Etherpad vs Galène

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?
FeatureEtherpadGalène
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageTypeScriptGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 18,481★ 1,372
First released20112020
ReplacesGoogle DocsZoom, Google Meet

Why pick each one

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Choose Galène if…

  • Extremely simple to deploy
  • Efficient on small servers
Galène details

Frequently asked questions

Is Etherpad or Galène better?

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

Are Etherpad and Galène free and open-source?

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

Can I run Etherpad and Galène with Docker?

Etherpad: yes. Galène: yes.

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