head to head · open source
srs vs etherpad
srs has 29,249 GitHub stars, 5,694 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etherpad has 18,552 stars, 3,050 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped yesterday. srs leads on adoption by 58% (29,249 vs 18,552 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 | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.7K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| 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) is an open source, AI driven real time media server written in C++ and released under the MIT license. It ingests and republishes live audio and video across a broad set of streaming protocols, including RTMP, WebRTC, HLS, HTTP FLV, HTTP TS, SRT, MPEG DASH, and GB28181. The project runs on Linux and macOS and is built for x86 64, ARMv7, AArch64, Apple M1, RISC V, LoongArch, and MIPS architectures. Codec support covers H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9, AAC, Opus, and G.711. The current line is SRS 8.0, and the project has been developed for roughly eleven years, with documentation published in b…
About etherpad
Etherpad is a real time collaborative document editor, written in TypeScript and released under Apache 2.0, for teams and institutions that need every keystroke attributed to its author, every revision preserved, and all text hosted on infrastructure they control.
read the full etherpad overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is srs or etherpad more popular?
srs has 29,249 GitHub stars and etherpad has 18,552. 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 (29,249 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose etherpad if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.