Etherpad vs Zammad

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?
FeatureEtherpadZammad
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseApache-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptRuby
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 18,481★ 5,834
First released20112016
ReplacesGoogle DocsZendesk, Freshdesk

Why pick each one

Choose Etherpad if…

  • Very mature and stable
  • Highly extensible
Etherpad details

Choose Zammad if…

  • Mature support workflow
  • Good integrations
Zammad details

Frequently asked questions

Is Etherpad or Zammad 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 Zammad free and open-source?

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

Can I run Etherpad and Zammad with Docker?

Etherpad: yes. Zammad: yes.

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