Etherpad

Open-source real-time collaborative text editor you can self-host.

Open source alternative to:

Etherpad is one of the original open-source real-time collaborative text editors, predating Google Docs and pioneering the concept of simultaneous multi-user document editing. It allows multiple people to edit a document at the same time in their browser, with each user assigned a different color to identify their contributions.

Etherpad is lightweight, fast, and highly extensible through a rich plugin ecosystem. Plugins add features like code highlighting, chat, document export (PDF, Word, HTML), revision history, and integration with external services. It is widely used by universities, governments, newsrooms, and organizations that need a simple, self-hosted collaboration tool.

Licensed under Apache-2.0, Etherpad is one of the most widely deployed open-source collaborative editors in the world with over 18,000 GitHub stars. It can be deployed via Docker and requires minimal resources, making it an excellent choice for organizations looking for a simple Google Docs alternative.