CryptPad vs Proton Docs
We give CryptPad and Proton Docs the same GPA: 3.4 out of 4.0. CryptPad grades higher on features. Proton Docs grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CryptPad
End-to-end encrypted, open-source collaborative office suite
Proton Docs
End-to-end encrypted collaborative documents inside Proton Drive
How we grade them
| 3.4GPACryptPadVery good | 3.4GPAProton DocsVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APersonal is €5 a month or €55 a year on cryptpad.fr, and Team is €15 a month for 6 drives and 75 GB. That's well under what this category usually charges. Prices are in euros. | AThere's no separate Docs plan to buy. It comes with Proton Drive, and Drive Plus is $3.99 a month billed yearly for 200 GB. Paying gets you storage and other Proton services, not more editor. |
| Free plan and trial | AA free cryptpad.fr account gets 1 GB of storage, and hosting your own instance is free too. Uploads stop at 25 MB. Guests can use every app with no account, but their documents are deleted after 90 days of inactivity. | AIncluded with the free Proton account, with 5 GB of encrypted storage and the document and spreadsheet editor. That 5 GB is shared with the files and photos you keep in Drive. Most people could stay here. |
| Features | ANine apps, from rich text, sheets and slides to kanban, forms, whiteboards and diagrams, all syncing in real time with history and a chat. Registered users get a drive with shared folders, templates and fine-grained access controls. | BEnd-to-end encryption, live cursors, suggested edits you accept or reject, threaded comments, sharing by link with people who have no Proton Account, and export to .docx, .md or .pdf. Solid basics for writing together. But it's an editor and no more, and a document can't be larger than 25 MB. |
| Ease of use | BNothing to install and no account needed: guests can open and edit a shared document without giving any personal information. There's no app rating on record to go on, though. | BNo app rating on record. If you have a Proton account it's already there, and you can invite people by email or link even if they have no Proton Account of their own. |
| Platforms and integrations | CIt runs in the browser and that's it. CryptPad's site lists no desktop or mobile apps, and there are no integrations on record. | BWeb, iPhone and Android. But the only connections on record are Proton's own Drive and Sheets, and in the Windows and macOS Drive apps a document is a placeholder file that opens in the browser. |
| Best for | documents your host can't read | private documents the provider can't read |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: CryptPad and Proton Docs. How we grade
Where they differ
- CryptPad starts at €5 per month, or €55 per year, for the Personal plan on cryptpad.fr. Proton Docs starts at $3.99 per month, billed yearly (Drive Plus).
- Only Proton Docs lists iOS and Android apps.
- CryptPad is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- CryptPad also covers kanban boards and spreadsheets.
At a glance
| CryptPad | Proton Docs | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | €5 per month, or €55 per year, for the Personal plan on cryptpad.fr | $3.99 per month, billed yearly (Drive Plus) |
| Free plan | Free registered account on cryptpad.fr with 1 GB of storage and 25 MB uploads. Guests can use every app without an account, but their documents are deleted after 90 days of inactivity. | Proton Free: 5 GB of end-to-end encrypted storage for files, photos and documents, with the online document and spreadsheet editor included. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | XWiki SAS | Proton AG |
| Price read from | cryptpad.org | proton.me |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Proton Docs
- People who want documents the provider itself cannot read
- Lawyers, doctors and advisers drafting confidential client documents
- Existing Proton Drive users who want a document editor in the same account
Worth knowing
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.
Proton Docs
- There is no standalone Docs plan: it is part of Proton Drive, and the paid plans differ in storage and bundled Proton services.
- A document can be no larger than 25 MB.
- In the Windows and macOS Drive apps a document is only a placeholder file that opens in the browser at docs.proton.me.
- The free plan's 5 GB of storage is shared with the files and photos kept in Proton Drive.
Key features
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.
Proton Docs
- End-to-end encryption
- Documents are encrypted on your device before they are uploaded, and only you hold the keys, so nobody else can read them. Proton says that includes Proton itself.
- Real-time collaboration
- See who else is viewing or editing a document and follow their cursors live. Every update stays end-to-end encrypted.
- Suggestions and comments
- Collaborators can propose edits as highlighted suggestions to accept or reject, and discuss a passage in threaded comments attached to the text.
- Sharing controls
- Invite people by email or with a sharing link, including people without a Proton Account, choose whether they can view or edit, and revoke access at any time.
- Import and export
- Opens .docx, .txt, .md and .html files stored in Proton Drive for editing, and downloads documents as .docx, .html, .txt, .md or .pdf.
- Rich text editing
- The toolbar covers text styles, fonts, colors and highlights, code blocks, numbered, bulleted and check lists, quotes, dividers, images and tables.
Plans
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.
Proton Docs
Proton Free$0
5 GB of storage for files, photos and documents, with the online document and spreadsheet editor.
Drive Plus$3.99
per month, billed yearly at $47.88 ($4.99 billed monthly)
Proton Drive with Docs, 200 GB of storage and 10 years to recover previous file versions.
Drive Professional$7.99
per user / month, billed yearly ($9.99 billed monthly)
Team plan for Proton Drive with Docs: 1 TB per user, user access management and sync across devices and users.
Proton Unlimited$9.99
per month, billed yearly at $119.88 ($12.99 billed monthly)
500 GB of storage plus Proton VPN, Proton Mail, Proton Calendar and Proton Pass alongside Drive and Docs.
Proton Duo$14.99
per month, billed yearly at $179.88 ($19.99 billed monthly)
Everything in Unlimited for up to 2 users, with 2 TB of storage and advanced account protection.
Proton Family$23.99
per month, billed yearly ($29.99 billed monthly)
3 TB of storage for up to 6 users, with the Proton premium products that are included in Duo.
Ways to pay less
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%.
Proton Docs
- Annual discount
20% to 25% off with yearly billing
Billed yearly, Drive Plus is $3.99 a month instead of $4.99 (20% off), Proton Unlimited is $9.99 instead of $12.99 (23% off) and Proton Duo is $14.99 instead of $19.99 (25% off).
- Education
Student discount on Proton Unlimited
Students verified through Student Beans get 62% off Proton Unlimited for the first 12 months. The subscription then renews at the regular price.
- Nonprofit
Reduced pricing for nonprofits
Proton offers nonprofit organizations reduced pricing through a customized quote from its sales team. No fixed percentage is published.
