Etherpad
SHA-256Etherpad is a real-time collaborative document editor designed for transparency and control. Every keystroke is attributed to its author, every revision is preserved, and a timeslider lets you scrub through the entire history character by character. It runs on your own server under your governance — no telemetry, no upsells, and AI is an optional plugin you control.
Smart Download
Download Download Version
v2.7.3 · 86.9 MB
Self-hosted real-time collaborative editor with full authorship tracking and privacy control.
Core Features
- Real-time collaborative editing with per-key attribution
- Complete revision history with character-level timeslider
- Self-hosted, full data sovereignty
- No telemetry, no upselling, AI as optional plugin
- 105 languages, hundreds of plugins
What It Can't Do
- •The environment variable DEFAULT_PAD_TEXT cannot be empty or unset; maintenance team is small so updates may be infrequent; requires Node.js >= 22.
Use Cases
- Government agencies requiring data sovereignty and GDPR compliance
- Schools and universities replacing Google Workspace
- Newsrooms and legal teams needing auditable edit history
- Civic tech projects like citizen assemblies and public consultations
Etherpad is a real-time collaborative document editor designed for transparency and control. Every keystroke is attributed to its author, every revision is preserved, and a timeslider lets you scrub through the entire history character by character. Author colors make collaboration visible at a glance. It runs on your own server under your governance — no telemetry, no upsells, and AI is an optional plugin you control. The code is Apache 2.0, data format is open, scales to thousands of simultaneous editors per pad, supports 105 languages, and has hundreds of plugins. Used by Wikimedia, governments, universities, and self-hosters worldwide since 2009. Full data export built in.
Tags
Getting Started
Install the software
Install the appropriate package for your distro (dpkg / rpm / AppImage)
Step 1: Ensure git and Node.js >= 22 are installed
Step 2: macOS/Linux: run `curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ether/etherpad/master/bin/installer.sh | sh`; Windows PowerShell: run `irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ether/etherpad/master/bin/installer.ps1 | iex`
Step 3: Enter the `etherpad-lite` directory and run `pnpm run prod`
- Step 1: Ensure git and Node.js >= 22 are installed
- Step 2: macOS/Linux: run `curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ether/etherpad/master/bin/installer.sh | sh`; Windows PowerShell: run `irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ether/etherpad/master/bin/installer.ps1 | iex`
- Step 3: Enter the `etherpad-lite` directory and run `pnpm run prod`
SHA-256 checksum verified
Checksum extracted from GitHub official Release page
SHA256 Checksum
ddb0f51b16b522d592dbf9c351755385b0774210f930cde8793a08d05a1d9ccaThis checksum is extracted from the GitHub Release page. Verify file integrity after download.
All SHA-256 checksums on this platform are extracted from the project's official GitHub Release page, without any modification. You can independently verify them on the GitHub Releases page.
Open Source Transparency
View GitHub SourceUninstall Info
Delete the etherpad-lite folder and manually remove any database data if needed.
No Extra Dependencies
Ready to use after download. No additional runtime required.
Having issues? Check the FAQ below
3 FAQs
Similar Projects
Docmost
Docmost is an open-source, self-hosted collaborative wiki and documentation platform. It offers real-time editing, built-in diagram tools (Draw.io, Excalidraw, Mermaid), spaces, permissions, comments, page history, full-text search, file attachments, and integrations. Core is AGPL-3.0; enterprise features require a paid license.
memos
Open-source, self-hosted note-taking tool for quick capture. Markdown-native, lightweight, and fully yours.
siyuan
A privacy-first personal knowledge management system with fine-grained block-level references and Markdown WYSIWYG.