Sorry if this commentary is a bit outside the scope of the forum.
I feel that the step to start using Collabora Online is too big right now.
You mainly rely on your employer having deployed this solution, which is not always the case.
Then of course you can install and manage CODE on your own server, which is really nice but not accessible for most potential users.
The other option is to buy a subscription with a provider, but there are no well-known provider, and the options are actually quite expensive if your use is occasional and/or you are unsure you will really use it in the long term.
The competitors here have a free service (although with some limitations), which makes it very easy to enter the software.
I know Collabora is a software company and not a service company, but if you want your software to be successful, lowering the step to enter is certainly something you should consider.
Hi @parrenin !
I think this is a very good topic and I bet someone will chime in with a more comprehensive answer but for the time being and as a client of one of those services (for personal use) I can tell you that the entry cost is really small (at least in my case with my location). There is a considerable list of Hosting Providers with Collabora Online over CollaboraOnline.com > Partners > Find a Partner and many of them offer a demo account so you can try it before deciding. This is what I would advise in your situation since it was what I did when deciding for a service:
- Head over to that link and check the map
- So you can limit your search to providers near to you (not only in terms of location but also so you can take advantage of a straight communication in your own native language)
- Compare and choose by testing them first (you ca request a demo of their services sometimes via Collabora own form or if you prefer heading over to the hosting provider website and request there)
- Take into account different types of services, for example regular hosting VS VPS (the latter will be more expensive but in return you will have full control over your server while in many cases get full support and maintenance ). In my case I pay something like
9,38 EURper month (including File Cloud service as well and with custom domain) - If any doubt arises just write directly to the hosting provider using their email/ticket (what I did) or if related to Collabora Online product etc to hello@collaboraoffice.com
Thank you @pedro.silva for your answer.
I think studying the different providers and choosing one is already a step and many interested people will unfortunately stop here.
Moreover, I already went to the web list of Hosting Providers you suggested.
I think there is a little issue with the website, since when you click on āMore Infoā on the right of the provider, you sometimes go to a form, instead of the providerās website.
Then, if you managed to go to the providerās website, several offer a domain, which I donāt care, I just want to use a file hosting service with Collabora.
Then you say that 10ā¬/month is cheap, but for 3 years that is 360ā¬.
When you have big names like Microsoft, Google or OnlyOffice which provide a free service with a few Gb of data, 10ā¬/month is already too big, IMO.
My wish would be to have a standard limited but free service provided directly by Collabora.
I understand this service would have a cost for Collabora, but I am sure it would attract many people in return and would be a good advertisement for the software.
Thanks for the feedback, I think there is a planed improvement for that page that hopefully might get those issues ironed.
I understand but itās not comparable.
I pay that for a full fledge VPS where you can have full control, access it via terminal un/install whatever and be able to customize it the way you wanted. In my case I have a custom skin : p .
On top of that I have maintenance and support offer phone or ticket (to have that on Google etc you would need to pay for business account and even then you might not have that). Nevertheless you can get cheaper options with shared hosting (not VPS) in many of those hosting providers (depending on the space you need etc).
Just an addon to this thread: I found a free Collabora Online service (for personal use, 2GB) which is located in France: Tracim. It would be good to list that service on the āPartnersā web page.