CryptPad vs Proton Sheets
We give CryptPad and Proton Sheets the same GPA: 3.4 out of 4.0. CryptPad grades higher on features. Proton Sheets 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 Sheets
End-to-end encrypted online spreadsheets inside Proton Drive
How we grade them
| 3.4GPACryptPadVery good | 3.4GPAProton SheetsVery 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 Sheets plan to buy. It comes with Proton Drive, and Drive Plus is $3.99 a month billed yearly for 200 GB, well under the $9.99 this category typically starts at. Paying buys storage and other Proton services, not more spreadsheet. |
| 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. | AFree with any Proton Drive account, with 5 GB of encrypted storage and the whole editor. Most people could stay here. Bear in mind that the 5 GB is shared with the files, photos and documents you keep in Drive. |
| 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, named cursors, notes on cells, and public links with an optional password and expiration date. The spreadsheet side is solid basics: built-in functions, bar, line and pie charts, conditional formatting, data validation and tabs. It imports and exports XLSX, CSV and TSV. |
| 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, so a B is as high as we go. If you have a Proton account it's already in your Drive, and changes sync without a save step. People you invite by email need a Proton Account, though a public link gets round that. |
| 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 Docs, and in the Windows and macOS Drive apps a spreadsheet is a placeholder file that opens in the browser. |
| Best for | documents your host can't read | spreadsheets that even 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 Sheets. How we grade
Where they differ
- CryptPad starts at €5 per month, or €55 per year, for the Personal plan on cryptpad.fr. Proton Sheets starts at $3.99 per month, billed yearly (Drive Plus).
- Only Proton Sheets lists iOS and Android apps.
- CryptPad is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- CryptPad also covers kanban boards and documents.
At a glance
| CryptPad | Proton Sheets | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 with the online document and spreadsheet editor. Anyone with a Proton Drive account can use Sheets at no charge. |
| 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 5, 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 Sheets
- People who want spreadsheets the provider itself cannot read
- Teams handling client or financial data under privacy requirements
- Existing Proton Drive users who want a spreadsheet 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 Sheets
- There is no standalone Sheets plan; it is part of Proton Drive, and the paid plans differ in storage and bundled Proton services.
- In the Windows and macOS Drive apps a spreadsheet is only a placeholder file that opens in the browser at docs.proton.me.
- People invited by email need a Proton Account to open a shared spreadsheet; public links do not require one.
- The free plan's 5 GB of storage is shared with files, photos and documents 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 Sheets
- End-to-end encryption by default
- Spreadsheets are encrypted on the device before upload, including metadata such as file names, so no one but the owner and invited collaborators can read them, not even Proton.
- Real-time collaboration
- Edits from other people appear as they type, each collaborator has a named cursor, and notes can be attached to cells. Changes sync without a save step.
- Sharing controls
- Share with specific people as Editor or Viewer, or create a public link with an optional password and expiration date. Access can be changed or revoked at any time.
- Formulas, charts and data tools
- Built-in functions such as SUM and IF, bar, line and pie charts, conditional formatting, data validation and multiple tabs in one spreadsheet.
- Import and export
- Imports CSV, TSV and XLSX files into a new or existing sheet and downloads spreadsheets as XLSX, CSV or TSV. ODS import and export were added in beta in February 2026.
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 Sheets
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 Sheets, 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 Sheets: 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 Sheets.
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 Sheets
- 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).
