In my continuing effort to get away from Google (and most large US-based tech companies in general) I found CryptPad. I should note that everyone uses software and web-based services differently, and for me specifically there is one spreadsheet I constantly use for my small business. I never really use the documents or presentations that Google Docs offer, and I almost never use Google Drive. Still, CryptPad does offer all of those things, so if you need them, they are there.
There’s a lot to love about CryptPad and people seem to like it. CryptPad is an end-to-end encrypted and open-source collaboration suite and there are all sorts of options for using it, and I’m pretty sure your data won’t be used to train AI models since, you know, your data is encrypted and not even viewable by the system admins.
I am using CryptPad.fr (specifically) right now, and I make a small donation every month for the space and resources I am using. I do not mind paying some small fee for what I get, and for helping support an alternative to Google.
Public Money = Public code? Funded by and for users? Yeah, more software like this, please!
But is it as good as Google Docs? Again, it depends on your needs and expectations and what you are willing to compromise on. At first I found it “not as good” as Google Docs, but after using it a bit more and just getting used to it, I really like it, and I’ve quit Google Docs, hopefully permanently.
Eventually I’d like to self-host CryptPad. Oh, I should mention this weirdness around OnlyOffice, because some code from OnlyOffice runs within CryptPad. See this Shady Moves post. I am not concerned about any shady stuff because it’s actually being discussed in the open with CryptPad developers. This is very different than the closed-source model where you never even know what shady shit might be happening.
Do I trust open source developers in France more than closed-source developers at Google or Microsoft? Hell Yes. I expect large US tech companies to cave under pressure from a compromised administration, and you should too.
2 replies on “Hello CryptPad, Goodbye Google Docs!”
CryptPad was always too resource heavy compared to alternatives. Reminds me of when people install NextCloud because they want to address one specific problem. Removing the reliance on Google is good, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need a 1:1 replacement. Bookmark https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted if you haven’t already.
There are plenty of options out there that work well depending on what you need it for. For example, I use Joplin to store and sync notes across multiple machines. it’s helpful to always have the same knowledge base handy no matter if you’re on a phone or desktop. Plus, it’s very lightweight, stores everything in Markdown, has plugins, and can be exported into html and pdf.
CryptPad is also available at these other public locations fyi – https://cryptpad.org/instances/
Thanks, Chris.
I use Bear for my sync’d notes and it works well for me. I’ve tried Obsidian as well but I don’t like it quite as much. (I may just need to use it more and get used to it.)
I tried Nextcloud for my spreadsheet needs but it was not suitable for my needs, though I do get what you are saying about being resource-heavy.
I’m still searching for a number of solutions that I can either self host of use a suitable replacement for US tech giants offerings.
I honestly didn’t think my needs were so specific until I started trying alternative and realizing they are all lacking in some specific area.