head to head · open source
etherpad vs xyne-spaces
etherpad has 18,621 GitHub stars, 3,060 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. xyne-spaces has 826 stars, 575 forks, 514 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etherpad leads on adoption by 2,154% (18,621 vs 826 stars). etherpad is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; xyne-spaces is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. etherpad has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, xyne-spaces 70%. xyne-spaces was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (collaboration), 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 | xyne-spaces | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 826 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-06 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 575 |
| 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 xyne-spaces if
- You want the xyne-spaces feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and xyne-spaces fits your workflow better
About etherpad
Etherpad — the editor for documents that matter 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…
read the full etherpad overview →
About xyne-spaces
Xyne Spaces The org OS — your organization's context layer, with collaborative apps built around it. Real time, permission aware and built for agents. At the center: your org's context. Connectors bring in what your organization already knows — Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and more — normalised into a store built for records and retrieval, and served back to your people and your agents through permission aware org context APIs, so every caller gets exactly the slice they're allowed to see. Around that core sit the org apps — Call · Claw · Agentic Search · Automations · Customer Support Desk · Chat ·…
read the full xyne-spaces overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etherpad or xyne-spaces more popular?
etherpad has 18,621 GitHub stars and xyne-spaces has 826. etherpad has the larger community by that measure.
Are etherpad and xyne-spaces free?
Both are open source. etherpad is licensed under Apache-2.0 and xyne-spaces under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etherpad and xyne-spaces?
etherpad is written in TypeScript and xyne-spaces 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 xyne-spaces?
Choose etherpad if you want the larger community (18,621 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose xyne-spaces if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.