Etherpad vs HackMD

Etherpad

• Institutions that must keep drafts on their own servers
• Documents where who wrote what, and when, has to stay visible
• Quick shared note-taking on a public instance
• Developers embedding a collaborative editor in another application

HackMD

• Developer teams that write documentation in Markdown
• Open communities publishing notes that anyone can read
• Feeding documentation to scripts and AI agents as Markdown

Etherpad

• The project runs no hosted service: you set up a server, which needs git and Node.js 24 or later, or use a public instance run by someone else.
• The core ships small, so comments, tables, images and sign-in through OAuth, LDAP or OpenID all come from plugins.
• The desktop app is a v0 beta, and its repository says the Android app is not on Google Play and the iOS build has not been exercised.
• It is maintained by a small volunteer team, and the site lists no paid support.

HackMD

• Free team workspaces stop at 3 members; a larger private team pays per seat for Prime.
• Full-text search and PDF export are not on the Free plan, which also limits images to 1 MB each.
• SSO, role-based access control, custom domains, GitLab integration and self-hosting are Enterprise only.
• HackMD is used in the browser on desktop, tablet and phone; the site mentions browser and VS Code extensions rather than native apps.

Etherpad

Real-time editing with author colors

Several people type in the same pad at once. Every keystroke is attributed to its author and shown in that author's color.

Timeslider history

Every revision is preserved. The timeslider plays a document's history back character by character, and saved revisions can be restored.

Plugins

Hundreds of community plugins add comments, images, tables, drawing, video chat, math, code highlighting and OAuth, LDAP or OpenID authentication.

AI only as an optional plugin

No AI is built in. An administrator can install an AI plugin and point it at a model of their choosing, including a local one, or leave it out entirely.

HTTP API and embedding

An HTTP API with an OpenAPI description manages pads, groups, authors and sessions, and embed parameters control how a pad looks inside another page.

Runs on your own server

Installs on Linux, macOS or Windows with Node.js 24 or later, or from a Docker image, and stores pads in MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB, SQLite and other databases.

HackMD

Real-time Markdown editing

Several people edit a note at once with multiple cursors, in an editor that can show the Markdown source, the rendered result or both side by side.

Comments and suggested edits

Notes take in-line and page comments, mentions and suggested edits. Read, write and comment permissions can each be set to owners, signed-in users or everyone.

Version history

Every edit is tracked so an earlier version can be recovered. The Free plan keeps the 10 most recent versions and Prime keeps them all.

GitHub sync

Notes can be pushed to GitHub: 20 pushes a month on the Free plan and unlimited on Prime. GitLab integration is an Enterprise feature.

Slide and book modes

A note can be organized into slides with a special syntax and presented in slide mode, and book mode turns an ordered list of note links into a collection.

API and CLI

Any note can be pulled as Markdown, or written back, through the REST API or CLI. Free workspaces get 400 API calls a month and a Prime team gets 20,000.

Etherpad

• Etherpad$0

  The full editor, installed on your own server, with the plugin system, the HTTP API and built-in data export.

HackMD

• Free$0

  Unlimited notes, up to 3 teammates, 3 invitees, 3 custom templates, GitHub integration with 20 pushes a month, and images up to 1 MB each.

• Prime (personal)$4

  per month, billed yearly ($6 billed monthly)

  For a personal workspace: full-text search, PDF export, unlimited versions, invites, templates and GitHub pushes, and 10K API calls a month.

• Prime (team)$5

  per seat / month, billed annually ($8 billed monthly)

  For a team workspace: seats beyond the 3 free members, the same Prime features, 20 MB image uploads and 20,000 API calls a month.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Adds SSO through SAML or LDAP, role-based access control, a custom domain and homepage, GitLab integration, self-hosting and priority support.

Etherpad

No public discounts listed.

HackMD

• Annual discount

  Lower Prime prices with yearly billing

  A Prime team seat is $5 a month billed annually against $8 billed monthly, shown as a 37.5% saving. Personal Prime is $4 a month billed yearly against $6.

• Nonprofit

  Non-profit sponsorship program

  Non-profits and educational organizations can apply by email for sponsorship. On approval, a free private team can be expanded from 3 to 20 members.