FreeScout 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?
Compare FreeScout with
choose an app… Chatwoot UVdesk SimpleX Chat Centrifugo Screego Typebot Berty Mumble The Lounge GLPI Papercups Zammad WorkAdventure Soketi Remark42 Isso FreeSWITCH qTox MiroTalk Ferdium Telegram Bot API Server Rustpad Erxes osTicket Asterisk WeeChat Frappe Helpdesk Ergo Peppermint irssi Libredesk Helpy Trudesk Handesk Faveo Helpdesk Request Tracker OpenSupports Ticketit Znuny OTOBO Tiledesk FlowInquiry TicketsBot
Compare Etherpad with
choose an app… Plane Chatwoot Focalboard Super Productivity Wekan SimpleX Chat Docs by Suite Numerique OpenProject Habitica Self-Hosted Planka Leantime Centrifugo Screego Typebot CodiMD git-bug Kanboard Berty Mumble Kaneo HedgeDoc ONLYOFFICE Docs The Lounge Papercups Taskwarrior Zammad WorkAdventure Soketi Remark42 Isso FreeSWITCH qTox MiroTalk Ferdium Telegram Bot API Server Rustpad Asterisk WeeChat Collabora Online Ergo irssi Quicksy Bridge Kamailio Cusdis Tox Stoat AnyCable Chitchatter Live Helper Chat Spacebar Nextcloud Talk Indico RetroShare SIPCAPTURE Homer Vrite Peer-calls mautrix-telegram Routr GlobaLeaks openSIPS mautrix Databag Galène InspIRCd Candy Toxic Hyphanet FusionPBX soju KiwiIRC Glowing Bear Bonfire Pretalx Delta Chat Notifo SimpleX Briar Quassel IRC OTS matrix-commander Mumble Web Comentario LibreOffice Online BitlBee ngIRCd Miaou Session Nextcloud Talk Signaling Server UnrealIRCd MiroTalk C2C matrix-appservice-irc Linphone Chatmail Relay Hookshot Atheme IRC Services Maunium Sticker Picker Spectrum 2 Shhh Gamja Jami Server Bridge Mollysocket Anope PushBits Comm Heisenbridge Slixmpp Ferdium Server Solanum Wesh Network Draupnir baibot matrix-media-repo Charybdis IRCd Zusam Cactus Comments ircd-hybrid Scuttlebutt Room Robust IRC Flexisip SAMA Biboumi Hebbot ircu2 Libervia Jami YunoHost Mail Relay 3CX ARN-Messager Freepbx GNUnet Groupboard MailBag Mailman3 Mailing List Manager Mlmmj Web Peachpub PrivMX WebMail SIP3 TrueConf Wazo Yeti-Switch
Feature FreeScout Etherpad Category Chat & Communication Chat & Communication License AGPL-3.0 Apache-2.0 Language PHP TypeScript Setup difficulty Medium Medium Min. RAM 1,024 MB 512 MB Deployment docker, bare-metal, source docker, bare-metal, source GitHub stars ★ 4,465 ★ 18,481 First released 2018 2011 Replaces Help Scout, Zendesk, Front Google Docs
Frequently asked questions Is FreeScout 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 FreeScout and Etherpad free and open-source? Yes. FreeScout is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Etherpad under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FreeScout and Etherpad with Docker? FreeScout: yes. Etherpad: yes.