head to head · open source
CryptPad vs PDF4QT
CryptPad has 8,039 GitHub stars, 873 forks, 401 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PDF4QT has 1,505 stars, 154 forks, 32 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. CryptPad leads on adoption by 434% (8,039 vs 1,505 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%. 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 | PDF4QT | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.0K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 873 | ⑂ 154 |
| 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 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 CryptPad is a collaboration suite that is end to end encrypted and open source. It is designed to facilitate collaboration by synchronizing changes to documents in real time. Since all the user data is encrypted, in the event of a breach, attackers have no way of accessing the stored content. Furthermore, if the administrators do not modify the code, they and the service also cannot access any information about the users' content. Installation For development Our developer guide provides instructions for setting up a local instance without HTTPS or our more advanced security features. For production…
read the full CryptPad overview →
About PDF4QT
PDF4QT (c) Jakub Melka 2018 2026 Mgr.Jakub.Melka@gmail.com This software is consisting of PDF rendering library, and several applications, such as advanced document viewer, command line tool, and document page manipulator application. Software is implementing PDF functionality based on PDF Reference 2.0. It is written and maintained by Jakub Melka. Software works on Microsoft Windows / Linux. Software is provided without any warranty of any kind. Should you find this software beneficial, your support would be greatly appreciated :heart: Sponsor! 1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This software is based in part on the work of…
read the full PDF4QT overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CryptPad or PDF4QT more popular?
CryptPad has 8,039 GitHub stars and PDF4QT has 1,505. 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 (8,039 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose PDF4QT if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.