head to head · open source
srs vs etherpad
srs has 29,414 GitHub stars, 5,708 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. etherpad has 18,616 stars, 3,060 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped yesterday. srs leads on adoption by 58% (29,414 vs 18,616 stars). srs is written in C++ under MIT; etherpad is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. srs has attracted 19% 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
| srs | etherpad | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 19K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.7K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick srs if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- 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 srs
SRS(Simple Realtime Server) SRS/8.0 (Free) is a simple, high performance, AI driven real time media server. It supports RTMP, WebRTC, HLS, HTTP FLV, SRT, MPEG DASH, and GB28181 on Linux and macOS across x86 64, ARMv7, AArch64, Apple M1, RISC V, LoongArch, and MIPS architectures. Supported codecs include H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9, AAC, Opus, and G.711. See the complete list of features. Note: For more details on the single node architecture for SRS, please visit the following link. SRS is licenced under MIT, and some third party libraries are distributed under their licenses. Usage Please check the Getting Started…
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 srs or etherpad more popular?
srs has 29,414 GitHub stars and etherpad has 18,616. srs has the larger community by that measure.
Are srs and etherpad free?
Both are open source. srs is licensed under MIT and etherpad under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between srs and etherpad?
srs is written in C++ 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, srs or etherpad?
Choose srs if you want the larger community (29,414 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose etherpad if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.