Group-Office

Group-Office is open-source groupware combining CRM, project management, and business tools. It best suits teams that want those capabilities in one system and value a choice between self-hosting and a hosted service. Its breadth is appealing, but the right plan depends on whether you need paid features, online storage, or ongoing updates.

Overview

Made by Group-Office, founded in 2003 in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, the product brings collaboration, customer records, projects, and finance together. Teams can co-edit documents, schedule meetings, and communicate by chat or video call; project tools cover task and file tracking, time, reporting, and invoicing project work. This combination is useful for organizations that would rather connect day-to-day work than assemble separate groupware and CRM tools.

Deployment is a meaningful choice: run it on your own server or use the hosted service, which the company says is hosted in the Netherlands. Its privacy policy lists SSL encryption, one-time-password two-factor authentication, fail2ban, IP access control, and regular security tests. The provider also says it keeps daily offsite backups in the Netherlands for 14 days.

Key features

Shared address books, newsletters, and support tickets accepted from a website or email give the CRM a practical team focus. Document editing and file management integrate with OnlyOffice, Collabora Online, and Office 365. Finance supports Mollie and PayPal payments and e-invoicing formats ZUGFeRD, XRechnung, and UBL, while custom fields, filters, and GroupOffice Studio offer room to tailor workflows.

Synchronization covers email, contacts, calendars, notes, and tasks with native apps on iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows. IMAP, Microsoft ActiveSync, CalDAV, CardDAV, and WebDAV support device connections. That broad protocol and platform coverage is a strength for mixed-device teams, though the hosted Online plan’s 5 GB storage per user may constrain document-heavy use; extra storage is sold in monthly blocks.

Pricing

• Community: free for unlimited users. The self-hosted version includes email, calendar, files, document editing, notes, tasks, chat and video calls, address book, and device sync. It is a substantial starting point for teams able to manage their own server, but it does not include the Professional feature set.
• Professional: €439 a month, billed Perpetual License; 1–100 users. The self-hosted Professional plan is €439, paid once for a perpetual license, with Professional-feature updates at €219 a year. It adds support tickets, time tracking, projects, newsletters, Kanban, Studio, and helpdesk support from 9 to 5 CET/CEST. The 100-user ceiling and separate annual update cost matter for growing teams and long-term budgeting.
• Professional updates: €219 a year for updates on Professional features, for 1–100 users. This is the continuing charge to account for after the perpetual license when updates are wanted.
• Online: €12 a month, with 5 GB storage per user. Helpdesk is included from 9 to 5 CET; document editor, video call, and chat cost €2/user each. Finance is €12/install and Document Search is €15/install. This is the hosted route, but teams should add the costs of the tools they need and check storage requirements.
• Billing add-on: €219, paid once for invoices, online payments, and smart debtor profiles.
• Document Search add-on: €299, paid once for deep file-content search, metadata search, and E-Discovery.

The product offers a 30-day trial. Service contracts list weekday phone support from 9 to 17.

Platforms

Group-Office supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, web, and self-hosted deployment. Its device synchronization and mobile apps make it a credible option for teams that need access across desktop and mobile systems.

Who it's for

Choose it when a team needs shared communications, CRM, project tracking, and business processes in one open-source product, especially if self-hosting or the unlimited-user free Community plan is attractive. It is less suitable if you need a hosted plan with generous included storage, or Professional features beyond 100 users.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Community covers a broad set of collaboration tools for unlimited users, avoiding an entry-level per-seat cap.
• Pro: Self-hosting and a Netherlands-hosted service give teams different deployment choices.
• Pro: CRM, project, document, synchronization, and invoicing capabilities can support connected team workflows.
• Con: Online includes 5 GB per user, and several useful tools carry extra per-user or per-install charges.
• Con: Professional features are limited to 1–100 users, with annual update costs after the perpetual license.

Alternatives

For a narrower document-management search, compare Document Management Software; for project-focused tools, see Project Management Software; and for customer-management options, browse CRM Software.

LogicalDOC is another freemium option with a free Community plan and broad platform support, including APIs; consider it when document management is the priority. OpenKM is another freemium document-management option with a free plan and Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows support. Invenio is free open-source software for teams that want a Linux, macOS, web, or self-hosted option. OpenDocMan offers a free self-installed Community plan with unlimited users, file locking, and custom metadata, making it worth considering for on-premises document management. SeedDMS is a free option with no stated user or document limits. Transkribus has a free plan and supports web and desktop platforms. FlinkISO offers a free on-premises plan with unlimited concurrent users and all QMS modules. EPrints is free open-source software for teams able to self-install on a suitable Linux-based server.

Verdict

Group-Office is a strong fit for organizations that want open-source groupware, CRM, and project tools under one roof, with self-hosting or a hosted option. Its standout case is broad collaboration without a free-plan user cap; look elsewhere if the hosted storage allowance or Professional plan’s 100-user limit conflicts with your needs.