head to head · open source
Zulip vs etherpad
Zulip has 25,921 GitHub stars, 10,247 forks, 2,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etherpad has 18,552 stars, 3,050 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zulip leads on adoption by 40% (25,921 vs 18,552 stars). Zulip is written in Python under Apache-2.0; etherpad is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Zulip has attracted 40% 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. The two share 1 topic tag (collaboration), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Zulip | etherpad | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 19K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zulip if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- 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 Zulip
Zulip is an open source organized team chat application built on topic based threading, aimed at distributed teams that need live and asynchronous conversation in one place, and it is positioned as an open alternative to Slack.
read the full Zulip overview →
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 Zulip or etherpad more popular?
Zulip has 25,921 GitHub stars and etherpad has 18,552. Zulip has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zulip and etherpad free?
Both are open source. Zulip is licensed under Apache-2.0 and etherpad under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zulip and etherpad?
Zulip is written in Python 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, Zulip or etherpad?
Choose Zulip if you want the larger community (25,921 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.