Both give you private file storage on hardware you own. The difference is everything else — Nextcloud is a full collaboration platform requiring real server setup; Gavety is a focused file access tool that works in minutes. This page helps you figure out which fits your actual use case.
This is where Nextcloud and Gavety diverge most — not in features, but in the time and knowledge required to get from zero to working.
Installing Nextcloud from scratch requires configuring:
php-imagick, php-bcmath, php-gmp, php-curl, and more)Nextcloud AIO (All-in-One) simplifies this significantly using Docker — but still requires Docker and port 443 accessible from the internet, which fails on CGNAT connections.
If you need calendar sync, contacts, video calls, real-time document collaboration, or a full Office 365 / Google Workspace replacement — Nextcloud's complexity is the price of its capability. A team of 5–50 people running Nextcloud properly gets a genuinely impressive private workspace.
.deb packageThere is no web server to configure, no database, no SSL certificate, and no port forwarding. The tradeoff: Gavety does file storage, not calendars or video calls. For the full walkthrough, see our Raspberry Pi cloud storage setup guide.
Verified from public documentation, August 2026. Sources: docs.nextcloud.com · gavety.com/guide
| Feature | Gavety | Nextcloud Hub |
|---|---|---|
| Core file storage | ||
| Remote file access (browser) | ✓ Built in | ✓ Web UI |
| File manager (upload, download, move) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shareable links (expiring, token-secured) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-user access control | ✓ Per-folder | ✓ Full ACL |
| Unlimited storage (your drive) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Desktop sync client (Dropbox-style) | ✗ Roadmap | ✓ Win/Mac/Linux |
| Mobile app (iOS + Android) | ~ Mobile browser | ✓ Native apps |
| File versioning / history | ✗ Roadmap | ✓ Built in |
| Remote access & networking | ||
| Zero-config remote access | ✓ Outbound tunnel | ✗ Manual setup |
| Works behind CGNAT (Jio/BSNL) | ✓ Always | ~ Via Cloudflare Tunnel only |
| No port forwarding required | ✓ | ✗ Required for direct access |
| SSL/HTTPS | ✓ Managed automatically | ~ Manual (Let's Encrypt) |
| Custom domain | ✗ app.gavety.com only | ✓ Any domain |
| Media & content | ||
| Video streaming in browser (HTTP Range) | ✓ MP4/MKV/WebM | ✓ Via Gallery app |
| Photo gallery / AI face recognition | ✗ Roadmap | ✓ Nextcloud Photos |
| Collaboration suite | ||
| Calendar & CalDAV sync | ✗ | ✓ |
| Contacts & CardDAV sync | ✗ | ✓ |
| Video calls (Talk) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Real-time document editing | ✗ | ✓ OnlyOffice / Collabora |
| AI assistant (local) | ✗ | ✓ Nextcloud Assistant |
| App ecosystem | ✗ | ✓ 300+ apps |
| Setup & maintenance | ||
| Install complexity | Download .deb · ~5 min | Web server + DB + PHP + SSL · 2–8 hrs |
| Ongoing maintenance | Minimal (auto-updates) | High (PHP upgrades, NC upgrades) |
| Works on Raspberry Pi (ARM64) | ✓ Optimised | ~ Works but memory-heavy |
| Open source | ✗ Proprietary agent | ✓ AGPL |
| Air-gapped (no internet dependency) | ✗ Needs Gavety tunnel | ✓ Fully air-gappable |
| Files stay on your hardware | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ supported · ~ partial or via workaround · ✗ not available · as of August 2026
If you're in India on a residential broadband plan — Jio Fiber, BSNL, or many smaller ISPs — there's a high probability you're behind CGNAT (Carrier Grade NAT). Your router doesn't have a real public IP. It shares one with dozens of other customers on your ISP's internal network.
The consequence: port forwarding is architecturally impossible on CGNAT. You can configure it in your router settings, but the rules never take effect because your router's “public” IP isn't actually reachable from the internet.
Nextcloud's standard installation requires port forwarding for remote access. On CGNAT, this fails silently. The workarounds:
On your Linux device: compare the output of curl ifconfig.me with the WAN IP shown in your router admin panel. If they don't match — you're behind CGNAT and port forwarding won't work. Do this test before spending time setting up Nextcloud for remote access.
Gavety's outbound tunnel bypasses CGNAT entirely. The agent on your device connects outward to app.gavety.com — CGNAT only affects inbound connections. This is the same architectural approach as Cloudflare Tunnel, but built into the product rather than configured separately. For the full technical explanation, see our guide to self hosting without port forwarding, the global access architecture page, and the full Nextcloud alternatives roundup.
Full pricing breakdown: gavety.com/pricing · Compare options on the storage page.
Nextcloud's software is free. If you have a server with a real public IP, the ongoing cost is maintenance time only. If you're behind CGNAT and need a VPS relay: that's $6–$18/month ($72–$216/year) — significantly more than Gavety's $30/year from year 2. Neither is inherently cheaper — it depends entirely on your infrastructure.
For organisations, Nextcloud Enterprise subscriptions provide support SLAs. Tiers are priced per user per year: Standard at ~€68.94, Premium at ~€104.99, Ultimate at ~€204.75 — with a minimum of 100 users. This makes Nextcloud Enterprise relevant to larger organisations, not individuals or small families.
If you need what Nextcloud does — the full suite — there's no reason to use Gavety. Nextcloud is more powerful, open-source, and extensible. If you need file access with remote connectivity and you're not a sysadmin: Gavety exists precisely because Nextcloud's setup is out of proportion to the goal of “my files, accessible anywhere.”
Your files in Nextcloud are stored as regular files on your server's filesystem. There's no proprietary format to export.
/var/www/nextcloud/data/[username]/files/. Check config/config.php for the datadirectory setting.rsync -av /var/www/nextcloud/data/username/files/ /mnt/data/ — preserves directory structure and file dates.Gavety handles file storage only. Nextcloud calendar events, contacts, chat history, and app data don't transfer. Export them separately first: calendar as .ics, contacts as .vcf, then import into a dedicated app before decommissioning Nextcloud.
Nextcloud's software is free under the AGPL open-source license. You need to host it yourself — either on your own hardware or a rented VPS. A basic VPS costs $6–$18/month. For most home users, the infrastructure cost exceeds what Gavety charges.
Enterprise subscriptions with support SLAs start at ~€68.94/user/year with a 100-user minimum — primarily relevant to organisations.
Not natively. Nextcloud requires ports 80 and 443 accessible from the internet for remote access and SSL certificates. On CGNAT connections (Jio Fiber, BSNL, many Indian residential ISPs), this is architecturally impossible.
The workaround is Cloudflare Tunnel — which works and is free, but adds 45–90 minutes of configuration on top of the Nextcloud setup itself.
No. Gavety's agent is proprietary software. This is a meaningful difference from Nextcloud for users who require auditable, open-source code — particularly for security-sensitive deployments.
Your files are stored as regular files on your own hardware and never pass through Gavety's servers — the tunnel handles connection only, not file storage. See our data protection page for the full technical breakdown, and our global access architecture page for how the tunnel works.
Yes. Gavety is a lightweight background service (~50–80MB RAM at idle) that doesn't conflict with Nextcloud's web server stack. You can run both on the same Raspberry Pi or Linux machine, pointing Gavety at a different folder.
On a Pi 4 (4GB), running both simultaneously is feasible but leaves less headroom. A Pi 5 (4GB) handles both comfortably.
Yes, with caveats. Nextcloud's full stack (NGINX, PHP-FPM, MariaDB) is memory-intensive — a Pi 4 (4GB) can run it, but the experience is noticeably slower than a VPS, particularly with multiple simultaneous users or Office document editing.
Gavety's agent is specifically optimised for ARM64 and runs comfortably on Pi 3/4/5 with minimal resource usage.
Your files stay on your hardware — they always have been. The Gavety agent stops providing remote access, but your data is on your drive in standard filesystem format. You can access it locally, mount the drive on any other computer, or install a different self-hosting solution.
Install Ubuntu, download the .deb from your dashboard, plug in your drives — that's the entire setup. $100 one-time licence, first year of service included free.
Get started — $100 → If Nextcloud is the right choice for you — their install docs are here. No hard feelings.