Google Workspace or Microsoft 365: which open source alternatives for a small business?
Files, calendar, collaborative editing, video calls: how to replace Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 with open source tools, and what to keep in mind.
The office suite is often a company's first subscription, and the hardest one to question. Yet its main uses now have solid open source equivalents. An honest overview.
What you actually use in an office suite
Before looking for replacements, look at how your teams really use it. In most small businesses, it comes down to:
- storing and sharing files;
- editing documents together;
- managing calendars and contacts;
- holding video conferences;
- sending and receiving emails.
The open source equivalents
Files and sharing: Nextcloud
Nextcloud replaces Google Drive and OneDrive: synchronisation on computer and mobile, sharing by link, folder-level permissions, version history. It also handles calendars and contacts, which sync with the usual phone apps.
Collaborative editing: Nextcloud Office or OnlyOffice
Built into Nextcloud, Nextcloud Office (based on Collabora) or OnlyOffice let several people edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations directly in the browser, while staying compatible with Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats.
Video conferencing: Jitsi Meet
Jitsi Meet covers everyday video meetings with no account needed for guests. For webinars or very large meetings, look at BigBlueButton instead.
Email: the one to handle separately
Email is the service that is most sensitive to self-host, because of deliverability. Many small businesses keep a dedicated email provider, often a European one, and move everything else to open source. It is a reasonable compromise.
How much it changes, in practice
At the public small-business price, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 cost between €11 and €14 per user per month on annual billing. For 20 people, that comes to nearly €3,000 a year, rising with headcount and price increases.
With Nextcloud, there is no per-user licence: the cost is that of the server, backups and maintenance, and it stays stable as the team grows.
Precautions to take
- Migrate in stages: start with files, then calendars, then collaborative editing.
- Train your teams: a short session is enough, but it prevents rejection.
- Take care of hosting: daily backups, updates, monitoring. This is what separates a solution that lasts from an abandoned project.
Going further
Add your office suite and your other tools to the simulator to see the order of magnitude, then book a free audit for a migration plan tailored to your business.
