Centrifugo vs Etherpad

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureCentrifugoEtherpad
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageGoTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 10,590★ 18,481
First released20152011
ReplacesPusher, Firebase Realtime DatabaseGoogle Docs

Why pick each one

Choose Centrifugo if…

  • Handles many connections
  • Easy to integrate
Centrifugo details

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Frequently asked questions

Is Centrifugo or Etherpad better?

Neither is universally better. Etherpad has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Centrifugo and Etherpad free and open-source?

Yes. Centrifugo is licensed under MIT and Etherpad under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Centrifugo and Etherpad with Docker?

Centrifugo: yes. Etherpad: yes.

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