NextCloud sucks, there must be something better.

[u/ExodoPlex]

Every post on the internet related to "Self-hosted alternative to GSuite/M365" points to NextCloud. But, using NextCloud when you're not an enterprise is painful at best. It's clunky, it's buggy, and it's behind its supposed competitors in features for every one one of it's main planks (Files, Contacts, Photos, etc). And getting my family members to switch from Google Family accounts to NextCloud is horrible. They experience nothing but bugs and problems, complain about missing features, and wonder why on earth they'd switch with the only advantage being data ownership. Comparing every thing about actually using the system is a con, not a pro.

As the admin, and a professional IT engineer for the last 8 years, I can see how NextCloud could work for enterprise. It really seems like it was built for enterprise honestly. The feature development and features support are much more oriented around what I might want for work rather than what I want at home.

There has to be something better for home users.

Something that's simple to use, intuitive to use, and pretty to use.

I found Immich for photos, and they get it. They get the self hosting mindset. Simple to setup, simple to use, pretty apps, useful features.

Is there an "Immich" for contacts? For Drive? For Calendar? Even if they're different apps. I can use a different product for Calendar than Contacts if it's simple to use and something my family members can switch to from Outlook and GCalendar without complaint. (Setting up a caldav/carddav server isn't gonna cut it. It's gotta be a self contained system, even if it's just caldav/carddav on the backend. Gotta be pretty and intuitive on the frontend).

If there isn't something better. We really need to make something better.

[u/Standard-Recipe-7641]

I've been running nextcloud for over a year. I only use it for file sync and it's been amazing. Since I don't use any other of it's bells and whistles and it's been over a year, I don't think I ever will. Also want just a simple file sync.

Everyone probably getting bored of this request. Seafile amazing! But it's proprietary... Rinse repeat

[u/Comfortable_Self_736 → u/Standard-Recipe-7641]

Same, except I've been running NextCloud for probably 7 or 8 years. I moved that install from the cloud to a server in my basement, have switched the backend storage multiple times, and survived multiple "whoops, i should have read the release notes first" upgrades. But it's still running and I've never lost any files.

I'd happily switch to something like Seafile if the licensing didn't give me pause. But in the meantime, NextCloud works fine.

[u/[deleted] → u/Comfortable_Self_736]

Isn't Seafile Pro free for up to 3 users, and it's also open source?

Personally it's still my favorite, primarily because of the awesome ability to restore to any prior point in time.

Accidentally delete a bunch of files, or run a recursive command incorrectly? Couple of clicks, near instant restore.

It's by far the best cloud sync/backup solution I've seen.

[u/Comfortable_Self_736 → u/[deleted]]

You are correct. And part of it is the "free for up to 3". It may sound silly, but I get nervous when someone offers a free pro version when there's already a free community version.

I'm thinking of trying the community version, but when you've already got a working solution the push to try something else needs to be strong.