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Last Updated: 07-21-2026 09:20 PM (UTC)

Etherpad

In continuous open-source development since 2009, Etherpad is the original really-real-time collaborative editor - used by Wikimedia, governments, EU public-sector institutions, and tens of thousands of self-hosters. Its core idea is visible authorship: every keystroke is attributed with author colors, every revision preserved, and the timeslider lets you scrub through a document's entire history character by character. Multiple people type into the same pad and see each other's changes instantly - it scales to thousands of simultaneous editors per pad. The base install is deliberately lightweight; capability comes from roughly 290 plugins installable from the admin web UI: comments, images, tables, drawing, video chat via WebRTC, math rendering, code highlighting, and authentication via OAuth, LDAP, or OpenID. AI is pointedly a plugin, not a default - you choose the model and infrastructure, or never turn it on. There is no telemetry. For integrators, an HTTP API (with OpenAPI definitions at /api/openapi.json) manages pads, users, and groups for embedding in your own applications, and the ueberDB abstraction layer supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, and SQLite backends. Full data export is built in, the format is open, it is translated into 105 languages, and it runs on anything from a Raspberry Pi to a server farm. Apache 2.0 licensed, Node.js based.

Etherpad

Benefits

  • Authorship Is the Product
  • Color-coded attribution and the character-level timeslider make who-wrote-what visible to every reader.
  • Institutional-Grade Longevity
  • Stable since 2009 with no pivots or acquisitions - what you deploy today will still be Etherpad in a decade.
  • AI on Your Terms Only
  • AI is an optional plugin pointed at a model you choose on infrastructure you control - or absent entirely.
  • Light Core, 290 Plugins
  • Ship a minimal fast editor and add exactly the comments, tables, auth, or video chat your team needs.

Features

  • Really-Real-Time Editing
  • Instant character-level sync scaling to thousands of simultaneous editors per pad.
  • History Timeslider
  • Scrub through the full revision history and watch the document form keystroke by keystroke.
  • Plugin Framework
  • Install from the admin UI: ep_comments, images, WebRTC chat, math, code highlighting, and more.
  • Embeddable HTTP API
  • Manage pads, users, and groups programmatically; OpenAPI definitions exposed for client generation.
  • Flexible Auth and Storage
  • OAuth/LDAP/OpenID plugins; ueberDB backs pads with PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, or SQLite.
  • 105 Languages, Open Format
  • Full data export built in, open document format, and translations for global teams.