Deploy
Nextcloud self hosted. The software is yours. The operations are ours.
Nextcloud GmbH does not sell hosting, and its support subscription starts at 100 users. This starts at one.
Nextcloud 32.0.14, the open source file, calendar and contacts platform, deploys as a one-click template with PostgreSQL and Redis onto a dedicated server Selfhost.dev provisions, secures and runs, across six locations on three continents. A European 8 GB server is $0.03/hr, about $23 a month, for every user you add.
One click. Three containers. The template deploys in about fifteen minutes.
no signup
+$5.00 added at signup · deployment choice preserved · no card
What is Nextcloud self hosted?
The software is yours.
The operations are ours.
What it is. Nextcloud self hosted means the files, calendars and contacts live on a machine you control rather than in somebody else's account. The software is open source and free. What it needs is a server, a database, a cache, a certificate and somebody to keep all five running. Selfhost.dev supplies those and leaves the application entirely to you.
Who it is for. Teams who want their working documents, calendars and contacts on infrastructure they can point at, and who would rather not own the operating system, the TLS renewal and the 3 a.m. restart as well.
When to use it. When a per-person file-sync subscription starts compounding, or when the files cannot sit in somebody else's account for a data residency or procurement reason.
Nextcloud self hosted requirements
What Nextcloud needs, and what arrives already wired.
| Requirement | This deployment |
|---|---|
| Nextcloud version | 32.0.14, pinned, the official image |
| Database | PostgreSQL 16, bundled |
| Cache and file locking | Redis 7, bundled |
| Containers | Three: app, database, cache |
| Memory | 8 GB recommended. Classed heavy, so it is the size the console defaults to |
| Architecture | x86 or ARM, both work |
| First boot | Minutes. The application copies itself into its volume, then runs the installer |
| Outbound email | Not configured. Add a provider inside Nextcloud |
| Office editing | Not included. No Collabora or OnlyOffice in this template |
| What Selfhost.dev provides | Detail |
|---|---|
| The server | Six locations across three continents |
| Disk | Local NVMe, sized by the server you pick, 80 GB on the 8 GB machine |
| HTTPS | Automatic certificate, generated hostname, custom domain later |
| Firewall | Default deny inbound, only 22, 80 and 443 open |
| Monitoring | Host CPU, memory and disk, and a health check every 60 seconds |
| Backups | Optional. Daily, whole VM, last 7 kept, +20% of the server price |
| Deploy time | About 15 minutes for the template, once the server exists |
| MCP tools | 189 across 31 modules |
Specifications current as of September 2026.
What is in the Nextcloud deployment
Three containers, and the cache is doing real work.
Selfhost.dev pins every image to an exact tag. Nothing moves until you move it.
| Container | Image | Role |
|---|---|---|
nextcloud | nextcloud:32.0.14-apache | The application. The official image, not a community rebuild |
nextcloud-db | postgres:16-alpine | The database |
nextcloud-redis | redis:7-alpine | Memory cache and transactional file locking |
Redis is not only a cache here
Nextcloud uses it for transactional file locking, which is what stops two clients corrupting the same file during a sync. Most one-click Nextcloud images omit it entirely.
Three volumes, and the first boot is the slow one
The Nextcloud data volume holds both the application and every user file, alongside the PostgreSQL volume and the Redis volume. On first boot the image copies the whole application into its volume and runs the installer, which is why the first start takes minutes rather than seconds.
What we set up for you
There is no setup screen, and that is the point.
Every deployment gets a public HTTPS hostname with an automatic certificate, a route to the right container on the right internal port, per-service DNS names for the database and cache, generated and stored passwords for both, and a readiness check that proves the URL answers before the console calls it done. On top of that, specific to Nextcloud:
| Setting | Why it is there |
|---|---|
NEXTCLOUD_ADMIN_USER and password, pre-seeded | No claim window. The admin account exists before the URL does |
NEXTCLOUD_TRUSTED_DOMAINS | Without it Nextcloud refuses every request with "access through untrusted domain" |
OVERWRITEPROTOCOL=https, OVERWRITEHOST, OVERWRITECLIURL | Links, share URLs and client configs resolve to the real address |
APACHE_DISABLE_REWRITE_IP=1 plus TRUSTED_PROXIES | Nextcloud sees the real client IP through the proxy, so rate limits and logs are honest |
| PostgreSQL and Redis hosts and credentials | Wired at boot, nothing to configure by hand |
A Nextcloud installed by hand leaves its setup screen open until somebody completes it. This one does not have a setup screen. No Selfhost.dev template ever boots on a documented default password, and if credential seeding fails the instance boots locked rather than open.
How to self host Nextcloud in four steps
From zero to live.
No server to set up.
Four steps. There is no setup screen, because the admin account exists before the address does.
1. Choose Nextcloud and a server
This page opens the exact console template. Pick 8 GB or larger and one of six locations, then submit. A European 8 GB server is $0.03/hr.
2. Your admin account already exists
The console shows the administrator username and password. Nextcloud never presents a setup screen here, because the account is created before the address is.
3. Let it start
The template deploys in about fifteen minutes. The first boot copies the whole application into its volume and runs the installer, then the console proves the HTTPS address answers before it reports the deployment ready.
4. Add people and connect clients
Sign in, add users or groups, and point the desktop and mobile clients at the address. Add your own domain from the resource Settings screen when you are ready.
What we run, and what you run
Nobody here is inside your files.
| Selfhost.dev runs | You run |
|---|---|
| The server, in one of six locations | Nextcloud itself, as its administrator |
| Provisioning, firewall and the HTTPS certificate | Users, groups and sharing rules |
| The Traefik route and the generated hostname | Apps from Nextcloud's own app store |
| PostgreSQL 16 and Redis 7 as running containers | What goes in them |
| Host CPU, memory and disk metrics | Nextcloud version upgrades, one major at a time |
| Optional whole-server backups | Anything you choose to keep elsewhere |
Selfhost.dev does not manage Nextcloud. We run the machine under it, and nobody here is inside your files, which is the same promise Nextcloud GmbH makes about itself.
What an 8 GB server handles
Sized for people, not for a media archive.
The 8 GB machine runs Nextcloud, PostgreSQL and Redis together with room left for the sync clients that talk to them. It suits a team's working documents, calendars and contacts. The disk is the part to think about rather than the memory.
| Server | RAM | Disk | Sold in |
|---|---|---|---|
cx33 | 8 GB | 80 GB | Europe |
cx43 | 16 GB | 160 GB | Europe |
You pick the disk when you deploy, and it is the same disk at one user or at fifty.
What Nextcloud hosting costs
Nextcloud is free. The server is the bill.
Nextcloud is free software and Selfhost.dev does not charge for it. You pay for the server it runs on and nothing else. A European 8 GB server is $0.03/hr, about $23 a month if you leave it running, billed hourly against prepaid credits. There is no seat count and no plan above it.
| Server | RAM | Disk | Sold in | Rate | About, at 730 hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cx33, the recommended size | 8 GB | 80 GB | Europe | $0.03/hr | $23.36 |
cax21, ARM | 8 GB | 80 GB | Europe | $0.04/hr | $29.20 |
cx43 | 16 GB | 160 GB | Europe | $0.06/hr | $46.72 |
cpx31 | 8 GB | 160 GB | Europe | $0.07/hr | $47.89 |
cpx31 | 8 GB | 160 GB | Singapore | $0.12/hr | $90.08 |
ccx13 | 8 GB | 80 GB | US | $0.16/hr | $119.28 |
cx33, cax21 and cx43 are European machine types and are sold nowhere else. Price it in your own location, no signup needed.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Nextcloud, the software | $0. Open source, and we do not resell it |
| Its bundled PostgreSQL and Redis | $0 |
| HTTPS certificate and custom domain | $0 |
| Users, seats or accounts | $0 at any number |
| Bandwidth | $0. Traffic is included in the server price |
| Optional whole-server backups | +20% of the server price |
If your credit balance reaches zero the server stops and Nextcloud goes offline. Your data stays on the disk while the server exists, so topping up brings it back as it was. Deleting the server takes its backup images with it, which is why a copy kept somewhere else is worth the time. Signing up adds $5 in free credit, no card needed.
Proof, not claims
The specific mechanisms, all code-verified.
- Every service is health-checked every 60 seconds. The sweep is observational: it tells us, and restarting is done from the console rather than automatically, because a restart loop is worse than a stopped container.
- A stalled deploy is retried automatically rather than waiting for somebody to notice.
- The deployment is not reported ready until the console has fetched the HTTPS address and got an answer.
- The firewall is default deny inbound, with only 22, 80 and 443 reachable, and the rule set is reconciled on every provisioning run so a drifted rule repairs itself.
- Database and cache passwords are generated per deployment and stored as secrets, never baked into an image shared by every customer.
Rather than restate numbers here: Benchmarks, Security, and the public system status.
Working out what a file server costs?
Tell us how many people and roughly how much data, and we will send back the server size, the disk that comes with it and the monthly cost. One email, no newsletter.
Nextcloud's own subscription vs self hosted on your server
The official route starts at a hundred people. This one starts at one.
Nextcloud GmbH does not sell hosting. It states plainly that it does not host and that its employees never have access to customer data. What it sells is an Enterprise subscription, which is support and hardened builds, and it is available from 100 users and up.
| Nextcloud Enterprise | Nextcloud on Selfhost.dev | |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | Support and hardened builds | A server, provisioned and run |
| Minimum | 100 users | One |
| Standard tier | €71.29 per user per year | Not per user |
| Premium tier | €104.99 per user per year | Not per user |
| Who runs the machine | You do | Selfhost.dev does |
| Five people would pay | Cannot buy it | About $23 a month, all in |
Prices from nextcloud.com/pricing, checked 13 September 2026, stated there as Euro per year and net of VAT.
When a managed Nextcloud is the better choice
If you want somebody else to administer Nextcloud itself rather than only the machine under it, Nextcloud One is the closest thing in the vendor's orbit. It is run by a partner, epiKshare GmbH, rather than by Nextcloud GmbH, and it is priced per person: €15 a month for one to four people on a yearly plan, €13 for teams of five and up, with 500 GB to 1 TB of storage included. If the storage allowance is what you are buying, that is the better fit and this page is not pretending otherwise.
Nextcloud vs Dropbox
They price the person. We price the disk.
Dropbox charges for every person you add. Selfhost.dev charges for the server. Add ten people to a Nextcloud and the bill does not move.
| Product | Month to month | Annual commitment | Included storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud on Selfhost.dev, European 8 GB | $23.36 total | none offered or needed | 80 GB of disk |
| Dropbox Standard | $18 per user | $15 per user | from 3,000 GB for the team |
| Dropbox Advanced | $30 per user | $24 per user | from 15,000 GB for the team |
Source: dropbox.com/business/pricing, checked 13 September 2026. Drawn month to month because our figure carries no commitment at all.
At two people, Dropbox Standard already costs more than this entire server. At ten it is $180 a month against $23.36.
Versus a raw VPS you set up yourself
The software bill is identical.
A raw VPS is cheaper per gigabyte and it is the honest comparison for anyone already comfortable with a terminal. What you take on with it is the operating system, Docker, a reverse proxy, certificate renewal, the PostgreSQL and Redis containers, the trusted-domains configuration that Nextcloud refuses to start without, and every restart at every hour.
| On a raw VPS you install | Here it is already running |
|---|---|
| Docker and a compose runtime | Provisioned |
| A reverse proxy and TLS renewal | Traefik plus an automatic certificate |
| PostgreSQL and Redis | Both containers, wired and credentialed |
NEXTCLOUD_TRUSTED_DOMAINS and the three overwrite variables | Set at boot |
| A firewall policy | Default deny, three ports open |
| A readiness check | The console proves the URL answers |
The software bill is identical. The difference is the fifteen minutes against the afternoon.
What this deployment does not do
Eight constraints, easier to plan around than to discover.
- One server, one disk, no replication and no failover. Every container shares the machine.
- The disk is sized when the server is created and is not expanded in place, so choose the size you want to grow into.
- No SMTP. Nextcloud can send mail once you give it a provider's credentials; nothing is configured.
- No Collabora or OnlyOffice. Document editing is not part of this template.
- No ClamAV.
- No external storage backend is configured.
- Upgrades are one major version at a time, each with a database migration that cannot be reversed.
- The server cannot be resized in place, so moving to a bigger box means a new project and a data migration.
Nextcloud backup and restore
One image holds the database and the files together.
Backups here are whole-server images, taken of the boot disk, which on this deployment is the whole project. One image holds Nextcloud, its PostgreSQL database and every user file together, so a restore never leaves the database and the files disagreeing about what exists. Turn it on per project; it adds 20% to the server price, daily, with the last seven kept.
| Route | What it gets you |
|---|---|
| Whole-server image | Everything, restored as one |
pg_dump over root SSH | The database alone, portable anywhere |
| A volume tarball over root SSH | The file tree alone, byte for byte |
| A desktop sync client | An ordinary copy on an ordinary machine, which is the one most people already have |
One server, one disk, nothing replicated. A backup you keep somewhere else is the difference between an outage and a loss.
Related guides.
Frequently asked questions
Can I self host Nextcloud on Selfhost.dev?
How much does Nextcloud cost to self host?
Does Nextcloud sell its own hosting?
How much storage do I get?
Does this deployment send email?
Can I edit documents in this Nextcloud?
Who upgrades Nextcloud?
What happens to my files if my credit balance reaches zero?
About Selfhost.dev
Selfhost.dev is a managed self hosting platform for developers and small teams. Open source apps and databases on dedicated servers you control, billed by the hour, in six locations across three continents.
Best for: Nextcloud, Immich, Paperless-ngx, MinIO and managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis and ClickHouse.