Etherpad Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Etherpad hosting on xCloud gives your team a private, self-hosted collaborative editor on your own domain. Deploy Etherpad in one click: xCloud runs the pinned 3.3.8 image beside a private PostgreSQL 17.2 database, generates every credential, mounts three persistent volumes and publishes it over HTTPS with sign-in required, so everyone on the team edits the same pad in real time and sees who wrote each line.

Deploy your Etherpad

No terminal
No technical skills needed
No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is Etherpad?

Etherpad is a real-time collaborative editor, released under the Apache 2.0 licence, for documents several people write at once. Self-hosted Etherpad attributes every keystroke to its author, preserves every revision and shows author colours as people type. A timeslider scrubs through a document's history, and a full data export is built in. Upstream's pitch is that your server is the only server, with no telemetry or upsells.

This template runs Etherpad 3.3.8 with PostgreSQL 17.2 on a private Compose network behind xCloud's nginx. Three volumes hold plugin packages, Etherpad's runtime state and the database. Sign-in is required for every pad, and xCloud generates the admin password. The image has no LibreOffice, so ODT, DOC and RTF workflows are unavailable, and pads are not end-to-end encrypted.

From Sign-Up to a Live Shared Editor In Just 3 Easy Steps

An Etherpad install normally means a Node.js container, a PostgreSQL database, generated secrets, plugin storage, a domain and a certificate before the first pad. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and pick Etherpad from the OneClick catalog. Choose your domain and target server; the install form has no app-specific fields, because xCloud generates every credential.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We start Etherpad 3.3.8 pinned by digest with PostgreSQL 17.2 kept private, mount etherpad_plugins, etherpad_var and etherpad_db_data, require authentication on every pad and publish it over HTTPS.
Step 03
Sign In And Open A Pad
Sign in as admin with the generated password from your credentials panel, type a pad name on the home page to create the first pad, and use /admin/ to manage plugins.

Everything Etherpad Does, On Your Own Server

Etherpad runs here with pads, history and plugins stored in a database and volumes you control, and authentication switched on.

Real-Time Co-Editing
Several people type in the same pad at once and see each other's changes as they happen, with no save button between drafts.
Authorship Colours
Every keystroke is attributed to its author, and author colours make collaboration visible at a glance instead of hiding it in a menu.
Revision History And Timeslider
Every revision is preserved, and the timeslider lets you scrub through a pad's history character by character to see who wrote what.
Plugins From /admin/
Upstream is extended through hundreds of plugins; this template keeps installed packages on the etherpad_plugins volume and manages them from the admin page.
Sign-In Required By Default
Authentication is required for all pads, so anonymous public pad access is off until you decide otherwise, with the generated admin account as the first user.
Data Export Built In
Upstream builds in a full data export so the history stays yours, and the template README notes that DOCX import and export and PDF export remain available.

Everything You Need To Run Your Shared Editor 24/7

Managed hosting for Etherpad, so the parts that keep it online are not your problem.

Etherpad 3.3.8 deployed instantly
Private PostgreSQL database
Credentials generated for you
Kept behind xCloud nginx
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With Etherpad

Draft in a real-time collaborative document editor
A team writes meeting notes or a press release together in one pad, with each person's contribution shown in their own author colour while everyone types at once.
Review who changed what, step by step
An editor opens the timeslider to replay a pad's history and see when a paragraph changed and who changed it, which helps when authorship matters for an approval.
Replace a hosted document editor
A group that used Google Docs for shared drafts moves them to Etherpad on its own domain, behind sign-in, so the text and history live in a database it controls.
Extend the editor with plugins
An administrator installs the plugins a team needs from the /admin/ page, and the packages persist on their own volume across restarts and redeploys.

Etherpad vs Alternatives

Google Docs: Google Docs is a hosted word processor. As a self-hosted alternative to Google Docs, Etherpad runs on a server you choose, with no telemetry or upsells according to upstream, and its history stored in your own database.
CryptPad: Another collaborative editor with its own xCloud page. Etherpad pads are stored readable in your PostgreSQL database and are not end-to-end encrypted; what Etherpad offers is authorship colours and a timeslider.
HedgeDoc: Another self-hosted collaborative editor you can deploy on xCloud. Etherpad is a real-time pad editor under Apache 2.0, with author colours, every revision preserved and a character-level history timeslider.
BookStack: A self-hosted documentation app with its own OneClick page. Etherpad suits one shared draft written live by several people, with each keystroke attributed to its author, rather than a structured knowledge base.

Ready To Own Your Shared Editor?

Etherpad on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Keep your history. Stay in control.

Fast Provisioning
Deploy faster using an xCloud Managed Server built with optimized stacks and high-speed SSDs.
Enterprise-grade security
Protect your infrastructure with a free SSL certificate and more advanced security features at no additional cost.
Intuitive Control Panel
From Server creation to application deployment, everything can be managed from our intuitive control panel.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Can I self-host Etherpad with Docker?

Yes, and Etherpad Docker hosting is what this template does. Upstream publishes the etherpad/etherpad image; xCloud runs 3.3.8 pinned by digest beside a private PostgreSQL 17.2 container, with volumes, generated secrets, your domain and HTTPS, instead of a Compose file you maintain.

How much RAM does Etherpad need?

The template manifest asks for 1024 MB of RAM, 1 CPU core and 5 GB of disk as a floor, and the 6 GB plan sold here covers it along with the PostgreSQL container. Concurrent editors, long pad histories and extra plugins can require more resources.

How do I update Etherpad?

Etherpad does not update itself here: 3.3.8 is pinned by digest, and a catalogue re-sync affects new installations only. Read the release notes, back up all three volumes, validate migrations on a disposable copy, and keep a rollback snapshot before changing the pin.

What should I back up for Etherpad?

Back up all three volumes: etherpad_db_data for pads, revisions, authors and authentication state; etherpad_plugins for installed plugin packages; and etherpad_var for runtime state. Take a PostgreSQL-consistent backup first, because a volume snapshot during active writes can be inconsistent.

Back up and restore Docker apps

What is Etherpad used for?

Etherpad is used to write documents together in real time: meeting notes, drafts, shared agendas and anything several people edit at once. Every keystroke is attributed to its author and every revision is preserved, so the pad doubles as a record of who wrote what.

Does Etherpad have plugins?

Yes. Upstream says Etherpad is extended through hundreds of plugins. In this template you manage them from /admin/, and installed packages live on the etherpad_plugins volume. The baseline configures no optional third-party plugins, SMTP or single sign-on, so each addition needs your own testing.

Does Etherpad keep revision history?

Yes. Upstream states every revision is preserved, and a timeslider lets you scrub through a document's entire history character by character. The revisions are stored in PostgreSQL on the etherpad_db_data volume, which is why that volume belongs in every backup.

Is Etherpad a Google Docs alternative?

For shared text, yes: several people edit one pad in real time with author colours and full history. It is a focused editor, not a full office suite, and this image has no LibreOffice, so ODT, DOC and RTF workflows are unavailable. DOCX import and export remain.

Is Etherpad free and open source?

Yes. Etherpad is open source under the Apache 2.0 licence, and the LICENSE file at the v3.3.8 tag is the Apache text. xCloud bills the server and its deployment, and adding another editor adds no licence cost.

Who owns the data stored in Etherpad?

You do. This is Etherpad cloud hosting on a dedicated Cloud VPS only you use, so pads and revisions sit in your own PostgreSQL volume. Pads are not end-to-end encrypted, so the server can read them. xCloud runs the server and deployment, not the content.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.