful and polished presentations. Thanks to compatibility with Microsoft PowerPoint and support for popular file formats, Nextcloud Present meets all your needs for powerful presentation software.
Nextcloud Draw
Nextcloud Draw is a comprehensive note-taking and drawing tool that lets you create complex diagrams, charts, plans, sketches, and diagrams just like Microsoft Visio. Use the collaborative applications to illustrate and develop ideas collaboratively or present designs to your audience in graphical or diagram form. You can seamlessly integrate it into online conferences and team meetings.
Nextcloud Text
Nextcloud Text is the default text editor for Nextcloud. Built on Markdown, it offers self-hosted translation and supports a variety of rich text formats, including headings, links, tables, and bold or italic text. Different colors for individual authors improve clarity for large projects with many contributors.
Benefits of Nextcloud Office in a Nextcloud environment
Nextcloud Office integrates seamlessly with Nextcloud's scalable and versatile ecosystem of apps. In this sense, Nextcloud is similar to Google and Microsoft's collaboration platforms, which also offer seamless integration of internal apps and services.
Nextcloud Office offers the following benefits through integration with other powerful Nextcloud components:
- Flexible collaboration through the integration of office functions into Nextcloud applications such as Talk, Calendar, Deck or Notes.
- Office features for collaborative document editing, teamwork in online meetings and video conferences through screen sharing, commenting, version history, real-time cursor tracking and annotations
- Safeguard against unauthorized access with secure access management that includes group folders and file access rights for selected groups, individuals, and files.
- Nextcloud desktop and mobile clients can be used on desktop and any number of mobile devices
- Easy, cross-platform, centralized management, synchronization, and tracking of document changes
What file formats can Nextcloud Office read and write?
The value of an office suite goes beyond a set of collaboration, communication, and document editing tools. Equally important is its support for all the common file formats that come into play when using a cloud-based productivity solution. This is the only way to ensure flexible and consistent collaboration across different systems and applications.
Nextcloud Office rivals the competition in terms of compatibility, with support for opening, reading, and saving over a dozen file formats. These include:
- Text processing: DOCX, DOC, RTF, ODT
- Spreadsheets: XLS, XLSX, ODS
- Presentation: ODP, PPT, PPTX
- Design: ODG
- Additional supported formats: Publisher, Import/View Visio
Nextcloud Office advantages over competitors
Nextcloud sets an ambitious goal to establish itself as a powerful and at least equal alternative to Microsoft 365. To that end, Nextcloud offers its powerful hosting features and cloud computing with data protection standards that surpass even Microsoft. Many businesses prefer Nextcloud over commercial services because of its expanding capabilities, seamless integration of Nextcloud services, flexible enterprise plans, and comprehensive Nextcloud Hub plan.
Office Suite forms a central building block in Nextcloud for a self-contained, cloud-based office environment. Advantages of Office Suite over Nextcloud alternatives such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 include:
Nextcloud Office
- Data protection and data governance for private and business data via self-hosting or through hosting providers with EU server locations
- It integrates easily with all Nextcloud apps and is compatible with third-party services and popular file formats.
- Data leakage is reduced because the service sends documents to the browser while the raw documents remain on the Nextcloud server.
- Invite links to external people are unlimited without Nextcloud
- Free for personal use or scalable for business use with Nextcloud Enterprise or Hub
Google Workspace
- Private and commercial data resides on Google servers and is accessible to US authorities through the US Cloud Act.
- All key Google services for increased productivity, teamwork, and remote work in one platform
- Files and documents are sent to the local browser for editing.
- File sharing with people without Nextcloud is limited
- Flexible pricing plans for personal and business use
Microsoft 365
- All data is located on Microsoft servers, which does not allow for 100% data protection.
- All Microsoft services and Office apps for collaboration in flexible and scalable subscription plans
- Documents are transferred from the server to the local browser.
- Document access and editing with an invitation link
- Free use only through the limited web version of Microsoft 365
Another advantage is that documents are visible in print preview thanks to WYSIWYG rendering. When using different Office applications, you may encounter unexpected problems depending on the browser used and the specific settings on site.
How to install Nextcloud Office?
You can get Nextcloud Office from the Nextcloud Office website. Choose between a free 60-minute trial, a free version for personal use, and paid versions as part of Nextcloud Enterprise.
Installation options include:
Option 1: Collabora Online Server
Since Nextcloud Office is built on Collabora Online, a dedicated Collabora Online server is required. Setting up the server and linking it to the Office application requires knowledge of installing packages on Linux and Ubuntu or Docker. For small teams or personal use, another option is the integrated code server. This server can be easily installed directly from the Nextcloud application and then selected as a backup in the Office application.
Once you have set up the Collabora online server, you need to enable the Nextcloud Office app in the app manager and connect to the Collabora online server through the settings.
Option 2: Nextcloud Management
Managed Nextcloud offers the full Nextcloud experience, including Nextcloud Office. You can leave setup, maintenance, and updates to your chosen provider, while receiving 24/7 support. This allows you to effortlessly scale your online storage and sharing plan as your needs change. With Nextcloud apps like Groupware, Talk, or Office, you get access to essential collaboration features. These include document sharing and editing, online conferencing, and scheduling projects, groups, and meetings – including individual access permissions.
Benefits of Nextcloud Office with Nextcloud Management
Nextcloud Managed with Nextcloud Office is the ideal solution for companies looking for GDPR-compliant protection for corporate data combined with full Office functionality. Your data is stored on secure servers that meet all GDPR requirements and prevent unauthorized access by third parties. The provider takes care of the management, maintenance and updates of the systems, saving you time and money. In addition, you choose who has access to the files through administrative rights. Thus, data sovereignty is guaranteed.
Another important advantage is that you can not only rely on the maintenance of the server system, but you can also customize your Nextcloud plan to your specific needs, adjusting both the cloud storage space and the number of users. This not only increases productivity through simplified file management in your managed Nextcloud, but also ensures the ability to fine-tune performance to align with your current business goals.
A brief explanation of creating Nextcloud Office
In 2018, Nextcloud took its first step towards offering standard office capabilities by integrating OnlyOffice, an open source office solution from Ascensio System SIA. Then, in January 2020, with the launch of the Nextcloud Hub collaboration platform, Nextcloud introduced an integrated OneOffice package as part of its robust office suite. Later that year, Nextcloud went a step further and released Nextcloud Office, an even more powerful alternative to OnlyOffice, developed in partnership with Collabora Online.
The advantage is that, unlike OnlyOffice, the office suite runs mostly on Nextcloud servers, ensuring data protection and greater control over private and business data.
