Etherpad vs soju
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?
Etherpad
Real-time collaborative document editor
VS
soju
User-friendly IRC bouncer with multi-network support
| Feature | Etherpad | soju |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 18,481 | ★ 1,000 |
| First released | 2011 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Google Docs | IRCCloud |
Why pick each one
Choose soju if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Etherpad or soju 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 soju free and open-source?
Yes. Etherpad is licensed under Apache-2.0 and soju under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Etherpad and soju with Docker?
Etherpad: yes. soju: yes.