Etherpad

Etherpad provides a web‑based editor where multiple participants can type simultaneously and see each other’s changes in real time. Every keystroke is attributed to its author, revisions are preserved, and a “timeslider” lets users scrub through the full character‑by‑character history of a document. The interface highlights contributors with distinct colours, making collaborative activity visible without navigating menus.

The software runs on a self‑hosted server under the user’s control, with no telemetry, upsells, or forced updates. It is released under the Apache‑2.0 license, stores data in an open format, and includes built‑in full‑export capabilities. Plugins can extend functionality—adding comments, tables, math, video chat, authentication methods, or optional AI integration that operates on infrastructure chosen by the operator.

Etherpad is stable and has been in continuous use since 2009, deployed by organizations such as the Wikimedia Foundation, EU public‑sector bodies, universities, and civic‑tech projects. It supports 105 languages, offers hundreds of plugins, and can scale to thousands of simultaneous editors per pad while remaining lightweight enough to run on devices ranging from Raspberry Pis to data‑center servers.