head to head · open source
CryptPad vs gspread
CryptPad has 7,927 GitHub stars, 849 forks, 401 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gspread has 7,507 stars, 978 forks, 73 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. CryptPad leads on adoption by 6% (7,927 vs 7,507 stars). CryptPad is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; gspread is written in Python under MIT. CryptPad has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, gspread 13%. CryptPad 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 | gspread | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.9K | ★ 7.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-07-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 849 | ⑂ 978 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick CryptPad if
- You weight community size — 7.9K 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 gspread if
- You want the gspread feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and gspread 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 gspread
gspread is a Python client library for the Google Sheets API v4 that lets Python code open, read, write, format, and share Google Sheets spreadsheets without hand writing HTTP requests against the Sheets REST endpoints.
read the full gspread overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CryptPad or gspread more popular?
CryptPad has 7,927 GitHub stars and gspread has 7,507. CryptPad has the larger community by that measure.
Are CryptPad and gspread free?
Both are open source. CryptPad is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and gspread under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CryptPad and gspread?
CryptPad is written in JavaScript and gspread in Python. 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 gspread?
Choose CryptPad if you want the larger community (7,927 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose gspread if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.