Not a comparison of features. A description of what actually changes when a 30-50 person team moves its files, email, and documents off Google onto infrastructure it owns.
Most articles about replacing Google Workspace are really tutorials about setting up Nextcloud. This isn't that.
This is a description of what actually happens when a growing team makes the switch — what the infrastructure looks like, what changes for team members on day one, and what ongoing operations require. The goal is to give you an accurate picture before deciding whether this is right for your situation.
What the stack replaces
Google Workspace bundles several distinct things into one subscription:
- —Gmail — business email, inboxes, sending
- —Google Drive — file storage and folder sharing
- —Google Docs/Sheets/Slides — document creation and collaboration
- —Google Calendar — scheduling and calendar sharing
- —Google Contacts — address books and contact management
- —Meet — video calls (this one we don't replace in a standard migration)
Each of these has a self-hosted equivalent. A complete replacement addresses all of them.
What we deploy
Nextcloud handles file storage, calendar, and contacts. It runs on your server, syncs to desktop and mobile clients, and shares files through access-controlled links. For teams that share client folders or collaborate on assets, the experience is close to Google Drive once the client is installed.
OnlyOffice, integrated directly into Nextcloud, handles document editing. Word-compatible, spreadsheet-compatible, presentation-compatible. Multiple people can edit the same document at the same time in a browser window without installing anything. The documents are stored as standard .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx files — not a proprietary format that requires export to move.
Mailcow handles business email. Every team member gets their domain email — name@yourcompany.com — through a self-hosted mail server with full SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration. Webmail access included. Works with any desktop or mobile email client.
The three together replace what Google Workspace covers for most business teams.
What the migration involves
Migrating off Google Workspace requires moving three distinct types of data: files, email history, and calendars/contacts.
Files are the straightforward part. We use rclone to transfer the contents of Google Drive to Nextcloud. Shared drives, personal drives, and folder structures all transfer. This takes time proportional to data volume but is reliable.
Email history is more delicate. We migrate it via IMAP — connecting to both the old Gmail account and the new Mailcow inbox and moving messages folder by folder. Sent mail, archived mail, and labels all transfer. The oldest emails in a large inbox take the most time.
Calendars and contacts export from Google in standard formats (ICS for calendars, vCard for contacts) and import directly into Nextcloud. This part is typically done in under an hour per user.
The key element in all of this: both systems run in parallel for two weeks. The old Google Workspace accounts stay active. Team members use the new infrastructure while the old one remains available as a fallback. Nothing gets switched off until every migration has been verified.
What changes for the team
On day one after cutover, the visible changes are:
- —A new desktop app for file sync instead of Google Drive
- —A new webmail address instead of Gmail
- —Calendar in a different interface
- —Documents opening in OnlyOffice instead of Google Docs
The less visible change is that everything is now on a server the business owns. Files don't leave the company's infrastructure when a team member shares a link. Email isn't processed by Google's servers. The data isn't used to train advertising models or anything else.
For teams where that matters — agencies handling client data, studios with values around data ownership, consultancies in regulated industries — this is the substantive change. For teams primarily motivated by cost, the arithmetic is what matters: the Workspace per-seat cost disappears, replaced by a fixed server cost that doesn't grow when headcount grows.
What ongoing operations require
Self-hosted infrastructure doesn't run itself. The server needs updates. Backups need verification. SSL certificates need renewal. If something breaks — a failed update, a disk filling up, an email bouncing for an unclear reason — it needs someone who knows the setup to fix it.
For teams without in-house technical capacity, this is the deciding factor. A self-hosted stack that isn't maintained is worse than SaaS. It breaks in less visible ways, and nobody gets an alert from a support team.
We handle ongoing operations — updates, backup verification, monitoring, and incident response — for every team we've migrated. The infrastructure belongs to the client. The operational responsibility stays with us.
Who this is right for
Teams that get the most from this migration:
- —20–80 people, where per-seat pricing is a meaningful line item
- —Businesses handling client data where the hosting location matters
- —Teams with values around data ownership where consistency with infrastructure matters
- —Companies that have been burned by a SaaS price increase and want a fixed-cost alternative
It's worth being honest about who it isn't right for: teams that rely heavily on Google Meet, teams deeply integrated with other Google services (Ads, Analytics, Search Console), or very small teams where the savings don't justify the migration investment.
A complete Google Workspace replacement — files, email, documents, calendar, contacts — is a standard TrySelfHost engagement. The free assessment covers your specific situation, data volume, and what the migration timeline looks like.