ONLYOFFICE Docs is an open source online office suite you can self-host — a Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace alternative with document, spreadsheet, and presentation editors that read and write DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX with real-time co-authoring.

What is ONLYOFFICE Docs?

ONLYOFFICE Docs is an open source online office suite — a server with web-based editors for text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs, and fillable forms. Formerly called Document Server, it’s built around native Office Open XML support, so it reads and writes DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX with high fidelity, plus ODF, RTF, TXT, CSV, HTML, and EPUB.

What is ONLYOFFICE Docs best for?

It’s best for teams that want Microsoft Office file compatibility and real-time collaboration on their own infrastructure. It shines when you need to embed editors into another platform — Nextcloud, Moodle, Odoo, WordPress, or your own app — rather than run a standalone product. Because it speaks OOXML natively, it’s a strong fit for organizations that exchange DOCX and XLSX files with Microsoft users.

What can ONLYOFFICE Docs do?

Edit text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in the browser with native DOCX/XLSX/PPTX read-write.
Co-author in real time with two modes (live or paragraph-locking), plus comments, mentions, and built-in chat.
Track changes, compare documents, and browse full version history.
Create and fill PDF forms, and view/edit PDFs directly.
Integrate through 40+ connectors and a documented API — Nextcloud, ownCloud, Moodle, Odoo, SharePoint, WordPress, Box, and more.
Add AI assistance (text generation, translation, proofreading) by plugging in your own provider.
Run on-premises via Docker, packages, or a Kubernetes cluster.

Where does ONLYOFFICE Docs fall short?

The free Community edition is recommended for small deployments (roughly up to 20 concurrent users); horizontal scaling and clustering for larger organizations are gated behind the paid Enterprise edition. Embedding the editors in your own commercial product, white-labeling, or using the full automation API requires the paid Developer edition — the AGPL Community build alone is not licensed for closed-source redistribution.

ONLYOFFICE is developed by Ascensio System, a company with Russian roots (now headquartered in Latvia), which some organizations flag during procurement and vendor review. Spreadsheet macro compatibility also differs from Excel VBA — ONLYOFFICE uses its own JavaScript-based macros, so Excel macros won’t run unchanged.

Is ONLYOFFICE Docs free?

Partly — it’s open core. The Community edition is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, and you can self-host it at no license cost. The Enterprise edition (scaling, clustering, mobile web editors, and premium support) and the Developer edition (white-labeling, embedding in commercial apps, full API) are paid, priced per server or connection. The desktop and mobile apps are free.

What does ONLYOFFICE Docs replace?

For document work, it stands in for the online editors of Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Google Docs. Paired with a file platform like Nextcloud, it becomes a self-hosted collaboration suite covering storage plus live document editing — the core of what those cloud offices provide, on servers you control.

FAQ

Is ONLYOFFICE Docs open source? Yes. The Community edition (the Document Server on GitHub) is licensed under AGPL-3.0. The Enterprise and Developer editions are paid, closed builds layered on the same core.

Can I self-host ONLYOFFICE Docs for free? Yes. The Community edition runs on your own server via Docker, Linux packages, or Kubernetes with no license fee. It’s recommended for around 20 concurrent users; heavier or clustered deployments need the paid Enterprise edition.

Is ONLYOFFICE a good Microsoft 365 alternative? For document editing, yes — its native OOXML support means DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX files usually round-trip cleanly. It doesn’t replace the whole Microsoft 365 stack (mail, Teams) on its own, but it covers the online office editors, and it pairs with tools like Nextcloud for the rest.

What do I need to run ONLYOFFICE Docs? A Linux server with Docker is the simplest path; ONLYOFFICE recommends roughly 2 CPU cores and 4 GB of RAM as a baseline, scaling up with the number of concurrent editors. It’s typically put behind a reverse proxy with HTTPS and connected to a host app like Nextcloud.