Every photo you’ve ever taken is on Google’s servers. Every document you’ve written is on Microsoft’s. Every note, every contact, every calendar event — stored somewhere you don’t control, managed by a company whose business model depends on knowing as much about you as possible.

Most people accept this because the alternative seems complicated. And for a long time, it was.

The thing is, you already own the hardware that could change this. That old PC collecting dust. A Raspberry Pi. A cheap VPS. The NAS you bought for backups. Any of these can run Nextcloud — a full replacement for Google Drive, Google Photos, Google Contacts, Google Calendar, and more — on infrastructure that belongs to you, under rules that you set.

This isn’t just about privacy, though privacy matters. It’s about permanence. Google has killed more products than most companies have ever launched. When they decide your free storage tier is no longer profitable, your data doesn’t disappear — but your access to it might. When you self-host, there’s no one to send you an email saying the service is shutting down in 90 days.

It’s also about understanding the systems you depend on. There’s something genuinely satisfying about knowing exactly where your files are — not in some abstract “cloud” somewhere in Virginia, but on a specific drive, in a specific machine, in your home. You can touch it. You can back it up. You can migrate it. It’s yours.

Is it more work than paying for Google One? Yes. Is it worth it? That depends on how much you value ownership over convenience.

If you want to find out, the full installation walkthrough is on the forum: Nextcloud AIO Installation