Google Drive vs. Nextcloud

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Drive
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Google Drive is a cloud file storage, synchronization, and collaboration platform and service, that features Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for document editing and presentation.
$6
per month
Nextcloud
Score 6.3 out of 10
N/A
Nextcloud offers their open source, self-hosted Content Collaboration Platform, combining what they describe as an easy user interface for consumer-grade cloud solutions with the security and compliance measures enterprises need. Nextcloud brings together universal access to data through mobile, desktop and web interfaces with next-generation, on-premise secure communication and collaboration features like real-time document editing, chat and video calls, putting them under…N/A
Pricing
Google DriveNextcloud
Editions & Modules
Basic
$6.00
per month
Business
$12.00
per month
Enterprise
Contact Vendor for Quote
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google DriveNextcloud
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsDiscounts are available for students, educators, and non profit organizations.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google DriveNextcloud
Considered Both Products
Google Drive
Chose Google Drive
Dropbox is way too expensive for what it is and I have had sync issues with it before. Onedrive is pushed too hard by Microsoft and I don't like feeling like I'm "forced" to use a product and I've also had sync issues. SugarSync I used sometime back and I just didn't like the …
Chose Google Drive
Dropbox is better, and we also use that, but it costs money. Google Drive makes it easier to save files among JUST my sales team, so we adopted it as it was easier to share an Excel file and each edit it together by doing so. Google Drive was free to use as well.
Chose Google Drive
it really helps us stay organized
Chose Google Drive
I think the way in which Google Drive allows collaboration on documents in a live way is far better than the way in Microsoft products do it and I find it much easier to work in a Google Drive enviroment companred to Microsoft 365 so I would always choose it over this option
Chose Google Drive
Box is something we tested but google ease of use won us over
Chose Google Drive
I feel like Google is a lot more affordable and though it would be nice to buy these products to use, drive provides what I need to meet my KPIs.
Chose Google Drive
Google Drive is more accessible and doesn't require additional implementation, downloading, and synchronization. You need a Google account. It makes it the first-choice instrument when working with non-technically savvy team members or clients. There are no complicated …
Chose Google Drive
I had significantly used these drives as well in my professional career as compared to Google Drive: Dropbox offers excellent file synchronization but as compared to Google Drive it seriously lacks dives unmatched ability in document editing. As well as its integration with …
Chose Google Drive
Compared to Microsoft Sharepoint, the interface and learning curve for Google Drive are better mainly because the solution is much simpler and focuses on doing the basics well.
Chose Google Drive
In terms of price, accessibility and ease of use, Google Drive is way better compared to other platforms like WeShare and others.
Chose Google Drive
Google Drive is more feature rich, it has stronger search capabilities and it's simple and intuitive to use.
Chose Google Drive
The most indeed reason is the security provided by Google. Every other company can provide lots of cloud space but my sensitive data is the key so, secure system is my first priority.

As I am tech person i feel its very easy to use and lot of features that make it better than …
Chose Google Drive
One drive is a little bit better because you can save it as a Word document. I currently use the paid version which allows access to all the Microsoft Office features. I have used the unpaid version and this was an issue due to HIPPA compliance. Working with medical records …
Chose Google Drive
Feature-wise, Google Drive is at the bottom of its peers. However, due to its Google Mail user base, Google Drive has wide acceptance and penetration. Its ease-of-use feature is probably somewhere in the middle, lower than Dropbox but higher than OneDrive. It is free but so are …
Chose Google Drive
Apple Drive dosn't offer that much storage and doesn't provide vast features with collaborative tools like docs , spreadsheet and forms etc. Google drive also allows you to search for files and folders that contain certain words in their title or content in any perticular file. …
Chose Google Drive
Google Drive is much easier to use and does not require hassle to upload files. Most people have a Google account as a gmail for example and this adds value rather than using a platform such as Tresorit. The reminders Google Drive provides when you reach a certain limit of …
Chose Google Drive
Price, costs/benefits ratio is excellent, comparing with others products. This facilitating access and use by a large number of people, with a fair price and with all the support of google behind. When compared to other products, the price, ease of implementation, and multiple …
Chose Google Drive
We are also a Microsoft school in addition to GSuite. The Microsoft products don't seem to flow as well in my opinion. I also have had serious synchronization issues with OneDrive. I found OneDrive a little more difficult to navigate when looking for files within folders. …
Chose Google Drive
In short, Google Drive is better for independent users who store a normal amount of stuff. OneDrive makes more sense for businesses and teams that are doing heavy-duty storage or large-scale syncing. Realistically, though, most users will fall somewhere in between the two, …
Chose Google Drive
The free plan takes Google Drive at the top of the stack, paying nothing you can store data up to 15GB. This could be really important for a startup that has to consider how to manage the initial budget. I selected Google Drive because I had already a Google account, before …
Chose Google Drive
Once I tried Dropbox when I need to share some images the UI was not intuitive and there were limited space for free user. I switched to using Google Drive as device syncing feature is the best feature of the drive using this we can upload any file from any device and this will …
Chose Google Drive
Can't compare, it's faster. It owns several Google platforms. Organization, search, and collaborative work 100%
Chose Google Drive
Even though AWS provides a very similar service, Google Drive presents a much easier, cleaner and more user friendly platform (both through explorer or desktop app). Contrary to AWS where each collaborator needs to have a specific set of credentials to access the storage, Drive …
Nextcloud
Chose Nextcloud
PIM and file sharing are the same as you get in Google's Drive/Calendar. With extensions, you can also implement web meetings (e.g., by using Jitsi), but this comes with more administrative effort. In the end, this comes down to how big of a user/customer base you are …
Chose Nextcloud
CryptPad, OneDrive, PicoShare
CryptPad has end-to-end encryption client-side, a feature Nextcloud desperately needs, but much worse documentation, is much harder to setup, obviously slower due to the encryption, and has no clients for any device, it is browser only.
OneDrive is …
Chose Nextcloud
Main feature is the possibility to self host your files and have control over your data (especially if it is sensitive and you want to host the data in house). Others provide good services too, but thinking about GDPR this is the easiest route you can take. Since we use it for …
Chose Nextcloud
We prefer Nextcloud over Trello and Google Workspace as Nextcloud is considerable easier to use, access and manage. Tools like Trello and Google Workspace come with a powerhouse suite of products that are designed to work together. Nextcloud offers a solution that is just the …
Chose Nextcloud
On-premise solution good for control and cost (in our case).
Chose Nextcloud
I'm comparing, but it wasn't a problem for me, because I couldn't use it because of the security of the company that manages our Office 365. But, both allow practically the same options, they are fast, among others. Maybe Office 365 handles the Word, Excel, etc. files better, …
Chose Nextcloud
Dropbox was no longer an option due to their hosting policy. We needed an EU-based solution, preferably open source and self-hosted. There were also security leaks with Dropbox in the past. OneDrive is dreadfully slow, Nextcloud is as fast as you want it to be. On a dedicated …
Chose Nextcloud
Nextcloud is easy to set up an[d] easy to use because of its user-friendly interface. Some of the features offered by this application [are] much better and effective compared to OneDrive.
Overall, Nextcloud is just amazing and as an organization we are extremely happy with …
Chose Nextcloud
Nextcloud stacks up pretty well against Mattermost and ownCloud. I really appreciate the fact that Nextcloud seems to integrate with other products pretty seamlessly and allows for extensibility that our product team can extend and improve functionality without a tremendous …
Chose Nextcloud
As an offshoot (fork) of ownCloud, Nextcloud has a slightly better feature set and more integrations. Both products perform their core function of web-based file access admirably, but Nextcloud has gone above and beyond with the recent release of Hub in version 21. That it is …
Chose Nextcloud
Even excluding the budget and privacy concerns, we selected Nextcloud for its simplicity of use and the UI is very clear.
It just does what it is supposed to do.
Features
Google DriveNextcloud
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Drive
7.8
Ratings
7% below category average
Nextcloud
8.2
Ratings
2% below category average
Versioning8.30 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Video files7.60 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Audio files7.90 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Document collaboration8.50 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Access control8.20 Ratings7.80 Ratings
File search6.00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Device sync7.80 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Cloud Storage Security & Administration
Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
Google Drive
8.1
Ratings
7% below category average
Nextcloud
8.8
Ratings
1% above category average
User and role management8.30 Ratings7.80 Ratings
File organization7.40 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Device management8.70 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Cloud Storage Platform
Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
Google Drive
8.3
Ratings
2% below category average
Nextcloud
7.9
Ratings
7% below category average
Performance8.10 Ratings4.40 Ratings
Reliability8.30 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Storage Reports8.50 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google DriveNextcloud
Small Businesses
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 5.7 out of 10
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 5.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.7 out of 10
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.7 out of 10
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google DriveNextcloud
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google DriveNextcloud
Likelihood to Recommend
Suppose you require quick access to files across multiple systems. Real-time collaboration on Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets. You don’t have to send ten different versions of the same file back and forth. One person can write a document in Los Angeles, and someone in Tokyo can be on at the same time and see their edits as they make them.
Read full review
While searching for tools to satisfy a quickly scaling online startup, we found Nextcloud is well suited for today's remote collaborative team. Nextcloud has just the right toolset for a collaborative workspace including video, chat, many file formats accepted, and intuitive user interface. Comparatively other popular tools like Trello were distracting with more features than functionality. Working with Nextcloud is much like having a workspace with all your content and tools available anywhere on any device, without the ads, distractions, and irrelevant functionality. We will continue to utilize Nextcloud as a remote workspace for evolving and scaling teams.
Read full review
Pros
  • Any user with access can store a file using different platforms like Android, IOS, Windows, or Ubuntu (Desktop version)
  • You can share files with any number of different users with different access rights or you can even keep it public by providing the access link and assign different rights for public access
  • You can open Excel/Word files using google software Sheets/Docs in the browser environment without having to install software like Microsoft Office etc on your Windows OS
Read full review
  • File sharing (internal, public or federated).
  • One software, many activities (files, address book, calendar, chat, edit, email) ...
  • Groupware, sharing between users or groups is really easy and finely controlled.
  • Integrations and many apps.
Read full review
Cons
  • Advanced File Search, personally I find it uncomfortable to search for files with specific extensions within my drive in Google Drive, the interface is not very clear and the search options are limited, making this work tedious.
  • In applications like Google Sheets, the number of cells is extremely small, which limits the amount of information that can be saved, this makes the tool focus on small files.
  • Inherited permissions, it happens to me that in certain shared files when analyzing the permissions granted to the participants some of them are left with owner permissions without having given such property, that point is confusing so I would like the interface to be clearer.
Read full review
  • Slow in comparison to other solutions
  • May be complex for the start since there are lots of apps and features
  • May be not focusing on core topics
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
It's perfect for me. It keeps things saved and is easy to remove items if needed. Also, I very much enjoy the formatting options. Along with the integrations it has for SSO. Overall, this is the most user friendly system I have ever come across.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
It's easy enough to use for computer users of all ages and skill levels. I am an advanced user, and I think the hardest part might be showing someone how to download and set up the app on their device if they weren't too familiar with computers, but overall it is very easy to understand.
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No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Always available
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No answers on this topic
Performance
The documents load fairly quickly and also update in real time, especially given the fact that multiple people can be using it at once. The "Offline" feature works great to allow the user to make edits and access the document without access to the internet, and then sync changes later once they're back.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
It takes a few days for customer support to get back to you. Although, I have not had to use support too often. Once you get an email back, they are very thorough and work hard to fix the problem quickly. It is a really great resource and a great way to get the help you need if you're stuck. A phone call also works quickly but you have to call during specific times.
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I never needed support as everything always worked fine. The documentation on Nextcloud website is extensive and clear. The community is very active on the forum and should support you if you don't already find what you are looking for.
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In-Person Training
The effective google workspace using training that my organization received and was conducted by me (as a team lead of the ICT team) was mind-blowing and as a result, our staff is performing well in terms of using the application for their daily jobs than before. Now, in my institution, all teachers and all the administrative personnel are very much interested in cloud storage facilities, in previous my institution was afraid of losing all important documents in the cloud storage. But, after having received the training they are now realized that if anyone has only one google account then he or she can use 15GB of cloud storage freely and they are now happy because now it is not necessary for anyone to carry the traditional pen drive.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
It's an extremely easy software to implement, once you sign up for a google account you automatically have access to google drive with a set amount of storage space. The business or Google Suite accounts have more storage space than a regular free account, but setting up and accessing google drive is very easy in both cases
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Apple Drive dosn't offer that much storage and doesn't provide vast features with collaborative tools like docs , spreadsheet and forms etc. Google drive also allows you to search for files and folders that contain certain words in their title or content in any perticular file. therefore search is very deep and reliable and hepls to access your data easily
Read full review
PIM and file sharing are the same as you get in Google's Drive/Calendar. With extensions, you can also implement web meetings (e.g., by using Jitsi), but this comes with more administrative effort. In the end, this comes down to how big of a user/customer base you are supporting. For small enterprises, Nextcloud stacks up very well against its big competitors. At a large scale, you will have increased maintenance and resource costs which you need to check against licensing fees for the cloud providers.
Read full review
Scalability
I have always been able to access
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • It has given our operation remote capabilities
  • Easier to access and understand client's need through collaborative enviroment
  • availability to digital resources fast and easy
  • saved our operation hundreds of dollars in physical storage (both investment and maintenance)
  • our operation became easier for new staff to get onboard: small learning curve to use it
Read full review
  • It allowed us access to our files from any device over the internet.
  • It helped manage and organize our file sharing with third parties.
  • It provided a secure wrapper for accessing files.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Google Drive Screenshots

Screenshot of Google Drive PriorityScreenshot of Comment on Microsoft Files in Google DriveScreenshot of Shared drives

Nextcloud Screenshots

Screenshot of Nextcloud HubScreenshot of Nextcloud CalendarScreenshot of Nextcloud Talk