Draupnir 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?
FeatureDraupnirEtherpad
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseAGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 240★ 18,481
First released20222011
ReplacesDiscord moderation botsGoogle Docs

Why pick each one

Choose Draupnir if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in TypeScript
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Draupnir details

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Frequently asked questions

Is Draupnir 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 Draupnir and Etherpad free and open-source?

Yes. Draupnir is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Etherpad under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Draupnir and Etherpad with Docker?

Draupnir: yes. Etherpad: yes.

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