EtherCalc vs Univer
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted office suites options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
EtherCalc
Real-time collaborative spreadsheet editor
VS
Univer
Full-stack framework for collaborative office docs
| Feature | EtherCalc | Univer |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Office Suites | Office Suites |
| License | CPAL-1.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | source, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,041 | ★ 14,069 |
| First released | 2013 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Google Sheets | Google Sheets, Microsoft Office |
Why pick each one
Choose EtherCalc if…
- Released under the CPAL-1.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
Choose Univer if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 14.1k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is EtherCalc or Univer better?
Neither is universally better. Univer has the larger community, while EtherCalc is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are EtherCalc and Univer free and open-source?
Yes. EtherCalc is licensed under CPAL-1.0 and Univer under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run EtherCalc and Univer with Docker?
EtherCalc: yes. Univer: yes.