privacyguides.org/docs/document-collaboration.md

---
title: Document Collaboration
icon: material/account-group
description: Most online office suites do not support end-to-end encryption, meaning the cloud provider has access to everything you do.
cover: document-collaboration.webp
---
<small>Protects against the following threat(s):</small>

- [:material-server-network: Service Providers](basics/common-threats.md#privacy-from-service-providers){ .pg-teal }

Most online **document collaboration** platforms like Google Drive do not support end-to-end encryption, meaning the cloud provider has access to everything you do. The provider's privacy policy may legally protect your rights, but it does not provide technical access constraints.

## CryptPad

<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>

![CryptPad logo](assets/img/document-collaboration/cryptpad.svg){ align=right }

**CryptPad** is a private-by-design alternative to popular, full-fledged office suites. All content on this web service is E2EE and can be shared with other users easily.

[:material-star-box: Read our latest CryptPad review.](https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/02/07/cryptpad-review)

[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://cryptpad.fr){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://cryptpad.fr/pad/#/2/pad/view/GcNjAWmK6YDB3EO2IipRZ0fUe89j43Ryqeb4fjkjehE){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
[:octicons-server-16:](https://cryptpad.org/instances){ .card-link title="Public Instances" }
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.cryptpad.fr){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/xwiki-labs/cryptpad){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
[:octicons-heart-16:](https://opencollective.com/cryptpad){ .card-link title="Contribute" }

</details>

</div>

## Criteria

**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.

### Minimum Requirements

- Must be open source.
- Must make files accessible via WebDAV unless it is impossible due to E2EE.
- Must have sync clients for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
- Must support document and spreadsheet editing.
- Must support real-time document collaboration.
- Must support exporting documents to standard document formats (e.g. ODF).

### Best-Case

Our best-case criteria represents what we would like to see from the perfect project in this category. Our recommendations may not include any or all of this functionality, but those which do may rank higher than others on this page.

- Should store files in a conventional filesystem.
- Should support TOTP or FIDO2 multifactor authentication support, or passkey logins.