CryptPad
End-to-end encrypted, open-source collaborative office suite in the browser.
- Verified facts
- 5 of 5
- Alternatives ranked
- 5
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About CryptPad
CryptPad is a browser-based office suite where documents are end-to-end encrypted, so the server hosting them can't read their contents. It includes rich-text documents, spreadsheets and presentations (based on ONLYOFFICE editors), code and Markdown pads, forms, kanban boards and whiteboards, all with real-time collaboration and an encrypted drive for organising files. It is fully open source, developed by XWiki in Paris and funded largely by European research grants. You can use it for free on the flagship CryptPad.fr instance or other public instances, pay for extra storage and support there, or self-host your own instance, with paid hosting and support for organisations. The encryption has costs: features that rely on reading content on the server, such as full-text search across files, are limited, the editors can feel slower than Google Docs, and losing your password can mean losing access to your documents.
Best for: Activists, journalists and organisations that need private collaborative documents.
Pros and cons
What works
- End-to-end encrypted documents with real-time collaboration
- Free on public instances and fully self-hostable
- Broad set of apps: docs, sheets, slides, forms, kanban, whiteboard
Why people leave
- Slower and less polished than Google Docs
- No server-side search across encrypted content
- Forgotten passwords can mean lost documents
Top CryptPad alternatives
See all 5- 1
Google Docs70.3Faster, more polished collaboration if privacy from the host isn't a concern.
- 2
Proton Docs66.5Encrypted docs and sheets with polished apps, bundled with Proton Mail and Drive.
- 3
ONLYOFFICE62.6Self-hosted Office-compatible editors when encryption at rest is enough.
- 4
Collabora Online59.6Self-hosted LibreOffice-based co-editing with fuller office features.
- 5
Etherpad57.2Simpler self-hosted real-time text editor for shared notes.
Why people left CryptPad
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
No switching stories yet. If you moved away from CryptPad, review the app you switched to and tell us why.
Reviews
No approved reviews yet. How we verify reviewers
Write a review of CryptPad
CryptPad: common questions
Is CryptPad free?
Yes. CryptPad is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.
Is CryptPad open source?
Yes. The source code is on GitHub at cryptpad/cryptpad. You can also run it on your own server.
What platforms does CryptPad run on?
CryptPad is available for Web and Self-hosted.
What are the best alternatives to CryptPad?
The highest-ranked CryptPad alternatives right now are Google Docs, Proton Docs and ONLYOFFICE. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.