head to head · open source
etherpad vs chitchatter
etherpad has 18,554 GitHub stars, 3,049 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chitchatter has 2,332 stars, 434 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. etherpad leads on adoption by 696% (18,554 vs 2,332 stars). etherpad is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; chitchatter is written in TypeScript under GPL-2.0. etherpad has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, chitchatter 19%. etherpad was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| etherpad | chitchatter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 434 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick etherpad if
- You weight community size — 19K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick chitchatter if
- You want the chitchatter feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and chitchatter fits your workflow better
About etherpad
Etherpad is a real time collaborative document editor, written in TypeScript and released under Apache 2.0, for teams and institutions that need every keystroke attributed to its author, every revision preserved, and all text hosted on infrastructure they control.
read the full etherpad overview →
About chitchatter
Chitchatter is a TypeScript web chat application released under GPL 2.0 that provides secure peer to peer communication without a required central API server. It lives in the decentralized web mesh ecosystem, using React, WebRTC, Trystero, WebTorrent, and TURN relays to connect browsers directly. The project is a free, open source collaboration tool for private conversations, video and audio chats, screen sharing, and file transfer.
read the full chitchatter overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etherpad or chitchatter more popular?
etherpad has 18,554 GitHub stars and chitchatter has 2,332. etherpad has the larger community by that measure.
Are etherpad and chitchatter free?
Both are open source. etherpad is licensed under Apache-2.0 and chitchatter under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etherpad and chitchatter?
etherpad is written in TypeScript and chitchatter in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, etherpad or chitchatter?
Choose etherpad if you want the larger community (18,554 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose chitchatter if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.