head to head · open source
etherpad vs blocksuite
etherpad has 18,554 GitHub stars, 3,049 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped yesterday. blocksuite has 6,017 stars, 563 forks, 196 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. etherpad leads on adoption by 208% (18,554 vs 6,017 stars). etherpad is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; blocksuite is written in TypeScript under MPL-2.0. etherpad has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, blocksuite 9%. etherpad was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (collaboration, rich-text-editor), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | blocksuite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 563 |
| 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 blocksuite if
- You want the blocksuite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and blocksuite 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 blocksuite
BlockSuite is an MPL 2.0 licensed TypeScript toolkit for building block based editors and collaborative applications, intended for developers who need to embed, extend, or compose rich content editing rather than adopt a finished product.
read the full blocksuite overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etherpad or blocksuite more popular?
etherpad has 18,554 GitHub stars and blocksuite has 6,017. etherpad has the larger community by that measure.
Are etherpad and blocksuite free?
Both are open source. etherpad is licensed under Apache-2.0 and blocksuite under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etherpad and blocksuite?
etherpad is written in TypeScript and blocksuite 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 blocksuite?
Choose etherpad if you want the larger community (18,554 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose blocksuite if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.