Etherpad, the editor for documents that matter by ether
Etherpad: A modern really-real-time collaborative document editor.
About Etherpad, the editor for documents that matter
From the project's README at github.com/ether/etherpad. Lightly cleaned for readability; for the full source see the upstream repo.
> Real-time collaborative editing where authorship is the default, your server is the only server, and you decide what AI (if any) ever touches your text. About
Etherpad is a real-time collaborative editor for documents that matter.
Every keystroke is attributed to its author. Every revision is preserved. The timeslider lets you scrub through a document's entire history, character by character. Author colours make collaboration visible at a glance, not buried in a menu.
Etherpad runs on your server, under your governance. No telemetry. No upsells. AI is a plugin you install, pointed at the model you choose, running on infrastructure you control, not a feature decided for you in a boardroom you weren't in.
Health score breakdown
6-dimension composite. See methodology for formula and weights.
Adoption signals
Real-world usage data, pulled from each registry. The bigger the numbers, the more battle-tested the project.
| Signal | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 18k | github.com/ether/etherpad |
| GitHub forks | 3.0k | github.com/ether/etherpad |
Release & maintenance
Is this project actively maintained, or about to die? Check the recency of last commit and last release.
| Project age | 15.3 years | since Mar 2011 |
| Last commit | 2 months ago | May 4, 2026 |
| Releases shipped | 72 | last: 2 months ago |
| Security policy | SECURITY.md | declared by maintainers |
| Funding links | 1 | declared by maintainers |
Self-hosting cost across providers
Detected requirements: 4GB RAM, 40GB disk minimum. Cheapest plan per provider that meets the requirement.
| Provider | Plan | Specs | Monthly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hetzner | CAX11 | 2c · 4GB · 40GB | $4.13 USD | Deploy → |
| vultr | VC2 | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5 USD | Deploy → |
| linode | Nanode 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5.12 USD | Deploy → |
| digitalocean | Basic Regular 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $6 USD | Deploy → |
What people say on Hacker News
Ready to self-host Etherpad, the editor for documents that matter?
Spin up a hetzner CAX11 (4GB RAM, 40GB disk) for $4.13/mo and follow the project's official install docs.
Data last refreshed Jun 21, 2026.
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