head to head · open source
Jitsi vs etherpad
Jitsi has 30,188 GitHub stars, 8,121 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etherpad has 18,616 stars, 3,060 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jitsi leads on adoption by 62% (30,188 vs 18,616 stars). Jitsi is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; etherpad is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Jitsi has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, etherpad 16%. Jitsi 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
| Jitsi | etherpad | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 19K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.1K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Jitsi if
- You weight community size — 30K 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 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 Jitsi
Jitsi Meet Jitsi Meet is a set of Open Source projects which empower users to use and deploy video conferencing platforms with state of the art video quality and features. Amongst others here are the main features Jitsi Meet offers: Support for all current browsers Mobile applications Web and native SDKs for integration HD audio and video Content sharing Raise hand and reactions Chat with private conversations Polls Virtual backgrounds And many more! Using Jitsi Meet Using Jitsi Meet is straightforward, as it's browser based. Head over to meet.jit.si and give it a try. It's scalable and free to use. All you need…
read the full Jitsi overview →
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 Jitsi or etherpad more popular?
Jitsi has 30,188 GitHub stars and etherpad has 18,616. Jitsi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jitsi and etherpad free?
Both are open source. Jitsi is licensed under Apache-2.0 and etherpad under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jitsi and etherpad?
Jitsi 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, Jitsi or etherpad?
Choose Jitsi if you want the larger community (30,188 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose etherpad if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.