SharePoint is hired to be an intranet and a set of team document libraries. Files move easily, and the permissions and pages around them do not, which is why the first step is finding out what you actually use and whether you pay for it separately.
A library, then a site, then a form that feeds it: SharePoint can grow one small step at a time until the permissions model is something only one person understands.
The money is often not the sticking point. The cost of leaving is rebuilding access and finding what depends on it, which is why we inventory before we suggest a replacement.
Only alternatives we have checked. An open-source project is listed with the license its repository reports, on the date shown; one whose license could not be read as a single standard id is not offered as open source. Read the license guide before running any of them.
| Alternative | Kind | License | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud | Open source | AGPL-3.0 | Nextcloud repositoryChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
| BookStack | Open source | MIT | BookStack repositoryChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
Each feature below is what the product's own page or README says, linked to where we read it on the date shown. Pros and cons are limited to what those pages state and to what the path itself changes. We do not rank products on quality.
SharePoint is hired for two jobs that are easy to confuse: intranet pages and team document libraries. Libraries are portable files. Intranet pages are content someone wrote and structured. The replacement for each is different, and many companies use only one.
Before replacing anything, find out whether you pay for it separately. If it is part of a larger agreement you keep for other reasons, leaving it may save nothing; ask your reseller or Microsoft in writing. Nextcloud (AGPL-3.0) can hold document libraries and BookStack (MIT) can hold a wiki, both verified from their repositories. Each is software you or a provider would run and patch, and the AGPL carries obligations for modified versions offered over a network.
Samples are made up and are not SharePoint's prices. Type in the figures from your own invoice or order form.
The honest yearly cost of running open-source software yourself, set against the bill it replaces, with the seat count where it stops paying.
Paid seats against seats in use: what the idle ones cost a year, and what you save by right-sizing at renewal.
Arithmetic only, not tax, accounting or legal advice. Check the figures against your own order form.
Moving off SharePoint splits into two jobs, libraries and pages. In outline:
List sites, libraries and the people and groups with access. Count files and gigabytes. Note external sharing and every flow, form or rule that writes into a library.
Separate document libraries from intranet pages, and sort pages into live, reference and dead. Dead pages go to the archive export only.
Pick the destination for each and name who runs it. If it is software you host, name who patches and backs it up.
Move one team's library first and open it the way that team works, including a link shared with someone outside.
Copy the files, then compare file counts and total size on both sides. Open a sample of large and old files.
Rebuild access from the inventory and test each group with a member who belongs to it. Move the pages that are live and update the links people have bookmarked.
Announce the date, set the old sites to read-only, repoint automations, wait a month of normal use, keep a full export, then end the plan inside the contract's notice window.
Run the vendor report for QuickBooks Online or Xero, then open the free audit.
General information, not legal advice. See cancelling without penalties. Last reviewed Oct 25, 2026. Product names belong to their owners and are used only to identify them.
Send us the export and see which lines are worth a second look. A connected version is planned. SharePoint is one of the lines worth a look.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
| Self-hosting, per year | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hosting, backups, tooling | 720.00 |
| Admin and restore-test time | 2,640.00 |
| Total | 3,360.00 |
| One-off set-up (not in the yearly total) | 1,200.00 |
The saving holds only if the time is real. Price the admin hours at what that person's time costs the company, not at zero.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
“In use” is your call: last sign-in in the past 30 or 90 days from the vendor's admin report. A seat for someone on leave is not idle.