CryptPad — Encrypted Collaboration

What it is

CryptPad is an open source collaboration suite built around a zero-knowledge model. All content is encrypted in the client using keys derived from a link that the server never sees. The server stores only ciphertext. It cannot read your documents, your filenames, or your access patterns.

We host our own CryptPad instance, which means no dependency on CryptPad SAS or any third-party infrastructure. The instance is accessible over TLS 1.3 with no CDN in the path.

Available tools

The following editors are available in our instance:

• Rich text — collaborative word processor, export to HTML
• Spreadsheet — OnlyOffice-based, compatible with XLSX
• Presentation — slide decks with OnlyOffice
• Kanban — card-based task board
• Whiteboard — shared drawing canvas
• Forms — encrypted surveys and questionnaires
• Code / Markdown — syntax-highlighted code editor with live Markdown preview

Storage and sharing

Documents are stored in your CryptDrive, a personal encrypted file manager that lives in your browser's local storage. You can register for a free account on our instance to persist your drive across devices. Account registration requires only a username and passphrase — no email address.

Sharing works via cryptographic links. A document link contains the decryption key as a URL fragment, which is never sent to the server by design. You can generate view-only or edit links and share them over any channel you trust.

Why not Google Docs

Google Docs gives Google full read access to every document you create. Google uses that access for advertising profiling, training AI models, and compliance with government requests. The content of your documents is not yours in any meaningful sense.

CryptPad solves that at the cryptographic level, not through a privacy policy. If the server is compromised or subpoenaed, the attacker gets ciphertext. That's a meaningful technical difference.