What is ownCloud used for?

ownCloud is the server core of ownCloud Classic, a self-hosted platform for file storage, sync and sharing with WebDAV, CalDAV and CardDAV support. It is a good fit for team file sharing on private servers, and calendar and contact sync via DAV.

Is ownCloud open source?

Yes. ownCloud is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at owncloud/core and is written mainly in PHP.

Yes. ownCloud is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host ownCloud?

Yes. ownCloud can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is ownCloud an alternative to?

ownCloud is an open-source alternative to Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. Other open-source alternatives to Dropbox include Nextcloud, Seafile and Nextcloud All-in-One.

Is ownCloud actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to ownCloud was on 27 September 2026, and the latest release is v11.0.1, published on 25 September 2026. The project has 8.8k stars on GitHub.

ownCloud: open-source alternative to Dropbox, Box

About ownCloud

ownCloud Core is the server component of ownCloud Classic, a self-hosted platform for file storage, synchronization and sharing. It is the foundation on which apps such as Activity, Calendar and Contacts are built, and is written in PHP and JavaScript.

It ships with servers for WebDAV, CalDAV and CardDAV, an app plugin architecture, backends for external storage, support for encryption, user and group management, and a REST API. The server runs on PHP with MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL or SQLite, and is also available as a Docker image on Docker Hub. Its topics point to federated sharing and enterprise use.

ownCloud Classic is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and installation is covered by the official manual. For the next-generation platform, the project points to ownCloud Infinite Scale. Contributors follow a rebase workflow with signed commits and DCO sign-off, and enterprise support is available from the vendor. It suits organizations and individuals who want to keep files on their own servers instead of a public cloud.

Key features

File storage, sync and sharing
WebDAV, CalDAV and CardDAV servers
Plugin architecture for apps
User and group management
Encryption and external storage support
REST API for integrations
Docker image available

Good fit for

→Self-hosted alternative to public file sync services
→Team file sharing on private servers
→Calendar and contact sync via DAV

Built with: PHP; JavaScript
Tags: file-sync; file-sharing; self-hosted; webdav; caldav; cloud-storage; php; owncloud

ownCloud: questions and answers

What is ownCloud used for?: ownCloud is the server core of ownCloud Classic, a self-hosted platform for file storage, sync and sharing with WebDAV, CalDAV and CardDAV support. It is a good fit for team file sharing on private servers, and calendar and contact sync via DAV.
Is ownCloud open source?: Yes. ownCloud is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at owncloud/core and is written mainly in PHP.
Is ownCloud free?: Yes. ownCloud is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host ownCloud?: Yes. ownCloud can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is ownCloud an alternative to?: ownCloud is an open-source alternative to Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. Other open-source alternatives to Dropbox include Nextcloud, Seafile and Nextcloud All-in-One.
Is ownCloud actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to ownCloud was on 27 September 2026, and the latest release is v11.0.1, published on 25 September 2026. The project has 8.8k stars on GitHub.