bewCloud is an open-source, lightweight Nextcloud/ownCloud alternative built with Deno. See features, self-hosting requirements, pros, cons and FAQs.
bewCloud is an open-source, self-hosted personal cloud application created by developer Bruno Bernardino starting in early 2024, built explicitly as a lighter, simpler alternative to Nextcloud and ownCloud. It is written in TypeScript on the Deno runtime using the Fresh framework and is designed to run in under 50 MB of RAM.
The project is released under the AGPL-3.0 license, is developed in the open on GitHub, and has received sponsorship support from the NLnet Foundation, which funds open, privacy-respecting internet infrastructure projects.
bewCloud covers files, notes, photos, calendar, contacts (via CalDAV/CardDAV through Radicale), a news/RSS reader, and a simple expense-tracking module called Envelopes. File sharing works via symlinks, and desktop and mobile sync clients keep files in sync across devices.
Because it targets a narrower feature set than Nextcloud, it deliberately skips heavier apps like built-in office document editing or video calling, trading breadth for a much smaller resource footprint and simpler deployment via Docker.
bewCloud itself is free and open-source software with no licensing fee — users self-host it on their own server or a low-cost VPS. The project is funded through GitHub Sponsors and one-time donations rather than a SaaS subscription, and several VPS providers offer one-click bewCloud deployment templates at their standard hosting rates.
Yes, bewCloud is free, open-source software (AGPL-3.0) that you self-host; there is no software licensing fee.
bewCloud focuses on a narrower core feature set (files, calendar, contacts, notes, photos) and is built to use far less memory and be simpler to deploy than Nextcloud's PHP-based, app-heavy architecture.
You need a server or VPS capable of running Docker; bewCloud is designed to run comfortably in under 50 MB of RAM, so even small/cheap VPS plans work.
Yes, it supports CalDAV and CardDAV via integration with Radicale for calendar and contact synchronization.
bewCloud is created and primarily maintained by developer Bruno Bernardino, with community contributions on GitHub and sponsorship support from the NLnet Foundation.