rayan

You've nailed the core problem: managed NextCloud with actual support is surprisingly hard to find. Disclosure: I'm involved with Yundera, and we built exactly what you're describing - NextCloud hosted and fully managed for you, with support included at $20/month, no admin work needed. It runs on open-source apps so you're not locked in, and we're based in France (EU servers, fast US connections). Check https://yundera.com/ if it sounds relevant, but the real point is your org shouldn't have to choose between ease-of-use and data sovereignty.

You're right that Nextcloud feels bloated for personal use, but you're also seeing the real problem with VPS: you'll spend more time maintaining it than using it. Here's a third option I'd suggest considering: a managed personal server with open-source apps pre-installed (Nextcloud, Immich for photos, Vaultwarden for Bitwarden). You get the modularity and data portability you want—CalDAV exports, SFTP access, standard formats—without wrestling with Docker or security updates. Disclosure: I'm involved with Yundera, which does exactly this at around $20/month, but the core idea is that you shouldn't have to choose between "managed black box" and "full sysadmin." If you want to eventually migrate home or to another provider, all your data leaves cleanly. Check it out here: https://yundera.com/