# Etherpad

> Open-source real-time collaborative editor you host yourself

Etherpad is an open-source editor for writing documents together in real time on a server you run yourself. Each author's text appears in that author's color and every revision is kept, so the timeslider can replay how a document came to be. Plugins add comments, tables, images, video chat and sign-in through OAuth, LDAP or OpenID. The software is free under the Apache 2.0 license and has no paid edition.

- **Category:** Docs & Wikis
- **Made by:** The Etherpad Foundation (since 2009)
- **Website:** https://etherpad.org
- **Runs on:** Web, Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 6, 2026

## Pricing

Etherpad is free to use.

- **Pricing model:** Free
- **Free plan:** Etherpad is free software under the Apache 2.0 license, with no paid edition and no upsells. You install it on your own server or use a public instance that someone else runs.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Etherpad | $0 | The full editor, installed on your own server, with the plugin system, the HTTP API and built-in data export. |

Read from https://etherpad.org/ on Oct 6, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Etherpad before buying.

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- 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

## Worth knowing

- 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.

## Works with

Home Assistant, Claude Code

**Tags:** Documents, Real-time collaboration, Open source, Self-hostable, Public API

## Alternatives

- [HedgeDoc](https://toolgpa.com/tools/hedgedoc): Open-source, self-hosted collaborative Markdown editor. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/etherpad-vs-hedgedoc)
- [CryptPad](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cryptpad): End-to-end encrypted, open-source collaborative office suite. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cryptpad-vs-etherpad)
- [HackMD](https://toolgpa.com/tools/hackmd): Real-time collaborative Markdown editor and knowledge base. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/etherpad-vs-hackmd)
- [Google Docs](https://toolgpa.com/tools/google-docs): Browser-based word processor, free with a Google Account. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/etherpad-vs-google-docs)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 6, 2026:

- https://etherpad.org/
- https://etherpad.org/about
- https://etherpad.org/doc/v3.3.7/index.html
- https://github.com/ether/etherpad-desktop

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/etherpad
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).