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Comparison · Collab
Capacities vs CryptPad
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Capacities and CryptPad — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Capacities vs CryptPad: at a glance
What is Capacities?
Capacities adds whiteboards and a global graph to its object-based notes.
Capacities is a structured personal knowledge tool shipping a named release about monthly. The October release adds whiteboards and a global graph view, a visual layer over existing notes, plus a polish pass. September brought audio recording and transcription, bulk property editing and AI chats that can edit and act on objects. AI image generation and a Pro+ tier with a larger AI budget arrived in August.
What is CryptPad?
CryptPad rewrote its server and swapped OnlyOffice for Euro-Office in one release.
CryptPad's Autumn 2026.10.0 is the largest release in this window. The server is fully rewritten for scalability and published as its own cryptpad-server npm package, office documents gain a 'linked documents' data model for reliability, and the office apps move from OnlyOffice to Euro-Office 9.3, a compatible fork. A long list of drive, team, accessibility and form fixes rides along, and admins are told to read the upgrade notes because the new server changes deployment.
Capacities vs CryptPad: editorial side-by-side
Capacities
2.5COLLAB
Capacities adds whiteboards and a global graph to its object-based notes.
◆ Current state
Capacities is a structured personal knowledge tool shipping a named release about monthly. The October release adds whiteboards and a global graph view, a visual layer over existing notes, plus a polish pass. September brought audio recording and transcription, bulk property editing and AI chats that can edit and act on objects. AI image generation and a Pro+ tier with a larger AI budget arrived in August.
◆ Where it's heading
Two threads run together: AI that acts inside the workspace (connectors, chats that edit, a paid AI budget) and better ways to see and capture what is already stored (graph, whiteboards, audio). API 2.0 in July opened the space to outside tools.
◆ Prediction
Expect more AI actions inside chats and further work on the graph and whiteboard surfaces; the entries do not say whether whiteboards will reach the API.
CryptPad
2.5COLLAB
CryptPad rewrote its server and swapped OnlyOffice for Euro-Office in one release.
◆ Current state
CryptPad's Autumn 2026.10.0 is the largest release in this window. The server is fully rewritten for scalability and published as its own cryptpad-server npm package, office documents gain a 'linked documents' data model for reliability, and the office apps move from OnlyOffice to Euro-Office 9.3, a compatible fork. A long list of drive, team, accessibility and form fixes rides along, and admins are told to read the upgrade notes because the new server changes deployment.
◆ Where it's heading
Earlier releases moved CryptPad forward mainly by bumping the editors it wraps. This one changes its own core and its office supplier, and the Euro-Office switch fits the integration direction seen in the opendesk build: CryptPad as one component of a European sovereign workplace stack. Shipping the server as a separate package also makes it easier to embed and operate on its own.
◆ Prediction
Expect a fix release on the Autumn line soon, as every seasonal release in this window has had one or two, and a server rewrite raises the odds of upgrade issues.
Alternatives to Capacities and CryptPad
Other Collab products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Capacities or CryptPad.
Komga
Komga's NextUI beta keeps gaining features while the old UI gets only translations.
Guru
Guru's Knowledge Agents get the plumbing that makes their answers checkable and safe.
EGroupware
EGroupware retires 23.1 and keeps shipping security fixes every week or two.
Immich
Immich's 3.4 candidate adds passkeys and built-in backups.
PhotoPrism
PhotoPrism now lets AI assistants search your photo library over MCP.
See all Capacities alternatives → · See all CryptPad alternatives →
Recent activity from Capacities and CryptPad
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 7d agoCapacitiesWhiteboards, global graph view, and polish on the basics
- 11d agoCryptPadAutumn 2026.10: new server, Euro-Office replaces OnlyOffice
- 1mo agoCapacitiesAudio recording and transcription, a calmer desktop, bulk property editing, and smarter AI chats
- 1mo agoCapacitiesv1.70.2: Index Card padding and calendar fixes
- 2mo agoCapacitiesPDF reader view and annotations for Believers, Version History, more calendars, and AI image generation
- 2mo agoCapacitiesCapacities Pro+ and Believer+
- 3mo agoCryptPadopendesk build suppresses donation prompts
- 3mo agoCapacitiesRecent continuous improvements — polish and reliability
- 5mo agoCryptPadFix release repairs office app corruption and SSO plugin
- 5mo agoCryptPadDiagram app moves to Drawio 29 with a sketch-mode default
- 7mo agoCryptPadPatch fixes office history loading and a version misnumber
- 7mo agoCryptPadPatch closes websocket leaks and a shared-folder drive bug
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Capacities and CryptPad?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Capacities and CryptPad are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 2.5 vs 2.5, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Capacities better than CryptPad?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Capacities and CryptPad are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 2.5 vs 2.5, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Capacities?
Top Capacities alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Capacities alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/capacities for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to CryptPad?
Top CryptPad alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "CryptPad alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/cryptpad for the full list with editorial commentary on each.