CryptPad vs h5ai
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
CryptPad
End-to-end encrypted collaboration suite
VS
h5ai
Modern HTTP web server index for browsing files
| Feature | CryptPad | h5ai |
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,832 | ★ 6,052 |
| First released | 2015 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Google Drive, Microsoft 365 | Google Drive |
Why pick each one
Choose CryptPad if…
- Strong privacy guarantees
- Real-time collaboration
- No account needed to start
Choose h5ai if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 6.1k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is CryptPad or h5ai better?
Neither is universally better. CryptPad has the larger community, while h5ai is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are CryptPad and h5ai free and open-source?
Yes. CryptPad is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and h5ai under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run CryptPad and h5ai with Docker?
CryptPad: yes. h5ai: check the project docs for container support.