Etherpad
Highly customizable real-time collaborative editor.
Open the official app on etherpad.org
This tool is hosted by its maintainers. Click below to open etherpad.org in a new tab — it's their official demo.
Browse text & tools tools →What's next with Etherpad?
Choose how you want to get started.
Use it free
Open the official tool or demo — no account needed.
Self-host it
Run the open-source version on your own infrastructure.
What is Etherpad?
Etherpad is an open-source web-based collaborative editing tool designed for real-time document creation and modification. Its primary purpose is to enable multiple users to work simultaneously on a single document while maintaining detailed records of changes and authorship. Organizations such as Wikimedia, governments, and educational institutions use Etherpad to manage projects requiring transparent collaboration. The tool addresses challenges in traditional document workflows by ensuring every keystroke is attributed to its author, preserving revision history, and allowing users to review edits chronologically. This approach is particularly valuable for teams prioritizing accountability, traceability, and data sovereignty over their documents. Etherpad distinguishes itself through its emphasis on authorship as a core feature. Unlike many collaborative editors, it does not obscure user contributions behind menus or require users to toggle visibility settings. Instead, it displays authorship through color-coded text and a timeslider that lets users navigate a document's entire history frame by frame. The tool's Apache-2.0 licensing model ensures users retain full control over their data and infrastructure, as Etherpad operates on a private server under their governance. This design philosophy makes it suitable for environments where data privacy and customization are critical, such as legal, governmental, or academic contexts.
How it works
Etherpad is a real-time collaborative editing platform that prioritizes authorship tracking and revision history. It enables multiple users to edit documents simultaneously while maintaining a complete audit trail of all changes. The tool is designed for scenarios where accountability and transparency in collaboration are essential, such as legal contracts, academic research, and public policy drafting. The platform's architecture ensures that no external services or third-party systems interfere with document integrity. By running on a user's own server, Etherpad provides sovereignty over data, avoiding telemetry, upsells, or unsolicited updates. This makes it ideal for organizations requiring strict control over their workflows and data storage. Etherpad's core capabilities include real-time collaborative editing, authorship attribution through color-coded text, and a timeslider for navigating revision history. Users can scrub through a document's entire history character by character, observing how it evolved over time. The platform supports 105 languages, translated by a global community, and offers 200 plugins to extend functionality without requiring code forks.
How to use it
- 1Install Git and Node.js version 24 or higher on your system. 2. Clone the Etherpad repository from GitHub using 'git clone https://github.com/ether/etherpad.git'. 3. Navigate to the project directory and run 'pnpm run prod' to build the application. 4. Access the editor via http://localhost:9001. For production use, deploy the server on a dedicated machine and configure HTTPS for secure communication. Practical tips include using the timeslider to review edits, customizing author colors for team members, and leveraging plugins to add features like version control or document signing. Regularly back up server data to prevent loss, and ensure firewall settings allow access to port 9001.
What it can do
- Utility
Use cases
Assumptions and limitations
Assumptions
- source: https://github.com/etherpad
- license: Apache-2.0 — free to use
- privacy: Opens an external demo
Limitations
- Requires technical expertise to set up and maintain a server infrastructure
- Lacks built-in AI-powered writing assistance or automated formatting tools
- Dependent on continuous server uptime for real-time collaboration
- Limited native support for complex document formatting compared to word processors
- Plugin ecosystem requires manual configuration and maintenance
Understanding the result
Highly customizable real-time collaborative editor.
Tool details
- Clearly flagged when a network request is needed.
- No account, no sign-up, and no tracking of your content.
- Powered by etherpad (Apache-2.0).
- Built with
- etherpad (https://github.com/etherpad)
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Runs locally
- No — requires a network request
- Verification
- Not yet verified
- Input
- Text
- Output
- Output
Built with https://github.com/etherpad. OpenToolVault provides the discovery and browser interface while crediting the original project maintainers.
- Built with
- etherpad
- License
- Apache-2.0
Open-source project
OpenToolVault is an independent directory. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by this project.
References
- /etherpad — GitHub Repository
Upstream project · GitHub
- Apache-2.0 License
Upstream project
Frequently asked
How does Etherpad handle document versioning?
Etherpad maintains a complete revision history of every document, with each keystroke recorded chronologically. The timeslider feature allows users to navigate through the document's evolution frame by frame, viewing exact changes made by each author. This creates an immutable audit trail suitable for legal, academic, and governmental use cases where accountability is critical.
How does Etherpad ensure data sovereignty?
Etherpad operates entirely on a user's private server, with no reliance on cloud-based services. The Apache-2.0 license grants users full control over their data and infrastructure, preventing telemetry, unsolicited updates, or third-party data access. This architecture ensures sensitive information remains within the organization's governance framework.
How do I install Etherpad on a Linux server?
First, install Git and Node.js 24+ using your package manager. Clone the Etherpad repository with 'git clone https://github.com/ether/etherpad.git'. Navigate to the directory and run 'pnpm run prod' to build the application. Finally, access the editor via http://localhost:9001. For production, deploy on a dedicated server and configure HTTPS using a reverse proxy like Nginx.
How does Etherpad compare to Google Docs?
Etherpad and Google Docs both enable real-time collaboration but differ fundamentally in architecture. Etherpad runs on a private server under user control, while Google Docs is a cloud-based SaaS solution. Etherpad emphasizes authorship tracking and revision history as core features, whereas Google Docs prioritizes ease of use and integration with other Google services. Etherpad's open-source model allows customization not available in proprietary alternatives.
What should I do if Etherpad fails to start?
Common issues include incompatible Node.js versions or missing dependencies. Verify Node.js 24+ is installed and try 'pnpm install' to reinstall dependencies. Check system logs for error messages, particularly related to port 9001 conflicts. If using a reverse proxy, ensure it's correctly configured to forward requests to the Etherpad server. Consult the GitHub repository's issue tracker for version-specific troubleshooting guidance.