Nextcloud
Access and share your files, calendars, contacts, mail and more from any device, on your terms.
Best self-hosted Groupware software in 2026
Collaborative software or groupware is designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. Groupware often regroups multiple services such as file sharing, calendar/events management, appointment scheduling, address books... in a single, integrated application.
We track 20 open-source, self-hosted Groupware apps. 16 of them had commits in the last 90 days, 7 can run with Docker, and the most common licenses are AGPL-3.0 (13), GPL-2.0 (3), GPL-3.0 (3). The most-used languages are Nodejs, PHP, C. Below are the top picks by GitHub stars, followed by every app ranked by stars weighted by maintenance health.
Alternatives to Microsoft 365Alternatives to Google WorkspaceAlternatives to Microsoft ExchangeAlternatives to SharePointAlternatives to Nextcloud
Top 5 by GitHub stars
| # | App | Stars | Health | Last activity | License | Language | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nextcloud | 37.5k | Active | 2026-11-10 | AGPL-3.0 | PHP, deb | – |
| 2 | Seafile | 15.4k | Active | 2026-10-16 | GPL-2.0, GPL-3.0, AGPL-3.0, Apache-2.0 | C | – |
| 3 | Colanode | 5.2k | Maintained | 2026-04-03 | Apache-2.0 | K8S, Docker | ✓ |
| 4 | SOGo | 2.2k | Active | 2026-11-09 | LGPL-2.1 | Objective-C | – |
| 5 | Sync-in | 2k | Active | 2026-11-09 | AGPL-3.0 | Nodejs, Docker | ✓ |
- Nextcloud — Access and share your files, calendars, contacts, mail and more from any device, on your terms.
- Seafile — File hosting and sharing solution primary for teams and organizations.
- Colanode — Collaboration suite with real-time messaging, rich text pages, file management, and dynamic databases - built for offline work (alternative to Slack, Notion).
- SOGo — SOGo offers multiple ways to access the calendaring and messaging data. CalDAV, CardDAV, GroupDAV, as well as ActiveSync, including native Outlook compatibility and Web interface.
- Sync-in — File storage, syncing, sharing, and collaboration with real-time editing, permission management, and desktop/CLI clients.
Head-to-head comparisons
Nextcloud vs SeafileColanode vs NextcloudNextcloud vs SOGoColanode vs SeafileSeafile vs SOGoColanode vs SOGo
All 20 self-hosted Groupware apps
Ranked by GitHub stars weighted by maintenance health.
Seafile
File hosting and sharing solution primary for teams and organizations.
SOGo
SOGo offers multiple ways to access the calendaring and messaging data. CalDAV, CardDAV, GroupDAV, as well as ActiveSync, including native Outlook compatibility and Web interface.
Sync-in
File storage, syncing, sharing, and collaboration with real-time editing, permission management, and desktop/CLI clients.
bewCloud
File sharing + sync, notes, and photos (alternative to Nextcloud and ownCloud's RSS reader).
Colanode
Collaboration suite with real-time messaging, rich text pages, file management, and dynamic databases - built for offline work (alternative to Slack, Notion).
Openmeetings
Video conferencing, instant messaging, whiteboard, collaborative document editing and other groupware tools using API functions of the Red5 Streaming Server for Remoting and Streaming.
egroupware
Software suite including calendars, address books, notepad, project management tools, client relationship management tools (CRM), knowledge management tools, a wiki and a CMS.
Group Office
Enterprise CRM and groupware tool. Share projects, calendars, files and e-mail online with co-workers and clients.
Tracim
Collaborative Platform for team collaboration: file,threads,notes,agenda,etc.
Tine
Software for digital collaboration in companies and organizations. From powerful groupware functionalities to clever add-ons, tine combines everything to make daily team collaboration easier.
Digipad
Online application for creating collaborative digital notepads (documentation in French).
Digistorm
Create collaborative surveys, quizzes, brainstorms, and word clouds (documentation in French).
Digibuzzer
Create a virtual game room around a connected buzzer (documentation in French).
Digiscreen
Interactive whiteboard/wallpaper for the classroom, in person or remotely (documentation in French).
Digitools
Set of simple tools to accompany the animation of courses in person or remotely (documentation in French).
Digiwall
Create multimedia collaborative walls for in-person or remote work (documentation in French).
Citadel
Groupware including email, calendar/scheduling, address books, forums, mailing lists, IM, wiki and blog engines, RSS aggregation and more.
Cozy Cloud
Personal cloud where you can manage and sync your files, notes, contacts, passwords, and documents.
Zimbra Collaboration
Email, calendar, collaboration server with Web interface and lots of integrations.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best self-hosted Groupware software in 2026?
By GitHub stars, the most popular self-hosted Groupware apps are Nextcloud (37,522 stars), Seafile (15,441 stars), Colanode (5,198 stars). Popularity is only one signal: also check maintenance health, license and whether it fits your setup.
How many self-hosted Groupware apps are actively maintained?
16 of the 20 apps listed had commits in the last 90 days and 1 more in the last 12 months; for 3 we have no repository activity data.
Which self-hosted Groupware apps can I run with Docker?
7 of the 20 apps can run with Docker; 2 publish an image on Docker Hub, including Openmeetings and egroupware.
Which licenses do self-hosted Groupware apps use?
The most common licenses in this category are AGPL-3.0 (13 apps), GPL-2.0 (3 apps), GPL-3.0 (3 apps).
How much does it cost to self-host Groupware software?
The software itself is free to download. Based on our rough hardware estimates, the cheapest suitable VPS plan starts at about $10/month (median $20/month across apps in this category). Several light apps can share one server.
Related categories
Figures from GitHub and Docker Hub as of 2026-11-15; hosting costs are rough estimates.