PicaJet
Search Build shortlist

Canto, Nextcloud, Piwigo

Side by side on what we have verified on each vendor’s own pages. Where a fact was not checked, the table says so rather than leaving a blank that reads as “no”.

What decides it · Runs on your own servers

If the files genuinely cannot leave your infrastructure, this is not a close race — the platforms marked No below should not be on the call at all.

Canto

No

Nextcloud

Yes

Piwigo

Yes

Everything else

Canto
Nextcloud
Piwigo
Verdict
Not checked
Not checked
Not checked
Price published
No
Yes
Yes
Billed on
Team size and storage volume
Subscription per user per year, cheaper at volume
Flat price per account by storage; users are unlimited
Deployment
Cloud
On-premise, Cloud
On-premise, Cloud
Free plan
No
Yes
Yes
Free trial
Yes
No
Yes
Transparency index
20%
80%
100%
Most common complaint
The tiers are named and described but cannot be compared on cost
It is a file platform with DAM features rather than a DAM: asset-level metadata and rights are thinner
A ten per cent price rise is announced for 1 September 2026

“Not checked” means exactly that: we have not verified it, not that the platform lacks it. Every other value was read off the vendor’s own pages on the date shown on each platform page.

What to ask on the demo

One question per platform, drawn from what actually goes wrong with it — not a generic checklist. Vendors run the demo; this hands the agenda back to you.

Canto The tiers are named and described but cannot be compared on cost — ask them to answer this in writing before the trial.
Nextcloud It is a file platform with DAM features rather than a DAM: asset-level metadata and rights are thinner — ask them to answer this in writing before the trial.
Piwigo A ten per cent price rise is announced for 1 September 2026 — ask them to answer this in writing before the trial.

No email required — the page prints as it stands.