AshNote vs Yopass
Yopass deserves respect: Apache-2.0 open source, client-side encryption, free to self-host, and it recently moved team features behind a paid license. The real difference is not the crypto, it's how you consume the product.
Prices and features verified against vendor pages, July 2026. Spotted a change? Tell us.
| AshNote | Yopass | |
|---|---|---|
| Client-side encryption | ✓ AES-256-GCM (WebCrypto), key in URL fragment | ✓ in the browser (OpenPGP-based), key in the link |
| Free tier | Hosted: unlimited drops, text + files, no account | Self-host free forever; hosted demo at yopass.se |
| Team features | Hosted Team plan · 5 €/user/month | Paid license (~149 €/year) on your own instance |
| SSO / OIDC | ✓ hosted (Team plan) | License required, self-hosted |
| Audit logging | ✓ hosted UI, metadata only (Team plan) | License required: NDJSON compliance logs (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR) |
| Slack app | ✓ native /ashnote command | ✗ none official |
| Microsoft Teams app | ✓ message extension, zero-knowledge dialog | ✗ none official |
| Accounts / orgs | ✓ org accounts, plan management | No accounts by design (self-host demo model) |
| CLI | ✓ native binary via Homebrew, zero-knowledge | ✓ official Go CLI in the main repo |
| Operating effort | None · hosted, EU/German data centers | You run it: server, TLS, updates, backups, monitoring |
| Open source | Client crypto open source | ✓ Apache-2.0, full stack |
Choose Yopass if…
…you have the ops capacity and the policy to self-host everything, want the full stack under an Apache-2.0 license, and are happy to pay a yearly license for SSO and audit logging on your own infrastructure. It's a genuinely good tool.
Choose AshNote if…
…you want the same client-side encryption guarantees without running servers: hosted accounts, per-seat billing, an audit trail with a UI, SSO that your IT admin configures in minutes, and native Slack and Microsoft Teams apps, which neither Yopass nor anyone else in this category offers today.
The honest bottom line
Cryptographically, Yopass and AshNote are philosophical siblings: both encrypt in the browser so the server can't read anything. The choice is operational: self-host and license, or hosted per-seat with chat integrations. Pick by the team you have, not the crypto.