In simple English
You can edit text documents, spreadsheets and presentations right inside your web browser. Multiple people can work on the same file at the same time, just like Google Docs. You run the software on your own server, so your data stays private. The community version is free to use for teams of up to twenty people. It works well with standard Microsoft Office file formats.
What it is
ONLYOFFICE/DocumentServer is an open-source office suite that provides web-based editors for text, spreadsheets, presentations, forms and PDFs. It connects to your existing file storage or server platform so teams can collaborate on documents without sharing data with third-party cloud services.
What it is good for
This is for solo builders and small teams who want real-time document collaboration on their own server without paying for commercial cloud office suites.
- Edits Word, Excel and PowerPoint files while keeping their original formatting intact.
- Supports real-time co-editing with multiple people working on the same file.
- Runs on your own hardware via Docker (a way to run a program inside its own sealed box, so it cannot break anything else on your server), keeping your documents private.
- Requires Docker (a way to run a program inside its own sealed box, so it cannot break anything else on your server) or a dedicated server to run smoothly.
- Demands at least 2 GB of RAM (random-access memory, the fast working memory your computer uses to run active programs), so it may crawl on cheap server setups.
- Licensed under AGPL-3.0 (a strict open-source licence requiring you to share your code if you modify the software and offer it as a network service), which has legal traps for commercial hosts.
Google Docs
Nextcloud
- CollaboraOnline/online3.4k stars
Collabora Online is another self-hosted office suite powered by LibreOffice technology, but it uses a different rendering approach in the browser.
- outline/outline41k stars
Outline is a team knowledge base and wiki, but it focuses on Markdown notes rather than heavy spreadsheet and presentation editing.
- facebook/docusaurus67k stars
A static site generator from Meta that turns Markdown files into a documentation website.
- mkdocs/mkdocs23k stars
Turns a folder of Markdown files into a documentation website, controlled by one settings file.
- squidfunk/mkdocs-material28k stars
Turns a folder of Markdown files into a searchable documentation website, with every formerly sponsor-only feature now included.
docker run -i -t -d -p 80:80 --restart=always onlyoffice/documentserver