Best Self-Hosted Google Workspace Alternatives in 2026
Google Workspace is a cloud productivity suite with Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Meet for team collaboration.
5 Self-Hosted Alternatives to Google Workspace
Paperless-ngx
37KA community-supported supercharged version of paperless. Scan, index, and archive all your physical documents.
CryptPad
7.4KCryptPad gives you collaboration suite offering encrypted document editing on your own infrastructure.
Tuta
7.4KTuta is a self-hosted privacy & encryption tool with support for privacy, security, email.
ONLYOFFICE
6.4KONLYOFFICE is a self-hosted office suites tool with support for collaboration, spreadsheet, node.
LibreOffice
3.8KSelf-hosted communication & messaging tool that provides complete office suite compatible.
Why Look for Google Workspace Alternatives?
Google Workspace is a cloud productivity suite with Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Meet for team collaboration.
Pricing
Here’s what Google Workspace charges for its plans:
Business --- Custom pricing
most popularBusiness --- Custom pricing
Business --- Custom pricing
Enterprise --- Custom pricing
Self-hosted alternatives eliminate these recurring costs entirely. You pay only for your own infrastructure.
5 Best Open-Source Alternatives to Google Workspace
CryptPad
Encrypted and open source collaboration suite — 7,422 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Tuta
Tuta offers encrypted email, calendar and contacts with quantum-resistant security, protecting your privacy without ads or tracking. — 7,373 GitHub stars. Licensed under GPL-3.0.
LibreOffice
LibreOffice: Free, open-source office suite. — 3,738 GitHub stars. Licensed under GPL-3.0.
Paperless-ngx
Scan, index, and archive physical documents efficiently. — 37,383 GitHub stars. Licensed under GPL-3.0.
Read full Paperless-ngx review
ONLYOFFICE
Collaborative online office suite for documents. — 6,338 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Why Self-Host Instead of Google Workspace?
- Data ownership. Your data stays on your server, not on Google Workspace’s infrastructure.
- Predictable costs. Pay a fixed VPS cost instead of growing per-user or per-usage fees.
- No vendor lock-in. Export and migrate your data anytime. You control the database.
- GDPR and compliance. Hosting your own tools simplifies data residency and compliance requirements.
How much can you save?
Google Workspace (Business Starter)
$84/mo
10 users x $8.40/user
$1,008/year
Paperless-ngx (self-hosted)
$10/mo
VPS hosting only. $0 per-user fees.
$320 year 1 (incl. $200 setup)
Your annual savings
$688
Year 1 (after setup cost). Year 2+: $888/year (88% less).
That's $74 saved every month.
Paperless-ngx runs on a $10/mo VPS with unlimited users. Setup by upready.dev starts at $200 (one-time). Google Workspace pricing as of March 2026.
Why teams switch from Google Workspace
- → Data ownership. Your data stays on your server -- not on Google Workspace's infrastructure.
- → Predictable costs. Pay a fixed VPS cost instead of growing per-user or per-usage fees.
- → No vendor lock-in. Export and migrate your data anytime. You control the database.
- → GDPR and compliance. Hosting your own tools simplifies data residency and compliance requirements.
Head-to-Head Comparisons
These solve completely different document problems: Paperless-ngx manages and OCRs scanned documents (filing cabinet replacement). Documenso handles digital document signing (DocuSign replacement). Most organizations need both.
Both Stirling PDF and Paperless-ngx are strong open-source options in the documents space. Stirling PDF has 75k GitHub stars and Paperless-ngx has 37k. Compare their features, deployment, and community to choose the right fit for your needs.
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