Compare software

Google Workspace vs Etherpad: catalog facts
Google Workspace	Etherpad
Freemium Listed as freemium, with paid plans for teams and businesses.	Free Free and open source under the Apache licence. Hosting is separate.
Web	Web, Self-hosted
Documents, spreadsheets, slides, mail, storage and meetings in one account Real-time collaboration on shared files	Authorship colouring and a timeslider through the entire edit history Very light to run, with a large plugin ecosystem
All files are stored on Google's servers Requires a Google account	Plain text with minimal formatting; it is not a word processor Plugin quality varies and some conflict
Web application, Hosted service	Self-hosted, Web application
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: Apache-2.0
Account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.