head to head · open source
CryptPad vs PDF4QT
CryptPad has 7,927 GitHub stars, 849 forks, 401 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PDF4QT has 1,477 stars, 145 forks, 32 open issues and last shipped yesterday. CryptPad leads on adoption by 437% (7,927 vs 1,477 stars). CryptPad is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; PDF4QT is written in C++ under MIT. CryptPad has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, PDF4QT 10%. PDF4QT 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 | PDF4QT | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.9K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 849 | ⑂ 145 |
| 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 PDF4QT if
- You want the PDF4QT feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and PDF4QT 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 PDF4QT
PDF4QT is an MIT licensed, cross platform PDF toolkit for Windows and Linux that combines dedicated desktop applications — a viewer, editor, page manipulator, document diff tool and command line utility — with a C++/Qt PDF rendering engine built against the PDF Reference 2.0, and it is aimed at end users, developers and integrators who need PDF handling they can inspect, modify and redistribute without licence friction.
read the full PDF4QT overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CryptPad or PDF4QT more popular?
CryptPad has 7,927 GitHub stars and PDF4QT has 1,477. CryptPad has the larger community by that measure.
Are CryptPad and PDF4QT free?
Both are open source. CryptPad is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and PDF4QT under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CryptPad and PDF4QT?
CryptPad is written in JavaScript and PDF4QT in C++. 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 PDF4QT?
Choose CryptPad if you want the larger community (7,927 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose PDF4QT if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.