Etherpad vs Indico

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?
FeatureEtherpadIndico
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageTypeScriptPython
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB200 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebare-metal
GitHub stars★ 18,481★ 2,094
First released20112024
ReplacesGoogle DocsZoho Backstage

Why pick each one

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Choose Indico if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Python
Indico details

Frequently asked questions

Is Etherpad or Indico better?

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

Are Etherpad and Indico free and open-source?

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

Can I run Etherpad and Indico with Docker?

Etherpad: yes. Indico: check the project docs for container support.

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