Top pick · highest health
Etherpad
Highly customizable online editor providing collaborative editing in real-time.
DockerNodejs
Office Suites
Open source alternatives to Google Docs
We track 6 open-source Google Docs alternatives, of which 4 currently score 70 or above on Repoly's GitHub health scale and 4 ship a Docker image. Etherpad leads on health at 97/100 with 305 commits in the last 90 days; across all 6 projects you are choosing between AGPL-3.0, Apache-2.0, MIT and 1 other licences.
updated Oct 2026 6 alternatives best health 97 ★ 58k combined 1,195 commits / 90d 4 with Docker
Top picks to replace Google Docs
Showing 6 of 6 tools
All 6 Google Docs alternatives, ranked by health
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CryptPad
Collaboration suite built to enable collaboration, synchronizing changes to documents in real time.
DockerNodejs -
HedgeDoc
Realtime collaborative markdown notes on all platforms, formerly known as CodiMD and HackMD CE.
DockerNodejs -
Docs
Collaborative note taking, wiki and documentation platform that scales.
K8S -
ONLYOFFICE
Office suite that enables you to manage documents, projects, team and customer relations in one place.
DockerNodejs -
Collabora Online Development Edition
Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE) is a powerful LibreOffice-based online office that supports all major document, spreadsheet and presentation file formats, which you can integrate in your own infrastructure.
C++
Google Docs alternatives compared
Etherpad edges CryptPad 97 to 96, and most of the difference is stars: 19k stars against 8k stars.
The most recent release is Etherpad v3.3.12, published 2 days ago. None of the measured options scores under 40. By stack, Nodejs (4) and C++ (1) are the most common. Etherpad, Docs and Collabora Online Development Edition are permissively licensed; CryptPad, HedgeDoc and ONLYOFFICE are copyleft. Collabora Online Development Edition is not hosted on a forge Repoly can read, so it has no measured score yet.
| Tool | Health | Stars | Licence | Last commit | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etherpad Steady at 97 since 11 Sep | 97 | 19k | Apache-2.0 | yesterday | Yes |
| CryptPad Up 35 points since 11 Sep | 96 | 8k | AGPL-3.0 | 2 days ago | Yes |
| HedgeDoc Up 1 point since 11 Sep | 96 | 7.5k | AGPL-3.0 | yesterday | Yes |
| Docs Steady at 87 since 11 Sep | 87 | 17k | MIT | today | No |
| ONLYOFFICE Up 6 points since 11 Sep | 69 | 7.1k | AGPL-3.0 | 4 days ago | Yes |
| Collabora Online Development Edition | 10 | 0 | MPL-2.0 | unknown | No |
Google Docs alternatives: common questions
What is the most maintained open source alternative to Google Docs?
Etherpad scores highest at 97/100, with 305 commits in the last 90 days, 19k stars on GitHub and its latest release (v3.3.12) published 2 days ago. Docs has the most raw commit activity at 399 commits in 90 days.
Which Google Docs alternatives use a permissive licence?
3 of 6 are permissively licensed (MIT, Apache, BSD or similar): Etherpad (Apache-2.0), Docs (MIT), Collabora Online Development Edition (MPL-2.0). 3 use copyleft licences such as GPL or AGPL, which require you to publish changes if you distribute a modified version.
Which Google Docs alternatives run in Docker?
4 of 6 publish a Docker image or Compose file: Etherpad, CryptPad, HedgeDoc, ONLYOFFICE. Docker support contributes 10 of the 100 available health points, because it is the clearest signal that self-hosting is a supported path rather than an afterthought.
Is Etherpad or CryptPad the better Google Docs alternative?
On measured health Etherpad leads, 97 to 96. Etherpad has 305 commits in 90 days, 19k stars and v3.3.12 from 2 days ago; CryptPad has 297 commits in 90 days, 8k stars and 2026.10.0 from 9 days ago. Etherpad is ahead or level on every term Repoly measures.
Are the Google Docs alternatives still maintained?
4 of the 5 measured options score 70 or above. Every measured option had commits in the last 90 days. None scores under 40.
What languages are the Google Docs alternatives written in?
Nodejs: Etherpad, CryptPad, HedgeDoc and ONLYOFFICE. C++: Collabora Online Development Edition. The stack matters if you plan to extend or patch the tool yourself.
