AshNote vs OneTimeSecret
OneTimeSecret is the veteran of self-destructing secret links: open source since the early 2010s, MIT-licensed, with hosted regions worldwide. Here is where the two tools actually differ, without marketing fog.
Prices and features verified against vendor pages, July 2026. Spotted a change? Tell us.
| AshNote | OneTimeSecret | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Unlimited drops, text + files (256 KB), no account | Generous: one custom domain, 14-day expiry, email delivery, REST API |
| Paid plan | Team · 5 €/user/month | Identity Plus · 35 €/month flat, unlimited member invites |
| Pricing model | Per seat (grows with your team) | Flat fee (cheap for large orgs, steep for small ones) |
| Client-side encryption | ✓ AES-256-GCM in the browser, key in URL fragment, zero knowledge | Server-side handling; passphrase option available |
| Slack app | ✓ native /ashnote command | ✗ none official |
| Microsoft Teams app | ✓ message extension with zero-knowledge compose dialog | ✗ none official |
| Audit trail | ✓ created/read/burned/expired, metadata only (Team plan) | ✗ not offered as a product feature |
| SSO | ✓ OIDC (Team plan) | Shipped 2026 (v0.25); plan assignment unclear on pricing page |
| EU hosting | ✓ German data centers | ✓ dedicated EU region (Nuremberg) |
| Open source | Client crypto open source | ✓ fully, MIT license, mature self-hosting |
| Custom domain | Team plan (roadmap) | ✓ even on the free tier |
Choose OneTimeSecret if…
…you want a battle-tested, fully MIT-licensed tool you can self-host today, need a custom domain for free, or prefer a flat fee for a large organization. It has earned its reputation.
Choose AshNote if…
…your team lives in Slack or Microsoft Teams and you want secrets replaced with encrypted one-time links right there; if an auditor has ever asked you "how do credentials move through your org?" and you want an audit trail as the answer; or if you want zero-knowledge, browser-side encryption where the key demonstrably never touches the server.
The honest bottom line
Both tools solve the core problem: a password in a chat history is a liability, a burned link is not. OneTimeSecret is the safer choice for self-hosters; AshNote is built for teams that want chat-native workflows and compliance evidence out of the box.