Nextcloud instead of Dropbox: the Swiss-compliant cloud for SMEs

The short answer first: yes, Nextcloud can fully replace Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive for the vast majority of Swiss SMEs – including file synchronisation, calendars, contacts, share links and collaborative editing of office documents. The decisive difference is not the feature set but control: with Nextcloud you decide where your data lives and who can access it. With US services, you do not.

Why are Swiss companies switching from Dropbox to Nextcloud?

Three reasons come up again and again in conversations with our customers:

1. Data protection law. Since 1 September 2023, the revised Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP) has been in force. Anyone storing personal data in a US cloud has to justify and document the lawfulness of the data export – with a Swiss host, that entire exercise disappears.
2. The US CLOUD Act. US providers are subject to the CLOUD Act of 2018 and can be compelled by US authorities to hand over data – even if the servers are located in Europe. We have written a dedicated article on the CLOUD Act covering the details.
3. Professional secrecy and industry rules. Law firms (Art. 321 of the Swiss Criminal Code), medical practices and fiduciaries carry confidentiality obligations that are hard to meet cleanly with a US cloud.

What can Nextcloud do – and what can’t it?

Nextcloud is the world’s most widely used self-hosted collaboration platform and is released under the open-source AGPL licence. Several European public administrations run it in production. The feature comparison with Dropbox:

Feature	Dropbox	Nextcloud (managed)
File sync (desktop/mobile)	✓	✓
Share links with password/expiry	✓	✓
Calendar, contacts, tasks	✗	✓
Collaborative office editing	✓ (US servers)	✓ (with Collabora, on the same Swiss server)
Choice of data location	✗	✓ Switzerland
Open source, no vendor lock-in	✗	✓

To sum up for everyone listening rather than reading: Nextcloud covers file sync, sharing, calendars and office editing; unlike Dropbox, every component runs on a server in Switzerland, and the source code is open.

To be fair: a self-operated Nextcloud needs care – security updates, backups, monitoring. That is exactly what managed hosting is for: we operate the instance, you use it.

How does the migration from Dropbox to Nextcloud work?

The switch is less dramatic than many expect:

1. Provision the instance – with OpenHosting in Swiss data centres (Zurich region), set up within one working day.
2. Transfer the data – via desktop client sync or direct import; calendars and contacts come along as export files (ICS/VCF).
3. Move the team over – connect clients for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android; recreate share links.
4. Cancel the old account – only after two to four weeks of productive use.

What does Nextcloud hosting cost in Switzerland?

At OpenHosting, managed Nextcloud starts at CHF 29 per month with 100 GB of storage, daily backups and support (as of August 2026). For comparison: Dropbox Business costs about the same – but without a Swiss data location, without calendars and without the option of simply moving providers together with your data. Details on the Nextcloud hosting page and the pricing overview.

Frequently asked questions

Is Nextcloud compliant with the nFADP? Nextcloud itself is software – the solution becomes compliant through how it is operated: Swiss data location, encryption, access control and a data processing agreement with the host. All of that is standard with us.

Does Nextcloud also work for associations or medical practices? Yes – especially there, the price advantage over business subscriptions of US services is tangible. Suitable bundles: association and medical practice.

Can we really edit office documents together? Yes, with Collabora Online directly inside Nextcloud – Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats are supported, and the editing runs entirely on the Swiss server.