head to head · open source
etherpad vs meet
etherpad has 18,617 GitHub stars, 3,060 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. meet has 2,465 stars, 334 forks, 183 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. etherpad leads on adoption by 655% (18,617 vs 2,465 stars). etherpad is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; meet is written in Python under MIT. etherpad has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, meet 14%. meet 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 | meet | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 19K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 334 |
| 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 meet if
- You want the meet feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and meet 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 meet
LiveKit Chat with us Roadmap Changelog Bug reports La Suite Meet: Simple Video Conferencing Powered by LiveKit, La Suite Meet offers Zoom level performance with high quality video and audio. No installation required—simply join calls directly from your browser. Check out LiveKit's impressive optimizations in their blog post. [!TIP] New here? Start by introducing yourself in our Matrix channel: We’re happy to discuss ideas, answer questions, and help to deploy LaSuite Meet. Features Optimized for stability in large meetings (+100 p.) Support for multiple screen sharing streams Non persistent, secure chat End to…
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Frequently asked questions
Is etherpad or meet more popular?
etherpad has 18,617 GitHub stars and meet has 2,465. etherpad has the larger community by that measure.
Are etherpad and meet free?
Both are open source. etherpad is licensed under Apache-2.0 and meet under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etherpad and meet?
etherpad is written in TypeScript and meet in Python. 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 meet?
Choose etherpad if you want the larger community (18,617 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose meet if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.