Etherpad vs Jami

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?
FeatureEtherpadJami
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptC++
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 18,481★ 41
First released20112016
ReplacesGoogle DocsSkype, Zoom, WhatsApp

Why pick each one

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Choose Jami if…

  • No infrastructure required
  • Strong privacy model
Jami details

Frequently asked questions

Is Etherpad or Jami 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 Etherpad and Jami free and open-source?

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

Can I run Etherpad and Jami with Docker?

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

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