Pydio Cells review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Open-core, self-hosted document sharing and content platform
Black Friday: is there a Pydio Cells sale?
Pydio Cells report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for self-hosted document sharing with single sign-on
Pydio Cells is self-hosted document sharing with live editing and single sign-on. The free Home edition is only for home use and evaluation, Connect and Enterprise are quoted by user, and you run the server yourself.
Who Pydio Cells is for
- Fits if you have an IT person to run a server and want SSO
- Works for firms that want files in storage they control
Who Pydio Cells is not for
- Not for you if you do not want to run a server
- Skip it if you want the free edition for work, as Home is for home use and evaluation
- Watch out: Connect and Enterprise prices are not published
- Watch out: which features sit in Home or Enterprise is in a separate table
Why Pydio Cells gets a 2.2
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyHome is free but self-hosted, and Connect and Enterprise are quoted by user count, so there is no figure to compare.
- CFree plan and trialFree Home edition for home use and evaluation, plus a trial key on request. You host it on your own server.
- BFeaturesSharing, Collabora or OnlyOffice editing, SSO through OIDC, SAML and LDAP, and S3, Azure and Google storage back ends.
- DEase of useYou install and maintain it yourself. No store rating is on record.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, with real integrations: Collabora, OnlyOffice, SSO and cloud storage.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Pydio Cells's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
Make Pydio Cells? Put this grade on your site
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/pydio-cells#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/pydio-cells.svg" alt="Pydio Cells: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Pydio Cells stands among file storage and sync services
Pydio Cells's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 34 of the 91 other file storage and sync services we grade, and level with 9.
It stands best on features (B, above 70 of 91) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 92 file storage and sync services we grade, cut by the letter each got. Pydio Cells’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 14 of 91, level with 48
- CFree plan and trialAbove 18 of 91, level with 48
- BFeaturesAbove 70 of 91, level with 21
- DEase of useAbove 0 of 91, level with 21
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 31 of 91, level with 38
Keep Pydio Cells, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Pydio Cells you would be making files kept in step across devices without losing one. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Pydio Cells is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could not
- Files kept in step across devices without losing one.
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- Storing and serving files for other people.
- Several people working in it at the same moment.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Pydio Cells’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Pydio Cells?
Pydio Cells is a self-hosted platform for sharing and managing documents, sold by Wire France SAS. It describes itself as open-core, with a free Home edition and Connect and Enterprise subscriptions priced by number of users. It supports real-time editing through Collabora Online or OnlyOffice and single sign-on through OpenID Connect, SAML and LDAP.
Worth knowing
- Prices for Connect and Enterprise are not published; they are quoted by number of users.
- You host and maintain the software yourself, or buy a subscription for support.
- Which features sit in Home versus Enterprise is shown in a separate comparison table.
Key features
- Real-time document editing
- Co-author standard document formats in the browser, powered by Collabora Online or OnlyOffice.
- Workspaces and Cells
- Files are grouped in workspaces and shared collaboration spaces, with access extended to external collaborators.
- Single sign-on and policies
- OpenID Connect, SAML and LDAP/Active Directory sign-in, with access rules by user, group, IP address, location or time.
- Multi-tenancy
- Separate configuration, data and identity per tenant on a single deployment.
- Cells Flows
- A workflow engine for automating tasks around files.
- Storage options
- The pricing page lists file system, S3, Google Cloud Storage and Azure Blob support.
Pydio Cells pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Pydio Cells has a free plan.
- Starts at
- Not published
- Free plan
- Pydio Cells Home is free, for home use and evaluation.
- Free trial
- Trial key available for a limited period on request
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Pydio Cells Home | Free | For home use and evaluation, with web only, next business day support as the entry tier. |
| Pydio Cells Connect | Custom | Subscription for connecting all collaborators; priced by number of users, free trial and quote on request. |
| Pydio Cells Enterprise | Custom | Subscription aimed at privacy-conscious industries, priced by number of users; quote on request. |
Read from pydio.com on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Pydio Cells before you buy.
Works with
- Collabora Online
- OnlyOffice
- OpenID Connect
- SAML
- LDAP
- Amazon S3
- Azure Blob Storage
- Google Cloud Storage
Pydio Cells alternatives
- Pydio Cells vs Nextcloud
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- Pydio Cells vs ownCloud
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- Pydio Cells vs Seafile
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- Pydio Cells vs FileRun
Free trial · from €9.9/yr
- Pydio Cells vs FileCloud
Free trial · from $7/mo
Common questions
Does Pydio Cells have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Pydio Cells is listed for Web.
Does Pydio Cells have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Pydio Cells is listed for Web.
Is Pydio Cells open source?
Yes. Pydio Cells is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.