Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Etherpad VS Notion

Compare Etherpad VS Notion and see what are their differences

Etherpad logo Etherpad

Etherpad is a highly customizable Open Source online editor providing collaborative editing in...

Notion logo Notion

All-in-one workspace. One tool for your whole team. Write, plan, and get organized.
  • Etherpad Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-26
  • Notion Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

Etherpad features and specs

  • Real-Time Collaboration
    Etherpad allows multiple users to simultaneously edit a document in real-time, making it an excellent tool for collaborative work.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, Etherpad allows users to modify and enhance the software according to their needs. This also promotes transparency and security.
  • Customizable
    Etherpad is highly customizable owing to its plugin architecture. Users can add various functionalities such as authentication, analytics, and formatting tools.
  • Easy to Use
    The interface is straightforward and user-friendly, making it simple even for non-technical users to start collaborating quickly.
  • Text Highlighting
    Each user's contributions can be highlighted in a different color, making it easy to track changes and contributions.
  • Version Control
    Etherpad provides a version history, allowing users to revert to previous versions of the document in case of errors or unwanted changes.

Possible disadvantages of Etherpad

  • Limited Formatting Options
    Etherpad lacks advanced formatting features, which might be a drawback for users needing to create complex documents.
  • Performance Issues
    With a large number of simultaneous users or extensive documents, Etherpad can sometimes experience lag and performance issues.
  • Hosting and Maintenance
    Being self-hosted, users are responsible for setting up and maintaining the server, which can be technically challenging for some.
  • Lack of Media Integration
    Unlike some other collaborative tools, Etherpad does not natively support embedding multimedia content such as images and videos.
  • Security Risks
    Without proper security measures, a self-hosted Etherpad instance could be vulnerable to attacks such as unauthorized access or data breaches.
  • Basic User Management
    Etherpad's user management is quite rudimentary, lacking advanced features like role-based permissions and detailed access controls.

Notion features and specs

  • All-in-One Workspace
    Notion combines note-taking, task management, databases, calendars, and collaboration features in a single platform, reducing the need for multiple tools.
  • Highly Customizable
    Users can tailor Notion to fit their specific workflow with customizable templates, pages, and databases, making it versatile for various use cases.
  • Collaboration Features
    Notion offers seamless collaboration with real-time editing, comments, mentions, and shared workspaces, enhancing teamwork and productivity.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Notion is available on multiple platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile, providing flexibility and accessibility from anywhere.
  • Integration Capability
    Notion supports integrations with various third-party applications like Google Drive, Slack, and Trello, allowing for a more interconnected workflow.

Possible disadvantages of Notion

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive features and customization options, new users might find Notion challenging to learn and navigate initially.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report that Notion can become slow or experience lag, especially with large databases and complex pages.
  • Offline Limitations
    While Notion offers some offline capabilities, its functionality is significantly reduced without an internet connection, which can be inconvenient for some users.
  • Pricing for Teams
    Though Notion offers a free version, its premium plans can be expensive for larger teams, which may be a constraint for startups or small businesses.
  • Privacy Concerns
    As with any cloud-based service, there are potential privacy and data security concerns, especially for users handling sensitive information.

Etherpad videos

Etherpad Instructional Tool Review

More videos:

Notion videos

The Most Powerful Productivity App I Use - Notion

More videos:

  • Review - I switched to Notion for a week... Here's what happened!
  • Review - Notion is Truly an All-in-One Productivity Tool (App Review)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Etherpad and Notion)
Office Suites
100 100%
0% 0
Productivity
0 0%
100% 100
Project Management
4 4%
96% 96
Office & Productivity
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Etherpad and Notion

Etherpad Reviews

We have no reviews of Etherpad yet.
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Notion Reviews

  1. jk22
    · consultant at GFI ·
    Notion has helped in documenting our business

    It's been very very helpful to streamline different people on our team, especially remote workers to help them understand what's going on in our business without 100s of meetings.

    👍 Pros:    Ui is very attractive|Easy to use|Great for collaboration|Good customer service|Free to use
    👎 Cons:    Steep learning curve
  2. Ramesh Kumar
    · Product Manager at Aerial ·
    Extremely helpful- made life easier

    My remote-first start-up has eliminated more than 200+ hours of meetings and 1000s of mismanaged documents because our entire communication happens through Notion.

    👍 Pros:    Clean ui|File sharing|Modular
    👎 Cons:    Learning curve
  3. Boyd Richardson
    · Writer at SE ·

    As someone who's always on the lookout for the perfect productivity app, I was excited to try out Notion. It promises to be an all-in-one tool for everything from note-taking to project management to personal wikis.

    From the moment you open Notion, you can tell that it's different from other productivity apps. The interface is sleek and modern, and it's easy to navigate. The app is divided into pages, which can be customized with different templates to fit your needs. You can create to-do lists, databases, wikis, calendars, and more.

    One of the things I love about Notion is the ability to create relationships between pages. For example, you can create a database of your favorite books and then link to a page with your book reviews. Or you can create a to-do list and link to a page with notes about the task. This feature makes it easy to keep all of your information in one place and to connect related items.

    🏁 Competitors: Microsoft Loop
    👍 Pros:    Highly customizable|All in one|Collaboration|Cross platform
    👎 Cons:    Steep learning curve

Top 10 Notion Alternatives for 2025 and Why Teams Are Choosing Ledger
If you're looking for a Notion alternative that supports real, scalable teamwork, you're not alone. Whether you’ve outgrown Notion or are just exploring more robust, team-friendly platforms, here’s a breakdown of the top 10 alternatives in 2025—and why Ledger is becoming the go-to choice for modern teams.
How Tight-Knit Teams Get More Done with Innovative Project Management Tools
Notion: More than a task manager, it acts as a knowledge base. You can store guidelines, references, wikis, and to-do lists all under one roof.
Source: medium.com
11 Popular Knowledge Management Tools to Consider in 2025 
Notion AI (Optional Add-on) – $8 per user/month (billed annually). Available for all plans (including the free plan)
Source: knowmax.ai
11 Best Google Keeps Alternatives for 2024
Unlike other note-taking apps, Notion stands out for its endless customization. It’s like an all-in-one workspace structured by pages and blocks.
Source: upbase.io
20 Obsidian Alternatives: Top Note-Taking Tools to Consider
Notion is a popular alternative to Obsidian for its simplicity, minimalistic interface, and large community. On top of note-taking, you can use Notion as a task management tool to create simple to-dos or build a personal knowledge base. You can also embed links, images, videos, code snippets, etc. Notion also has bi-directional functionalities enabling you to interconnect...
Source: clickup.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Notion seems to be a lot more popular than Etherpad. While we know about 441 links to Notion, we've tracked only 21 mentions of Etherpad. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Etherpad mentions (21)

  • Nextcloud: Open-Source Cloud Apps
    > Try Etherpad (https://etherpad.org/) He should better use OnlyOffice, Collabora or Cryptpad office suite. The Cryptpad server is the only one which is not a nightmare to install and setup. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Nextcloud: Open-Source Cloud Apps
    > What I need in my stack is a focused Google Docs alternative Try Etherpad (https://etherpad.org/) > I ended up going with Seafile for file backups and have been very happy with it I went through probably dozens of solutions and ended up with Syncthing for synchronization of data (it requires understanding how it works but once you do (usually an eureka kind of moment) this is a very powerful system. For me... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Software Possession for Personal Use
    I don't know if these will suit the latency requirements that you're outlining, but they might very well be what you're looking for. https://etherpad.org/ https://ethercalc.net/. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Looking for suggestions on a self-hosted note app that can handle multiple users and collaboration?
    Check out etherpad. It's an awesome solution. It's got collaboration, and over 200 plugins. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Looking for simple, browser-based collaborative text editing software
    Etherpad Lite is basically selfhosted Google Docs, and it's pretty straightforward but can be extended with various plugins. https://etherpad.org/. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Notion mentions (441)

  • Cool SHIT you can do with docker
    Two of the most popular open source note taking app are affine (basically notion but open source) and obsidian (which stores notes in markdown). - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2024)
    Notion | https://notion.so | Android Engineer | SF | hybrid (in office 2x a week) | Full time
      Level: Mid/Mid+ (4-6yrs experience).
    - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Karyam: Simples everyday writing app
    Advanced Notion and Google Doc writing editor. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • My blog post workflow
    I manage my non-work and work-adjacent tasks in Notion. Whenever I have an idea, regardless of how big or small or silly or achievable it is, I'll add it to Notion, and use labels to categorise it by type of output (e.g. blog, silly project, website update). Today I wanted to write a short post for my site. I clicked on the filtered blog post view, and selected this one (because I hoped it would be a quick one!). - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • 6 AI tools that feels illegal to know🤖
    Notion.so redefines workspaces. With its intelligent organization and collaboration features, it's more than a productivity tool—it's a digital haven. Discover the art of streamlined and efficient teamwork. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Etherpad and Notion, you can also consider the following products

Apache OpenOffice - Apache OpenOffice is an open source, office document productivity suite.

Trello - Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It's free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.

Microsoft 365 - Boost your productivity with reliable access anywhere with services like email, calendar, file sharing, meetings, instant messaging, and Office Online

Asana - Asana project management is an effort to re-imagine how we work together, through modern productivity software. Fast and versatile, Asana helps individuals and groups get more done.

CryptPad - CryptPad is a collaborative office suite that is end-to-end encrypted and open-source.

Evernote - Bring your life's work together in one digital workspace. Evernote is the place to collect inspirational ideas, write meaningful words, and move your important projects forward.