How much RAM does Nextcloud need?
Self-hosted files, calendar and collaboration. Official requirements, sourced, plus our own measurements.
Our measurement
232 MB idle RAM · 2736 MB disk (images 1730 + data 1006) · app 140 MB, mariadb 93 MB
Measured before the first-run setup wizard; the real-use footprint will be higher. This is the community docker image, not Nextcloud All-in-One.
Method: Official compose file, default settings, no data imported, no setup wizard completed. Measured after a 5-minute settle as the sum of docker stats MEM USAGE across all containers, 3 samples 20 s apart (median). Disk = pulled image sizes + named volumes + bind-mounted data dirs.
Host: 8 vCPU Intel Xeon VM, 16 GB RAM, Debian 13 (kernel 6.12), Docker 26.1.5 + Compose 2.26.1
Version: nextcloud:latest + mariadb:lts (docker-library image, not Nextcloud AIO) · Compose: source · Date: 2026-10-21
What the official docs say
- Minimum 128MB RAM per process; 512MB per process recommended.
- The built-in Updater needs at least 256MB.
- Memory needs vary greatly with users, apps, files and activity.
- Recommended: PHP 8.5, PostgreSQL or MariaDB; SQLite only for testing/minimal instances; 64-bit strongly recommended.
Fits a 4GB server?
likelyMeasured 232 MB idle before setup; per-process figures are small, but real use isn't measured yet.
Sources
- Nextcloud 36 Admin Manual: System requirements checked 2026-10-21