Self-hosted alternatives to commercial services.
NEXTCLOUD
File storage, sharing, calendars and contacts, self-hosted.
Demanding: substantial memory, many extensions, a frequent cron job, and considerable disk space.
It runs on shared hosting for light personal use. For a team, a VPS is more appropriate.
WHAT TO CHECK BEFORE INSTALLING
Disk and inode allowances. File sync generates many files, and inode limits are hit before disk limits. Memory requirements Whether background jobs can run adequately
THE HONEST ASSESSMENT
Self-hosting file sync is appealing and is real ongoing work. A commercial service costs money and does not require you to maintain it, back it up, or restore it when something breaks.
Self-host where you have a genuine reason: data control, cost at scale, or a specific requirement.
SIMPLER ALTERNATIVES
For occasional file sharing, a protected directory on your hosting, or a simple file-sharing script, is far less work.
BACKUPS
If you self-host files people depend on, backups become critical rather than advisable.
