Remark42 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?
FeatureRemark42Etherpad
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageGoTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 5,574★ 18,481
First released20172011
ReplacesDisqusGoogle Docs

Why pick each one

Choose Remark42 if…

  • Privacy-respecting
  • Simple single-binary deploy
Remark42 details

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Frequently asked questions

Is Remark42 or Etherpad better?

Neither is universally better. Etherpad has the larger community, while Remark42 is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Remark42 and Etherpad free and open-source?

Yes. Remark42 is licensed under MIT and Etherpad under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Remark42 and Etherpad with Docker?

Remark42: yes. Etherpad: yes.

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