Open-source alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace

Files, chat, documentation, sign-in and passwords for your whole organisation, on open-source apps that run on your servers or on dedicated machines in Switzerland.

Start with one workload Book a 30-minute briefing

Files and office: Nextcloud, with Collabora Online for editing in the browser
Chat, meetings and wiki: Mattermost or Element, Jitsi Meet and Outline
Identity: Keycloak single sign-on, or your Entra ID
Hosting: Your premises, any of 12 Pilae Cloud regions, or hybrid

The daily tools, without the US cloud

Most of what a team does in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace is six things: share files, edit documents, chat, meet, write things down and sign in. Each has a mature open-source app. We run them as one workplace.

Files and documents

Nextcloud replaces OneDrive, SharePoint and Google Drive, with desktop sync and mobile apps. Collabora Online edits Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in the browser, and Stirling PDF merges, splits and redacts PDFs.

Chat and meetings

Mattermost replaces Teams chat and Slack, or Element where you want end-to-end encryption and federation over Matrix. Jitsi Meet runs video meetings in the browser, with nothing to install.

Wiki and documentation

Outline replaces Confluence and Notion for handbooks, procedures and meeting notes, with search across everything.

One sign-in

Keycloak gives every app one company login with multi-factor authentication. It can also sit behind your existing Entra ID.

Passwords and secrets

Vaultwarden gives teams shared vaults for passwords and keys, compatible with the Bitwarden apps and browser extensions.

Your jurisdiction

Every app answers only on your private network, on machines in Switzerland, the EU or your own building. No US provider holds your data.

A workplace your organisation controls

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are convenient. They also put your files, chats and identities with a US provider. Licence prices and terms change on their schedule. Your data sits under a jurisdiction your legal team cannot negotiate.

The sovereign workplace keeps the convenience and changes the owner. Nextcloud holds the files, and Collabora Online edits them in the browser. Mattermost or Element carries the chat, and Jitsi Meet the video meetings. Outline holds the documentation. Keycloak signs everyone in. Vaultwarden keeps the passwords. Each is open source or source-available (Outline ships under BSL 1.1), and each runs on machines you choose.

Hosted in Switzerland or on your premises

Run the workplace on your own servers, on dedicated machines in Pilae Cloud, in Zurich or another of its 12 regions, or across both. The apps answer only on your private network, behind one hardened gate. Your data residency is written into the contract, and every app is covered by daily backups.

Moved across, then run for you

We do the migration: users, groups, files, permissions and history, in batches your teams can live with. After the switch, the Pilae Agent plans every update and waits for your approval, and our engineers answer when something needs a person. To start, tell us about your project.

How we move you across

Inventory
We map users, groups, shared drives, channels and the integrations that depend on them.
Build
We deploy the workplace on your private network and connect sign-in to your directory.
Migrate
We copy files, permissions and history across in batches, and check each batch against the source.
Switch over
Teams move department by department, with training material and our engineers on hand for the first weeks.
Run
We operate the workplace under an SLA, with monitoring, approved updates and tested backups.

What your contract includes

Migration scope: The data, users and integrations we move, listed in a fixed-price onboarding plan.
Data location: Named per app: your premises, or any of 12 Pilae Cloud regions, six of them in Switzerland and the EU.
Availability: A 99.9% monthly availability commitment on Pilae Cloud, with service credits if we miss it.
Backups: Daily encrypted backups stored offsite, with monthly restore tests recorded in your console.
Updates: Planned by the Pilae Agent, approved by you, applied in your maintenance window.

The apps behind it

Nextcloud

Files, calendars and shared documents for the whole organisation, on storage you can point at in a room you control.

Replaces Google Drive, Dropbox, SharePoint

Collabora Online

In-browser editing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint files beside Nextcloud, on your own hardware or in the Pilae region you choose, so no document passes through someone else's cloud.

Replaces Microsoft 365 for the web, Google Docs

Stirling PDF

PDF merging, splitting, conversion, OCR, redaction and signing in the browser, run in Switzerland, the EU or your own datacentre instead of on a public PDF website.

Replaces Adobe Acrobat online, iLovePDF, Smallpdf

Mattermost

Team chat, channels and calls on a server in the country you choose, with the message history stored in your own database.

Replaces Slack, Microsoft Teams

Element

Encrypted team messaging on the Matrix protocol: the Element apps on a Synapse homeserver you own, run in Switzerland, the EU or your own datacentre.

Replaces Microsoft Teams chat, Slack, WhatsApp

Jitsi Meet

Video meetings people join from a link in the browser, run in Switzerland, the EU or your own datacentre so the servers that route the calls stay in the jurisdiction you picked.

Replaces Zoom, Microsoft Teams meetings, Google Meet

Outline

A fast, well-structured team wiki and knowledge base, on a server you choose, signed in through your own identity provider.

Replaces Notion, Confluence

Keycloak

Single sign-on for everything else you run, with your own directory as the source of truth and no per-seat bill between you and it.

Replaces Okta, Microsoft Entra ID

Vaultwarden

A password manager for the whole organisation, compatible with the Bitwarden apps, on a server you choose and with vaults only your people can decrypt.

Replaces 1Password, LastPass

Questions

Is there a real open-source alternative to Microsoft 365?

Yes, for most of what organisations use it for. Nextcloud covers files, Collabora Online covers editing documents in the browser, Mattermost or Element covers team chat, Jitsi Meet covers video meetings, Outline covers the wiki, Keycloak covers sign-in and Vaultwarden covers passwords. Email and calendar can stay where they are during the move, or be replaced as a separate step.

Can staff still open and edit Word and Excel files?

Yes. Collabora Online, deployed alongside Nextcloud, opens and saves Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats in the browser. Desktop Office installations keep working on files synced from Nextcloud.

Do we have to move everything at once?

No. You can start with one app, such as files or chat, and keep Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace running for the rest. Keycloak can federate with Entra ID so staff keep one login throughout.

What happens to our existing files and permissions?

We migrate them. Files, folder structures and sharing permissions are copied in batches and checked against the source before each team switches over. The plan lists what moves and what does not.

How much does the sovereign workplace cost?

Pricing is on request. It depends on the number of users, the apps you choose, where they run and the migration scope. Onboarding is a fixed price agreed before we start.

Services

Plan your move off Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.

A call with an engineer: we look at your users, drives and integrations and propose a first app to move.