Your files should be files, not someone else's database.
Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive are convenient until they aren't. Prices go up. Clients change. Sync behaviour becomes unreliable in ways that are hard to diagnose. And the moment you stop paying, your files are behind a login wall.
The alternative isn't complicated. Your files can live on infrastructure you own, sync to every device using open protocols, and remain accessible offline — without any of the subscription lock-in.
The setup: Hetzner Storage Share
We use Hetzner's Storage Share product — Nextcloud hosted and managed by Hetzner. You get the desktop sync client, mobile apps, sharing links, folder permissions, and version history, without touching a server. There is nothing to maintain. When Hetzner patches the software or replaces failed hardware, that's their problem.
The cost: €3.81/month for 1TB. No per-user fees. Compare that to what Google Workspace or Dropbox Business charges per seat.
Selective sync that actually works
Not all files need to be on every machine. Large assets — product photos, video, archive documents — should be available when you need them but shouldn't consume disk space on every laptop. Nextcloud's selective sync lets you control exactly which folders live locally and which remain on the server, and it has been more reliable for us than Google Drive's equivalent.
WebDAV: the standard underneath
Nextcloud exposes your files over WebDAV, a standard that's been part of the web since 1996. This means you can mount your company storage as a local drive on any operating system. It also means AI tools can access your files directly — no API integration, no data leaving your infrastructure.
"We set up a File Drop folder in Nextcloud for each supplier sending quality control photos. They get a link that lets them upload directly into the right folder. They can't see anything else, can't delete anything. The photos land exactly where we need them without any manual sorting." — Rodrigo, La Nao
Passwords are a file. Treat them like one.
A SaaS password manager is a strange dependency to take on. You're storing your most sensitive credentials on someone else's servers, paying monthly for the privilege, and hoping they don't get breached or acquired. Several well-known password managers have been breached. At least one has been acquired and subsequently changed its pricing model.
The alternative has existed since 2003. KeePassXC stores passwords in an encrypted file — a .kdbx database — that lives on your machine and nowhere else unless you choose to sync it. The encryption is strong. The format is open and well-documented. Clients exist for every operating system.
How we share credentials across a team
Individual passwords stay in individual KeePassXC databases. Shared credentials — company accounts, shared admin logins, supplier portals — live in a separate database stored on Hetzner Storage Share. Anyone who needs access to that database has the master password; anyone who doesn't, doesn't. No user management dashboard, no per-seat pricing, no third party involved.
We use separate databases for different access levels. Finance credentials in one file, infrastructure credentials in another. If someone leaves the company, you rotate the passwords in the relevant database and change the master password. Clean and simple.
Offline, always
Because the database is a file, it works when the internet is down. This matters more than you'd think. Supplier portals, server access, payment systems — you need these exactly at the moments when you might not have reliable connectivity. A file on your machine is always available.
Infrastructure setup guides
We share our complete Hetzner Storage Share configuration and KeePassXC team setup on the mailing list — including folder structure, backup approach, and how we manage database access by department.
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