Notes 
Highly customizable open-source online editor providing collaborative editing in real time.
Reviewed by Gabriel Bachmann
Etherpad
etherpad.org 1 rating so far*
Rate Etherpad: No account needed
Threat level
Hardened
A hardened pick. Worth the effort once you have chosen to shrink your footprint on purpose. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
A long-running, widely deployed collaborative editor that is great for throwing up a shared pad fast, with a huge plugin ecosystem behind it. The tag says it plainly: documents are unencrypted, so whoever runs the server can read everything, which means trust depends entirely on who hosts it. Run your own instance for casual team notes and brainstorming; do not put anything sensitive on a public pad.
GitHub at a glance
ether/etherpad Apache-2.0 collaborationcollaborativecollaborative-aicollaborative-editingcollaborative-frameworkcollaborative-researchcollaborative-writingdocumentdocumentsetherpadpdf-generationrich-text-editorvideo-conferencevideo-conferencingweb-editor
Stars
18,617
+16 this week
Forks
3,060
334 watching
Last commit
today
healthy
Latest release
v3.3.13
1d ago, 90 total
Star history
Issues
100% closed
6
open
3,367
closed
+4 / -10
opened / closed, last 4 weeks
Opened vs closed, last 12 weeks
Commits, last 26 weeks
730 commits, active 26 of 26 weeks
308 contributors since Mar 2011
Languages
- TypeScript 86.3%
- CSS 4%
- JavaScript 3.9%
- Other 5.8%
Updated daily from the GitHub API. Star tracking since Jun 15, 2026.
Website at a glance
etherpad.org
D score 30
Weak website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 3d ago
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
Etherpad alternatives
CryptPad Plenty of features: Rich text, code, presentation, sheet, form, kanban, whiteboard and CryptDrive. Encrypted data is hosted in France but you can also self-host it or select…
LibreOffice LibreOffice consists of programs for word processing, creating and editing of spreadsheets, slideshows, diagrams and drawings, working with databases, and composing…
PrivMX The complete teamwork experience: Chats & calls, files, tasks, kanban boards, mind maps and calendars. Team members can communicate one-on-one, group chat and section channels.…
Collabora Online Self-hosted online office suite built on LibreOffice, designed to integrate with Nextcloud and ownCloud.
ONLYOFFICE Features: Online document editors, platform for document management, corporate communication, mail and project management tools. Read more: Data Security & Access Control -…
Vikunja The project is still under development and the native apps are not final yet, but the web version works great. Offers an import feature from Todoist, Trello and Microsoft To-Do.
Etherpad license, in plain English
Apache-2.0 Permissive
Permissive like MIT, with an explicit patent grant and a requirement to flag any changes you make.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- License and copyright notice
- State changes
Does not provide
- Trademark use
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Permissive licensing lets anyone reuse this, including inside closed products. That is freedom to build on, but no guarantee that downstream copies stay open.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.
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