Etherpad vs Soketi

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?
FeatureEtherpadSoketi
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseApache-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 18,481★ 5,631
First released20112021
ReplacesGoogle DocsPusher

Why pick each one

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Choose Soketi if…

  • Drop-in Pusher replacement
  • Lightweight
Soketi details

Frequently asked questions

Is Etherpad or Soketi better?

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

Are Etherpad and Soketi free and open-source?

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

Can I run Etherpad and Soketi with Docker?

Etherpad: yes. Soketi: yes.

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