What is EtherCalc used for?

EtherCalc is a web spreadsheet for real-time collaborative editing, now rewritten in TypeScript and deployable on Cloudflare or with Docker. It is a good fit for quick shared spreadsheets without accounts and collaborative data entry on a trusted network.

Is EtherCalc open source?

Yes. EtherCalc is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at audreyt/ethercalc and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. EtherCalc is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host EtherCalc?

Yes. EtherCalc can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is EtherCalc an alternative to?

EtherCalc is an open-source alternative to Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Other open-source alternatives to Google Sheets include Univer, CryptPad and Grist.

Is EtherCalc actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to EtherCalc was on 15 September 2026, and the latest release is 0.20260717.0, published on 17 July 2026. The project has 3.1k stars on GitHub.

EtherCalc: open-source alternative to Google Sheets

About EtherCalc

EtherCalc is a web spreadsheet that several people can edit at the same time. It started as a Node.js port of the multi-user SocialCalc engine. The current branch is a TypeScript rewrite aimed at the Cloudflare full stack, using Hono, Workers, Durable Objects, D1, KV and R2, with documentation hosted on its own site and a REST API described in a separate document.

You can deploy it to Cloudflare with wrangler, or self-host it anywhere with docker compose and no Cloudflare account. There is also an npm package that starts a local server on port 8000, which requires Bun on the machine. The Docker route stores spreadsheet room state in a data folder and needs no Redis or Node runtime.

The project warns that the plain Docker setup serves unencrypted HTTP without rate limiting or TLS, so it should be used only on trusted networks such as localhost, an office LAN or a VPN. Anything exposed to the public internet needs a reverse proxy in front. EtherCalc integrates with the Drupal content management system, and translated versions of the site exist.

Key features

Real-time collaborative spreadsheet editing
REST API for spreadsheet access
Deploys to Cloudflare with wrangler
Self-hosting with docker compose
Drupal integration
Local start via an npm command

Good fit for

→Quick shared spreadsheets without accounts
→Collaborative data entry on a trusted network

Built with: TypeScript
Tags: spreadsheet; collaboration; real-time; socialcalc; self-hosted; cloudflare; docker; typescript

EtherCalc: questions and answers

What is EtherCalc used for?: EtherCalc is a web spreadsheet for real-time collaborative editing, now rewritten in TypeScript and deployable on Cloudflare or with Docker. It is a good fit for quick shared spreadsheets without accounts and collaborative data entry on a trusted network.
Is EtherCalc open source?: Yes. EtherCalc is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at audreyt/ethercalc and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is EtherCalc free?: Yes. EtherCalc is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host EtherCalc?: Yes. EtherCalc can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is EtherCalc an alternative to?: EtherCalc is an open-source alternative to Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Other open-source alternatives to Google Sheets include Univer, CryptPad and Grist.
Is EtherCalc actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to EtherCalc was on 15 September 2026, and the latest release is 0.20260717.0, published on 17 July 2026. The project has 3.1k stars on GitHub.