Alternatives to ccrypt
A command-line utility for encrypting and decrypting files and streams with the Rijndael cipher. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
ccrypt
A command-line utility for encrypting and decrypting files and streams with the Rijndael cipher.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as ccrypt.
age
File encryption with one small key, no options to get wrong, and a command you can remember.
age is open source under BSD-3-Clause and also works with pipes, adding public-key recipients and SSH keys, while still being command line only.
scrypt
A simple command-line tool for password-based file encryption built on the scrypt key derivation function.
scrypt keeps passphrase-only encryption on the command line, using a key derivation function designed to resist hardware brute-force attacks, but it is not open source.
rage
A Rust implementation of the age file encryption format, with a command-line tool and library.
rage is a Rust implementation of the age format with a command-line tool and library, supporting public keys and plugins rather than only a passphrase.
AES Crypt
A file encryption program that protects individual files with a password using AES.
AES Crypt adds desktop apps and an Android version alongside its command-line tool, but it is paid after a 30-day trial and not open source.
Kryptor
Command-line file encryption and signing using modern cryptography.
Kryptor adds public-key encryption and signing with modern primitives on the command line, but it uses its own file format with limited interoperability.
EncryptPad
A text editor and file encryptor that uses OpenPGP-compatible symmetric encryption.
EncryptPad keeps an editing workflow for encrypted text like ccrypt's Emacs mode, adding a graphical editor and OpenPGP-compatible files, but it is not open source.
Picocrypt
A tiny, single-purpose file encryption tool using XChaCha20 and Argon2id. Archived by its author, but still working.
Picocrypt replaces the terminal with a small graphical tool using XChaCha20 and Argon2id, but it is archived with no more releases planned.
GnuPG
Complete free implementation of the OpenPGP standard.
GnuPG provides full OpenPGP public-key encryption and signing across platforms, but its key management and command line are much more complex than ccrypt's three commands.
Also worth comparing
These listings name ccrypt as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
hat.sh
An open-source web app that encrypts and decrypts files locally inside your browser.
ccrypt is a free open-source command-line tool using the Rijndael cipher, with a ccat command that decrypts to the terminal without plaintext files.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
