CryptPad vs HackMD

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

HackMD

• Developer teams that write documentation in Markdown
• Open communities publishing notes that anyone can read
• Feeding documentation to scripts and AI agents as Markdown

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.

HackMD

• Free team workspaces stop at 3 members; a larger private team pays per seat for Prime.
• Full-text search and PDF export are not on the Free plan, which also limits images to 1 MB each.
• SSO, role-based access control, custom domains, GitLab integration and self-hosting are Enterprise only.
• HackMD is used in the browser on desktop, tablet and phone; the site mentions browser and VS Code extensions rather than native apps.

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.

HackMD

Real-time Markdown editing

Several people edit a note at once with multiple cursors, in an editor that can show the Markdown source, the rendered result or both side by side.

Comments and suggested edits

Notes take in-line and page comments, mentions and suggested edits. Read, write and comment permissions can each be set to owners, signed-in users or everyone.

Version history

Every edit is tracked so an earlier version can be recovered. The Free plan keeps the 10 most recent versions and Prime keeps them all.

GitHub sync

Notes can be pushed to GitHub: 20 pushes a month on the Free plan and unlimited on Prime. GitLab integration is an Enterprise feature.

Slide and book modes

A note can be organized into slides with a special syntax and presented in slide mode, and book mode turns an ordered list of note links into a collection.

API and CLI

Any note can be pulled as Markdown, or written back, through the REST API or CLI. Free workspaces get 400 API calls a month and a Prime team gets 20,000.

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.

HackMD

• Free$0

  Unlimited notes, up to 3 teammates, 3 invitees, 3 custom templates, GitHub integration with 20 pushes a month, and images up to 1 MB each.

• Prime (personal)$4

  per month, billed yearly ($6 billed monthly)

  For a personal workspace: full-text search, PDF export, unlimited versions, invites, templates and GitHub pushes, and 10K API calls a month.

• Prime (team)$5

  per seat / month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly)

  For a team workspace: seats beyond the 3 free members, the same Prime features, 20 MB image uploads and 20,000 API calls a month.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Adds SSO through SAML or LDAP, role-based access control, a custom domain and homepage, GitLab integration, self-hosting and priority support.

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%.

HackMD

• Annual discount

  Lower Prime prices with yearly billing

  A Prime team seat is $5 a month billed annually against $8 billed monthly, shown as a 37.5% saving. Personal Prime is $4 a month billed yearly against $6.

• Nonprofit

  Non-profit sponsorship program

  Non-profits and educational organizations can apply by email for sponsorship. On approval, a free private team can be expanded from 3 to 20 members.