head to head · open source
CryptPad vs Pdf_Tools
CryptPad has 7,930 GitHub stars, 850 forks, 401 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pdf_Tools has 582 stars, 38 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped yesterday. CryptPad leads on adoption by 1,263% (7,930 vs 582 stars). CryptPad is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; Pdf_Tools is written in Kotlin under Apache-2.0. CryptPad has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Pdf_Tools 7%. 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 | Pdf_Tools | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.9K | ★ 582 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 850 | ⑂ 38 |
| 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 Pdf_Tools if
- You want the Pdf_Tools feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and Pdf_Tools 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 Pdf_Tools
PDF Toolkit is an open source, privacy first PDF editor for Android, written in Kotlin and aimed at anyone who needs to merge, split, compress, convert, annotate, or sign PDF documents entirely on the device, with no internet connection and no account.
read the full Pdf_Tools overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CryptPad or Pdf_Tools more popular?
CryptPad has 7,930 GitHub stars and Pdf_Tools has 582. CryptPad has the larger community by that measure.
Are CryptPad and Pdf_Tools free?
Both are open source. CryptPad is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Pdf_Tools under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CryptPad and Pdf_Tools?
CryptPad is written in JavaScript and Pdf_Tools in Kotlin. 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 Pdf_Tools?
Choose CryptPad if you want the larger community (7,930 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Pdf_Tools if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.