Alternatives / Google Workspace
Looking for an open source Google Workspace alternative? We compared 5 open source office suites, encrypted collaboration tools, email, and document management by license, privacy, and self-hosting. No single project replaces the whole suite, so most teams combine two or three of them.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Paperless-ngx | Searchable document archive (replaces Drive storage only) | GPL-3.0 |
| CryptPad | End-to-end encrypted collaboration | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| Tuta | Encrypted email, calendar, and contacts | GPL-3.0 client |
| ONLYOFFICE Docs | Online Docs, Sheets, and Slides editing (Community Edition) | AGPL-3.0 Community Edition |
| LibreOffice | Desktop office suite | Primarily MPL-2.0 / LGPL multi-licensing |
We looked for open-source tools that replace parts of Google Workspace: email and calendar, document editing, file storage, and collaboration. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and deployment in its repository. Workspace bundles many services, so each alternative covers only one slice, and we say which and flag open-core editions. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Paperless-ngx is a document archive, Tuta covers email, calendar, and contacts, and LibreOffice is a desktop office suite. CryptPad and ONLYOFFICE Docs are the two that offer online collaborative editing. A full replacement usually combines an office suite, an email service, and file storage.
ONLYOFFICE Docs offers online editors for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and PDFs with real-time collaboration and good Microsoft Office format compatibility. CryptPad offers collaborative documents, spreadsheets, and slides with end-to-end encryption, so the server cannot read your content. LibreOffice has no real-time cloud collaboration of its own.
ONLYOFFICE Docs Community Edition is AGPL-3.0, but the Enterprise and Developer editions are proprietary, so some capabilities and support are paid. Check which edition fits your team size and needs.
Paperless-ngx and Tuta are GPL-3.0, and CryptPad and ONLYOFFICE Docs Community Edition are AGPL-3.0. LibreOffice is primarily MPL-2.0 with copyleft components, in a multi-licensed codebase.
All five projects were updated within weeks of this update. ONLYOFFICE Docs's last tagged release was in May 2026 and its last commit in July 2026.
Google Workspace is a proprietary suite billed per user, with documents, mail, and files stored on Google's servers and tied to Google accounts. Open-source alternatives let you keep data on your own infrastructure or encrypt it end to end, avoid per-seat pricing, and avoid lock-in, at the cost of assembling several tools, since none replaces the whole suite.
| Alternative | Replaces | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paperless-ngx | Drive (archive) | GPL-3.0 | Yes | Scanned documents |
| CryptPad | Docs, Sheets, Slides | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Encrypted collaboration |
| Tuta | Gmail, Calendar, Contacts | GPL-3.0 | Mainly hosted | Encrypted email |
| ONLYOFFICE Docs | Docs, Sheets, Slides | AGPL-3.0 (Community) | Yes | Office formats online |
| LibreOffice | Desktop office apps | MPL-2.0 / LGPL | Desktop app | Offline editing |
Want online document editing like Google Docs
ONLYOFFICE Docs offers real-time collaborative editors with strong Office format compatibility, with paid Enterprise and Developer editions.
Want collaboration that the server cannot read
CryptPad encrypts documents, spreadsheets, and slides end to end, so the server only stores encrypted data.
Want encrypted email, calendar, and contacts
Tuta offers end-to-end encrypted email, calendar, and contacts with open-source clients, mainly as a hosted service.
Want a free desktop office suite
LibreOffice offers Writer, Calc, and Impress offline, with Microsoft format support but no built-in cloud collaboration.
Want to archive and search scanned documents
Paperless-ngx adds OCR, tagging, and full-text search to a self-hosted archive, but it does not edit documents.