Etherpad vs Scuttlebutt Room

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?
FeatureEtherpadScuttlebutt Room
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseApache-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB100 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebare-metal
GitHub stars★ 18,481★ 200
First released20112023
ReplacesGoogle Docs

Why pick each one

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Choose Scuttlebutt Room if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in Go
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 100 MB RAM
Scuttlebutt Room details

Frequently asked questions

Is Etherpad or Scuttlebutt Room better?

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

Are Etherpad and Scuttlebutt Room free and open-source?

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

Can I run Etherpad and Scuttlebutt Room with Docker?

Etherpad: yes. Scuttlebutt Room: check the project docs for container support.

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