Grab your calculator for a second.
How many Google Workspace or Dropbox Business accounts is your company currently paying for? Multiply that by the monthly price per user. Now multiply that by 12. That’s what you’re paying a foreign company every year, just to store files that already belong to you.
And here’s the part that almost no one tells you: that number is only going to go up. Every time you hire someone new, the bill goes up. Every time they decide to “update their plans” (read: raise prices), you have no say in the matter.
The problem isn't just about money
Okay, money matters. But there’s something even more troubling: your files—contracts, pay stubs, customer information, everything—are stored on servers you don’t control, under terms of service that give that company broad rights over how it processes your data. If one day they suspend your account by mistake (it happens more often than you think), your business comes to a standstill until someone in tech support, in another country, decides to help you.
It's not paranoia. It's simply asking yourself: Who really owns your company's information?
The alternative that almost no one knows about: Nextcloud
Nextcloud is an open-source platform that basically does the same thing as Google Drive or Dropbox—files, synchronization, sharing with your team—but with one huge difference: the instance is yours. It’s installed on a server that you (or your trusted provider) control, and you decide who has access, what’s shared, and where your data is physically stored.
And it’s not just about files. With its built-in apps, you can make video calls and chat with your team (Nextcloud Talk), collaboratively edit documents with OnlyOffice, and use a calendar and Kanban-style boards for projects—all in one place. In practice, it replaces two or three different subscriptions with a single platform.
The account that changes everything
Here’s the real difference in how they’re priced: Google Workspace and Dropbox Business charge per user, per month, indefinitely. The more your team grows, the more you pay—with no upper limit. Nextcloud doesn’t work that way. Since it’s open-source software, there’s no per-user license: you (or Metamedia, managing it for you) pay for the infrastructure, not for each person you add to the team.
That means that if your company has 5 employees today and 20 next year, your costs won't skyrocket just because you're growing.
“That sounds good, but isn't it complicated to maintain my own server?”
That’s the right question, and the short answer is: no, if we do it for you. At Metamedia Cloud Services, we deploy, configure, and maintain your Nextcloud instance—security, backups, updates, everything—so that your only job is to use it. You have control and ownership; we take care of the technical work.
What if we already have everything on Google Drive?
Migrating isn't as dramatic as it sounds. We assess how your data is currently organized, put together a phased migration plan (so no one loses a file or a day's work), and move everything with minimal downtime. Most of our clients don’t even notice the change—except for the fact that their monthly bill stops going up.
The decision is simple
You can continue to pay a monthly fee per user indefinitely for files that already belong to you. Or you can have your own private cloud, with the same (or better) level of functionality, without a foreign company dictating the price or the rules.
If you want to know exactly how much you'd save by switching—based on actual figures from your transaction, not generic estimates—ask us for a free assessment. We'll let you know right from the first call whether switching is right for you and how long it will take.
Learn how Nextcloud works with Metamedia →
Would you rather talk about it in person? Write to us at WhatsApp and we'll answer your questions in minutes, not through 3-day support tickets.
Quick Questions
Is Nextcloud free?
The software itself is open source, yes. But you need a server to host it and someone to keep it secure and up to date—that's exactly what we handle for you, without charging you per user.
Is it as easy to use as Google Drive?
Yes. The interface is very similar: you drag, drop, and share via a link. The difference lies in who controls the server behind the scenes, not in the day-to-day user experience.
Can I keep using Office or Google Docs?
You can continue uploading those files without any problems, and Nextcloud also includes collaborative editing integrated with OnlyOffice, so you don't even need another subscription for that.
