Nextcloud for Small Business: Replace Dropbox and Google Drive for Under 5 EUR/Month

If you're running a small business with 5–20 employees, file sharing costs add up quickly. Google Workspace Business Standard costs €12/user/month. Dropbox Business is €15/user/month. For a team of 10, that's €120–€150 every month just for cloud storage.

Nextcloud can replace both for a fraction of the cost—with better privacy and more flexibility. Here's how.

The Per-User Pricing Problem

Cloud storage vendors love per-user pricing. It scales with your team, which sounds fair—until you do the math:

With Nextcloud on DanubeData, you pay for storage, not seats. The Sf. Gheorghe plan (€14.99/mo) gives you 5 TB of storage with unlimited user accounts and 100 concurrent connections—enough for most small businesses.

What Nextcloud Gives Your Business

File Sync Across All Devices

The Nextcloud desktop client works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Select which folders to sync, and changes propagate automatically. Mobile apps for iOS and Android provide on-the-go access.

Shared Folders for Teams

Create group folders that the whole team can access, or restrict folders to specific departments. Permissions are granular—read-only, edit, or full control per user or group.

Client File Exchange

Generate password-protected sharing links for clients. Set expiration dates so links don't stay active forever. Track downloads via the sharing dashboard.

Collaborative Editing

Install OnlyOffice or Collabora Online to edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations directly in the browser. Multiple users can work on the same file simultaneously.

Calendar and Contacts

Nextcloud includes CalDAV and CardDAV servers. Sync calendars and contacts with Outlook, Apple Calendar, Thunderbird, or any standard client. No need for a separate calendar service.

WebDAV for Everything Else

Mount your Nextcloud storage as a network drive. Use it as a backup target. Integrate it with scripts and automation tools. WebDAV is a standard protocol supported everywhere.

Real-World Small Business Use Cases

Architecture Firm (8 people)

• Large CAD files synced across office desktops
• Client portals with password-protected links
• 5 TB plan handles project archives easily
• Monthly cost: €14.99 (vs. €96/mo on Google Workspace)

Law Office (5 people)

• Client case files with strict access controls
• GDPR-compliant EU storage for sensitive documents
• Calendar sync for court dates and deadlines
• Monthly cost: €4.99 (vs. €60/mo on Google Workspace)

Marketing Agency (15 people)

• Creative assets (photos, videos, design files) in shared folders
• Client review portals with download links
• Multiple subdomains for different client-facing portals
• Monthly cost: €14.99 (vs. €180/mo on Google Workspace)

Getting Started in 10 Minutes

1. Sign up at danubedata.com
2. Create a Storage Share instance—pick a name, subdomain, and plan
3. Wait for deployment (real-time status in dashboard)
4. Log in at your instance URL and create user accounts
5. Install desktop clients on team computers
6. Scan QR code to connect mobile apps instantly

No server setup. No database configuration. No TLS certificates. It just works.

Migration from Google Drive or Dropbox

Moving files to Nextcloud is straightforward:

1. Download your files from Google Drive (use Google Takeout) or Dropbox
2. Upload to Nextcloud via the web interface, desktop client, or WebDAV
3. Recreate folder structure and set permissions
4. Install desktop clients on team machines and point them to Nextcloud

For large migrations, use the Nextcloud desktop client to sync a local folder. Drop your exported files into the sync folder and they'll upload automatically.

What You Might Miss

Nextcloud isn't a 1:1 replacement for everything Google Workspace offers:

• No email—you'll still need an email provider (but Nextcloud integrates with any IMAP service)
• Collaborative editing is good but not as polished as Google Docs
• No AI features—no Gemini-style document summarization

For pure file sharing, sync, and collaboration, Nextcloud covers the essentials at a fraction of the cost.

Bottom Line

Small businesses shouldn't pay per-user fees for basic file sharing. Nextcloud on DanubeData gives you:

• 1–10 TB of storage from €4.99/mo
• Unlimited user accounts
• EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant
• Desktop and mobile sync
• Full admin control

Create your account and start sharing files with your team today.