HedgeDoc vs ONLYOFFICE Docs

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureHedgeDocONLYOFFICE Docs
CategoryDeveloper Tools & GitDocument Management
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptShell
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 7,359★ 6,794
First released20162016
ReplacesHackMD, Google DocsGoogle Docs, Microsoft 365

Why pick each one

Choose HedgeDoc if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 7.4k GitHub stars
HedgeDoc details

Choose ONLYOFFICE Docs if…

  • Excellent format compatibility
  • Strong collaboration features
ONLYOFFICE Docs details

Frequently asked questions

Is HedgeDoc or ONLYOFFICE Docs better?

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

Are HedgeDoc and ONLYOFFICE Docs free and open-source?

Yes. HedgeDoc is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ONLYOFFICE Docs under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run HedgeDoc and ONLYOFFICE Docs with Docker?

HedgeDoc: yes. ONLYOFFICE Docs: yes.

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