EU tech companies introduce a Microsoft alternative
European tech companies are developing Euro Office, a platform to replace all services offered by Microsoft Office and Google Workspace
Published on March 30, 2026
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IONOS and Nextcloud have launched a new open-source office suite in Berlin under the name “Euro-Office.” The project is designed to serve as a fully fledged European alternative to Microsoft Office. With this initiative, European tech companies aim to make it easier for organizations and governments to reduce their dependence on American providers.
Where organizations currently have to source separate European providers for each service—such as email, cloud storage, or document editing—Euro-Office aims to offer an integrated working environment. Seven European companies are collaborating on this ecosystem: Ionos (Germany – data centers), Nextcloud (Germany – office software), xWiki (France – document collaboration), Soverin (Netherlands – email), OpenProject (Germany – project management), Abilian (France – intranet), and Btactic (Spain – software maintenance).
Push for digital independence
The timing of the announcement is no coincidence. As tensions between the United States and Europe continue to rise, the demand for digital independence is growing. This ambition is also reflected in the coalition agreement of the Jetten administration.
A major barrier to switching to alternative solutions is that employees are accustomed to seamlessly integrated systems. By joining forces, the participating companies hope to deliver a unified and user-friendly working environment. Whether Euro-Office can truly compete with solutions from Microsoft and Google remains to be seen.
Breaking vendor lock-in
An additional advantage of the initiative is its open-source nature: the source code will be publicly accessible. This is intended to prevent vendors from gaining excessive power. If prices rise, for example, users can switch to another provider without losing their software. In this way, the initiative aims to address the current issue of “vendor lock-in,” as seen with Microsoft. Vendor lock-in means that organizations cannot easily move away from a provider without facing economic losses, technical disruptions, or logistical challenges.
A similar initiative already exists
Euro-Office is not the only European initiative in this space. Office.eu has also recently launched: an integrated digital workspace that is likewise based on Nextcloud Hub and was officially introduced in The Hague in March 2026. This service primarily targets individuals and small- and medium-sized enterprises, and it is expected to roll out more broadly across Europe in the second quarter of 2026.