Self-hosted Google Drive (Workspace MCP) MCP alternatives
The Google Workspace MCP scoped to Drive already installs locally and runs over stdio, authenticating to Google over OAuth. So the question here is not about whether self-hosting is possible, it is, but about which product you point a local server at while keeping the process on your own machine.
Every server below runs locally too. The honest limit: self-hosting puts the server and its credentials on your infrastructure, but the files still travel to each product's API. Nextcloud and MinIO are the exceptions where you can also run the storage itself.
The 8 best self-hosted alternatives
Nextcloud lets you self-host the storage and the server: its community MCP server reaches files, notes, calendar, contacts, tables, deck, and talk across 110+ tools, all on infrastructure you run.
Set up Nextcloud →MinIO is the local object-storage option: its server browses buckets, reads and writes objects, manages tags and versioning, and answers AI questions, against a store you operate yourself.
Set up MinIO →Run the AWS Labs server on your own machine and it executes any AWS CLI command with validation and a read-only mode, reaching S3 and other services from a process you control.
Set up AWS (AWS Labs) →Files shared in chat fit Slack, and its community server runs locally over stdio, reading history, DMs, and search with no workspace bot to install.
Set up Slack →Structured records rather than loose files suit Airtable. Its maintained server installs locally and is schema-first: inspect a base, then read, search, and write records, fields, and comments.
Set up Airtable →Documents that double as databases fit Coda, and its server runs on your machine, connecting an agent to pages, tables, and rows for reading and editing.
Set up Coda →- AzureOfficial
Microsoft's Azure server runs locally and manages 40+ Azure services including storage and SQL, reaching Blob storage and more from a process you keep on your own network.
Set up Azure → - DigitalOceanOfficial
DigitalOcean's official server runs locally and manages App Platform, Droplets, databases, Kubernetes, and Spaces, its S3-compatible object storage, all from your own machine.
Set up DigitalOcean →
How to choose
For files you can keep entirely on your own infrastructure, Nextcloud and MinIO lead, since you run both the storage and the server. AWS, Azure, and DigitalOcean reach cloud object storage from a local process but the data lands in their clouds. Airtable and Coda fit structured content, Slack fits files in chat. The caveat holds throughout: a local server controls the process and tokens, not where the files ultimately live.
FAQ
- Can the Google Drive MCP server be self-hosted?
- Yes. The Google Workspace MCP scoped to Drive installs locally and runs over stdio. The files themselves still go to Google's API, so self-hosting controls the server process and credentials rather than where the file data is stored.
- Which alternative keeps both the server and the files on my own infrastructure?
- Nextcloud and MinIO. Nextcloud hosts a full file workspace on your own server, and MinIO runs S3-style object storage you operate. The others run the server locally but store files in a hosted cloud such as AWS, Azure, or DigitalOcean Spaces.