CryptPad vs Etherpad

CryptPad

• Groups that do not want their host to be able to read their documents
• Working with people who should not need to create an account
• Schools and nonprofits: dedicated instances are half price for them
• Organizations able to run their own instance

Etherpad

• Institutions that must keep drafts on their own servers
• Documents where who wrote what, and when, has to stay visible
• Quick shared note-taking on a public instance
• Developers embedding a collaborative editor in another application

CryptPad

• Prices are in euros. Paid plans on cryptpad.fr run from €5 to €100 a month and mainly add storage and priority support.
• A free cryptpad.fr account has 1 GB of storage and a 25 MB upload limit, and guest documents are deleted after 90 days of inactivity.
• CryptPad runs in the browser; the project's site lists no desktop or mobile apps.
• A dedicated instance starts at €3,000 a year for 50 users and 100 GB of storage.

Etherpad

• The project runs no hosted service: you set up a server, which needs git and Node.js 24 or later, or use a public instance run by someone else.
• The core ships small, so comments, tables, images and sign-in through OAuth, LDAP or OpenID all come from plugins.
• The desktop app is a v0 beta, and its repository says the Android app is not on Google Play and the iOS build has not been exercised.
• It is maintained by a small volunteer team, and the site lists no paid support.

CryptPad

Encryption in the browser

All data is encrypted in the browser before it leaves the device, so the service and its administrators cannot see document contents or user data.

A suite of document apps

Rich Text, Document, Sheet, Presentation, Kanban, Code/Markdown, Form, Whiteboard and Diagram apps share import and export, history, a user list and a chat.

Collaboration without an account

Changes are synchronized in real time, and guests can open and edit shared documents in every app without giving any personal information.

CryptDrive and teams

Registered users get a CryptDrive with folders, shared folders, templates and tags, file uploads, contacts and fine-grained access controls. Team drives and calendars support group work.

Self-hosting and public instances

CryptPad is free software that anyone can host. The project lists third-party public instances that passed its checks for an up-to-date version and recommended security settings.

Dedicated instances from XWiki

XWiki offers a managed cloud instance or on-premise support with your own domain, logo and colors, storage quota controls and single sign-on integration.

Etherpad

Real-time editing with author colors

Several people type in the same pad at once. Every keystroke is attributed to its author and shown in that author's color.

Timeslider history

Every revision is preserved. The timeslider plays a document's history back character by character, and saved revisions can be restored.

Plugins

Hundreds of community plugins add comments, images, tables, drawing, video chat, math, code highlighting and OAuth, LDAP or OpenID authentication.

AI only as an optional plugin

No AI is built in. An administrator can install an AI plugin and point it at a model of their choosing, including a local one, or leave it out entirely.

HTTP API and embedding

An HTTP API with an OpenAPI description manages pads, groups, authors and sessions, and embed parameters control how a pad looks inside another page.

Runs on your own server

Installs on Linux, macOS or Windows with Node.js 24 or later, or from a Docker image, and stores pads in MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB, SQLite and other databases.

CryptPad

• Free€0

  A registered account on cryptpad.fr with 1 GB of storage, or an account on another public instance. Hosting your own instance is also free.

• Personal€5

  per month, or €55 per year

  5 GB storage quota and 1 drive on cryptpad.fr, with a 150 MB file upload limit and priority support.

• Duo€10

  per month, or €110 per year

  25 GB storage quota and 2 drives on cryptpad.fr, with priority support.

• Team€15

  per month, or €165 per year

  75 GB storage quota and 6 drives on cryptpad.fr, with priority support.

• Org 25€50

  per month, or €500 per year

  Organization plan with a 100 GB quota and 25 drives. Org 100 costs €100 a month or €1,000 a year for 150 GB and 100 drives.

• Your Own InstanceFrom €3,000

  per year (Mini: 50 users, 100 GB)

  A dedicated instance from XWiki, managed in the cloud or supported on-premise, up to €25,000 a year for 1,000 users and 1 TB.

Etherpad

• Etherpad$0

  The full editor, installed on your own server, with the plugin system, the HTTP API and built-in data export.

CryptPad

• Education

  50% off a dedicated instance for education

  Education customers get 50% off enterprise pricing for their own instance: from €1,500 a year for 50 users and 100 GB instead of €3,000.

• Nonprofit

  50% off a dedicated instance for nonprofits

  Nonprofits get 50% off enterprise pricing for their own instance: from €1,500 a year for 50 users and 100 GB instead of €3,000.

• Annual discount

  Lower price with yearly billing on cryptpad.fr

  Paying yearly costs €55 instead of €60 for Personal and €500 instead of €600 for Org 25, a saving of about 8% and 17%.

Etherpad

No public discounts listed.