Pydio Cells

What is Pydio Cells?

Pydio Cells is an open source, self-hosted content management platform that gives organizations a private place to store, sync, share, and collaborate on files. Access is organized around “Cells” — shareable workspaces with granular, per-user permissions. It’s built in Go as a microservices architecture and is a full rewrite of the original Pydio project, which dates back to 2007.

What is Pydio Cells best for?

Teams and organizations that want SharePoint- or Box-style document collaboration but need to keep files on their own infrastructure — regulated sectors, privacy-focused companies, and anyone handling large files who wants data sovereignty. It fits when you need workspace-level permissions and sync clients, not just a bare file browser.

What can Pydio Cells do?

• Organize files into “Cells” — shareable workspaces with granular access control (ACLs) per user or group
• Sync files across desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux) and mobile with native clients
• Share files and folders by public link, with passwords and expiry dates
• Store on the local filesystem or any S3-compatible object storage, with large transfers up to 5TB
• Automate document workflows with Cells Flows, a built-in no-code automation builder
• Add single sign-on (OpenID Connect, OAuth2, SAML), 2FA, and audit logging on paid editions
• Extend and integrate through a REST API and WebDAV

Where does Pydio Cells fall short?

• It’s open-core: SSO, MFA, audit logging, and AD/LDAP directory integration are gated behind the paid Cells Connect and Enterprise editions. The free AGPL “Cells Home” edition is positioned for home use and evaluation, not org-scale deployment.
• The community and app ecosystem are smaller than Nextcloud’s, so there are fewer third-party plugins and less community troubleshooting to lean on.
• Enterprise pricing is quote-based and steep (Cells Connect starts at €3,280/year for 50 users), and product direction carries some uncertainty after Wire acquired Pydio in 2025.

Is Pydio Cells free?

Partly — Cells Home is free and open source (AGPLv3) to self-host, with no user or storage limits, but it’s aimed at home use and evaluation. Organizations that need SSO, multi-factor auth, audit logging, or directory integration pay for Cells Connect (from €3,280/year for 50 users) or Cells Enterprise (from €4,380/year for 50 users).

What does Pydio Cells replace?

Pydio Cells is a self-hosted alternative to SharePoint, Box, and Dropbox. It does the same store-sync-share-and-collaborate job for teams, but you run it on your own servers and control where every file lives.

FAQ

Is Pydio Cells open source? Yes — Cells Home is licensed AGPLv3 with public code on GitHub. The paid Connect and Enterprise editions build on the same open-core codebase and add commercial modules like SSO and audit logging.

Can I self-host Pydio Cells for free? Yes. Cells Home is free to self-host with no user or storage caps, so you pay only for your own server. Enterprise features such as SSO and audit logs require a paid edition.

Is Pydio Cells a good SharePoint alternative? For teams that want self-hosted document collaboration with granular per-workspace permissions, yes. To match SharePoint’s SSO and compliance features you’ll need a paid edition, and the ecosystem is smaller than Microsoft’s.

What do I need to run Pydio Cells? A Linux, macOS, or Windows server plus a MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB database. Storage can be the local filesystem or any S3-compatible object store.