Short answer
For one shared document in a browser, HedgeDoc. For a self-hosted team wiki, Docmost or Outline. For markdown in an ordinary folder, SilverBullet. Most collaborative markdown editors store text in a database; Baalda is the option with live co-editing and plain .md files on every member's disk.
Most tools sold as a collaborative markdown editor are one of two things. Either they are real-time editors that accept markdown syntax and store your text in a database, or they keep real markdown files on disk and leave collaboration to Git or a sync folder. Very few do both: several people typing in the same document live, with the result sitting in a folder as ordinary .md files.
That distinction decides what you own when you stop using the tool, so it is the first column below. Every fact is from each project's own repository, licence file or pricing page, checked on 13 October 2026.
Which open source collaborative markdown editors exist?
| Editor | Licence | Live co-editing | Where your text lives | Runs as |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HedgeDoc | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Database | Self-hosted web app |
| CodiMD | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Database | Self-hosted web app |
| Etherpad | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Database, markdown by plugin | Self-hosted web app |
| Docmost | AGPL-3.0 core | Yes | Postgres | Self-hosted web app |
| Outline | BSL 1.1, source-available | Yes | Postgres | Hosted or self-hosted web app |
| AFFiNE | MIT editor, source-available backend | Yes | CRDT store | Web and desktop |
| SilverBullet | MIT | Edits appear as they happen | Markdown in an ordinary folder | Self-hosted, or desktop |
| Joplin | AGPL-3.0 | Shared notebooks, not live | Markdown in its sync target | Desktop and mobile |
| Zettlr | GPL-3.0 | No | Markdown files | Desktop |
| Baalda | Apache-2.0 | Yes, live cursors | Markdown files on every member's disk | Desktop, with a sync server |
Two of these are often called open source and are not by the usual definition. Outline's licence is the Business Source License 1.1. AFFiNE's editor and Community Edition are MIT, while its backend needs commercial authorisation for some uses.
Which ones are best for writing a single document together?
HedgeDoc is the established answer for live markdown in a browser: write on the left, rendered on the right, share a link. It is AGPL-3.0 and self-hosted. The stable line is 1.x, whose latest release was 1.12.0 in August 2026 and which now receives maintenance, while 2.0 is an alpha rewrite.
CodiMD is the open-source version of HackMD. Its own README describes it as HackMD "with reduced features (without book mode)", and its last release was in October 2024.
Etherpad is the oldest real-time pad, under Apache-2.0. With the ep_markdown plugin it can import and export markdown and show a pad as markdown, but you type into a rich-text pad, not markdown source.
These three are good for meeting notes, workshops and drafts. They are less good as a long-lived knowledge base, because each document is a row in a database and the links between documents are web links.
Which ones work as a team wiki?
Docmost and Outline are wikis with live co-editing and markdown shortcuts, both self-hostable, both storing pages in Postgres.
- Docmost's Community edition is free and open source and self-hosted. Business is $6 per seat a month billed annually, with a 10-seat minimum, and adds AI and SSO. MCP needs an enterprise licence.
- Outline's self-hosted Community Edition is free, with no AI and no guests. Its cloud starts at $10 a month for 1 to 10 members, and every workspace has had a built-in MCP server since February 2026.
We compared the wider wiki field, including Confluence and BookStack, in wiki software compared as an archive.
Which ones keep plain markdown files?
SilverBullet is the clearest: MIT licensed, and in its own words "Your notes are markdown in an ordinary folder". Its team wiki says you can "see edits show up as they happen". It runs as a self-hosted server or a desktop app.
Zettlr and Joplin keep markdown but are not live editors. Zettlr is a single-person desktop app. Joplin can share a notebook so others edit it, from its Pro plan up, without live cursors.
What does a team need beyond the editor?
Live editing solves two people in one paragraph. A team usually hits three more problems within a month.
- Not everything is for everyone. A wiki needs private folders, read-only readers and per-person access, or it ends up as several wikis.
- Work happens offline. A browser editor needs a connection. A desktop editor with files on disk keeps working on a plane and merges later.
- Assistants write too. If Claude or Cursor adds to the same notes, the editor has to merge their edits the way it merges a person's.
Where does Baalda fit?
Baalda is the case where you want both columns at once: live co-editing with cursors, and the result as plain .md files in a folder on every member's disk. Edits merge through a CRDT keystroke by keystroke, work offline and reconcile when you reconnect, and access is set per person on the vault, folders and single files.
It is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux, not a browser editor. You can give someone outside the team a read-only public link to a note, but anyone who edits needs the app, so for a quick pad with a guest, HedgeDoc is the better tool. The core is Apache-2.0, it is free to run locally or self-host, and the managed backend is free for 2 people. If you are coming from Obsidian, the same folder opens in both, and does Obsidian have live collaboration covers what changes.