head to head · open source
Huly vs etherpad
Huly has 28,042 GitHub stars, 2,187 forks, 849 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etherpad has 18,616 stars, 3,060 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Huly leads on adoption by 51% (28,042 vs 18,616 stars). Huly is written in TypeScript under EPL-2.0; etherpad is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Huly has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, etherpad 16%. 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
| Huly | etherpad | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 19K |
| License | EPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Huly if
- You weight community size — 28K stars and counting
- You want the EPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick etherpad if
- You want the etherpad 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 etherpad fits your workflow better
About Huly
Huly Platform ⭐️ Your star shines on us. Star us on GitHub! [!IMPORTANT] Hosted Huly is shutting down — please migrate your data. The hosted Huly service is being discontinued because its hosting is no longer being funded. If you keep important data on the hosted platform, export and back it up, and migrate as soon as possible — we can help you move to either a self hosted setup or a hosted option. Not sure how? Follow the backup & restore guide for step by step instructions on downloading your backup and restoring it elsewhere. The service shutdown is expected on July 20 . Please make sure to export and migrate…
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Huly or etherpad more popular?
Huly has 28,042 GitHub stars and etherpad has 18,616. Huly has the larger community by that measure.
Are Huly and etherpad free?
Both are open source. Huly is licensed under EPL-2.0 and etherpad under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Huly and etherpad?
Huly is written in TypeScript and etherpad 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, Huly or etherpad?
Choose Huly if you want the larger community (28,042 stars) or its EPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose etherpad if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.