head to head · open source
CryptPad vs gridcraft
CryptPad has 8,005 GitHub stars, 863 forks, 401 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. gridcraft has 2,701 stars, 1,119 forks, 101 open issues and last shipped yesterday. CryptPad leads on adoption by 196% (8,005 vs 2,701 stars). CryptPad is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; gridcraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. CryptPad has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, gridcraft 41%. gridcraft was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| CryptPad | gridcraft | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.0K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-09 | 2026-10-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 863 | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick CryptPad if
- You weight community size — 8.0K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick gridcraft if
- You want the gridcraft feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and gridcraft fits your workflow better
About CryptPad
CryptPad is an open source collaboration suite built around end to end encryption, written in JavaScript and released under the AGPL 3.0. It lives in the JavaScript and real time collaboration ecosystem, using ChainPad to synchronize changes to documents in real time. The suite covers documents, sheets, presentations, forms, kanban boards, code, rich text, and whiteboards, all reachable from a single CryptDrive, and it is positioned as an open alternative to Google Docs.
read the full CryptPad overview →
About gridcraft
GridCraft is an open source, clean room reimplementation of Microsoft Excel written in pure Rust, aimed at desktop users, browser users, and AI agents that need to drive a spreadsheet programmatically.
read the full gridcraft overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CryptPad or gridcraft more popular?
CryptPad has 8,005 GitHub stars and gridcraft has 2,701. CryptPad has the larger community by that measure.
Are CryptPad and gridcraft free?
Both are open source. CryptPad is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and gridcraft under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CryptPad and gridcraft?
CryptPad is written in JavaScript and gridcraft in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, CryptPad or gridcraft?
Choose CryptPad if you want the larger community (8,005 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose gridcraft if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.