The GDPR-compliant Microsoft 365 alternative from Germany
Looking for office and collaboration tools without a US cloud and without per-seat licenses? Nextcloud with Collabora Online covers the core of Microsoft 365 – files, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, calendars, chat and video. We run the environment for you in a German, ISO 27001-certified data center, GDPR-compliant including a data processing agreement (DPA).
Why move away from Microsoft 365 at all?
Four points cause trouble in practice: data sovereignty, pricing model, dependency and third-country transfers.
Data sovereignty. With open source, the software and the data stay in your hands. You decide where data is stored, who has access, and when things change – not a vendor roadmap.
Per-seat pricing. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace bill per user account per month. Nextcloud and Collabora carry no license fees and no per-seat costs; you pay for operations. For organizations with many rarely active accounts – schools, associations – that changes the math considerably.
Lock-in. Proprietary formats, proprietary identities and deeply interlocked services make leaving expensive. Open formats and open interfaces keep the door open.
Third-country transfers. With US providers, access by US authorities remains a recurring question in data protection impact assessments. A German server location without a parent company outside the EU makes that assessment simpler. More on our Nextcloud data protection page.
What replaces what?
| Microsoft 365 | Open source counterpart | An honest assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Word | Collabora Writer | Covers text documents, comments, track changes and DOCX. For heavy mail-merge and macro documents, Word is still ahead. |
| Excel | Collabora Calc | Formulas, pivot tables, charts, XLSX. Large models built on Power Query, Power Pivot or VBA do not transfer one to one. |
| PowerPoint | Collabora Impress | Presentations, slide masters, PPTX. Animations and design suggestions are simpler. |
| OneDrive / SharePoint | Nextcloud Files | Sync, share links, versioning, group folders. Rebuilding very large SharePoint portals with custom workflow logic is a project in itself. |
| Teams (chat/meetings) | Nextcloud Talk or BigBlueButton | Talk covers chat and small calls, BigBlueButton larger conferences with whiteboard and breakout rooms. The tight weave of Teams channels, apps and telephony is not matched. |
| Outlook / Exchange | Nextcloud Groupware | Mail, calendar, contacts and tasks over open standards. Exchange-specific details such as fine-grained shared mailbox permissions are missing. |
In short: for everyday documents, files, communication and scheduling, the switch is realistic. For highly specialized Excel models and deeply built SharePoint processes, it often is not.
Nextcloud + Collabora, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace compared (2026)
| Criterion | Nextcloud + Collabora (eledia.cloud) | Microsoft 365 | Google Workspace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data location | Germany, ISO 27001-certified data center | depends on plan, parent company outside the EU | depends on plan, parent company outside the EU |
| Billing model | operations instead of per-seat licenses | per user per month | per user per month |
| Open source | fully open source | proprietary | proprietary |
| Extensibility | own apps, open interfaces, integration with Moodle | extensions within the vendor's ecosystem | extensions within the vendor's ecosystem |
| Exit strategy | open formats, export any time, move to your own server | export possible, rebuilding processes is costly | export possible, rebuilding processes is costly |
| DPA | yes, with a German provider | yes, with group structures outside the EU | yes, with group structures outside the EU |
Migration step by step
- Take stock. Which files, mailboxes, Teams channels and processes actually exist, and which are really used?
- Pilot group. One department or one year group works productively in Nextcloud for four to six weeks.
- Move the data. Mirror files from OneDrive/SharePoint into Nextcloud, import calendars and contacts over open standards.
- Check templates and formats. Test your critical DOCX and XLSX templates once and adjust where they break.
- Identities and permissions. Connect your user directory, map groups and shares cleanly.
- Training and cut-over. Short introductions, then a fixed switch-over date. Keep parallel operation brief.
- Wind-down. Set the old system to read-only, then shut it off.
We support these steps; scope and timeline are agreed up front – simply get in touch.
Who benefits from the switch – and who does not?
Usually worth it: schools and training providers with many accounts and tight budgets, public bodies with data sovereignty requirements, associations, and companies with clear document and file processes. See our pages for schools, companies and associations.
Rarely worth it: organizations whose core processes live in Excel macros, Power BI, Power Automate or heavily customized SharePoint sites. The same goes for teams using Teams telephony as their phone system. A partial move – files and video only, for example – is often the better route.
Frequently asked questions about the Microsoft 365 alternative
Is this Microsoft 365 alternative really GDPR-compliant? It runs in Germany in an ISO 27001-certified data center, with a DPA in place, so third-country transfers are off the table. The legal assessment of your specific use remains yours; we supply the documentation for it.
Can I keep using my existing Word and Excel files? Yes. Collabora Online opens and saves DOCX, XLSX and PPTX. Test very complex documents before you switch.
What about Microsoft Office users outside our organization? Exchange happens through the common formats. Nextcloud share links also work for recipients without an account.
Does Nextcloud Talk really replace Microsoft Teams? For chat and smaller meetings, yes. For teaching, training and larger conferences we recommend BigBlueButton, also available as a Moodle activity.
How is this different from Google Workspace? Google Workspace is proprietary too, bills per seat and belongs to a group outside the EU. The difference lies less in features than in data location, openness of the source and your ability to leave.
What does the move cost? There are no license fees for the software. Costs arise for operations, migration and training. Pricing →
Can we switch back later? Yes. Your data is stored in open formats and can be exported or moved to your own server.