Nextcloud vs Pingvin Share

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureNextcloudPingvin Share
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseAGPL-3.0BSD-2-Clause
LanguagePHPTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, snapdocker
GitHub stars★ 36,362★ 4,684
First released20162022
ReplacesDropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft 365WeTransfer, Firefox Send

Why pick each one

Choose Nextcloud if…

  • Feature-rich and extensible
  • Active development and large community
  • Integrates calendar, contacts and office
Nextcloud details

Choose Pingvin Share if…

  • Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (4.7k GitHub stars)
Pingvin Share details

Frequently asked questions

Is Nextcloud or Pingvin Share better?

Neither is universally better. Nextcloud has the larger community, while Pingvin Share is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Nextcloud and Pingvin Share free and open-source?

Yes. Nextcloud is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Pingvin Share under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Nextcloud and Pingvin Share with Docker?

Nextcloud: yes. Pingvin Share: yes.

Related comparisons