Open-source Google Docs alternative you can self-host on Cloudflare

Which Google Docs job do you need replaced?

People who search for an open-source or self-hosted Google Docs alternative usually mean one of four things, and a single project rarely covers all of them:

• Writing your own documents in a browser, with formatting, headings and images.
• Sharing a document with someone and getting their comments on it.
• Typing in the same document at the same time as other people.
• Storing and organising files the way a drive does.

The catalog has no reviewed project verified for the third job. It has projects for the other three, and each one runs on your own Cloudflare account. Everything below comes from each project's pinned README and the catalog's recorded configuration. We did not deploy any of them, so read this as a reading of their files, not a test. If self-hosting itself is new, start with what self-hosting is.

Job	Project	What it is	Declared Cloudflare services	License	Pinned commit
Write documents	888wiki	Markdown, block, canvas and whiteboard workspace	Worker, KV (two), D1, R2, daily cron	AGPL-3.0	034d335
Write documents	EdgeEver	Notebook app with a web clipper	Worker, D1, R2	AGPL-3.0	9918570
Share and comment	sharehtml	Deploy a file to a link with comments, reactions and live presence	Worker, R2, Durable Objects (two)	Apache-2.0	27ddaaf
Publish	md.page	Markdown turned into a shareable web page	Worker, KV (R2 and analytics optional)	MIT	54bbbd1
Store files	R2-Explorer	Browser file manager for R2 buckets	Worker, R2	MIT	2c09ecb
Live co-editing	Not verified in any reviewed project. Google documents real-time editing in Docs.

Open-source alternatives for writing documents

888wiki is the closest to a place where you write. Its README describes "a Markdown-first knowledge workspace you can run in your own Cloudflare account" with four modes: Markdown with live preview, Block with slash commands, Canvas for cards and relationships, and a Whiteboard. Notes can be shared publicly or behind a password, with a reading view that supports print and PDF export. The pinned configuration declares two KV namespaces, an R2 bucket for images, a D1 database for note history and a daily cron cleanup job. On the Free plan, Workers KV caps key writes per day, so measure how many writes your editing causes before trusting it. The README says published audio and large attachments use an external service, so not everything stays in your Cloudflare account. It is AGPL-3.0. Our catalog scope for it does not include team databases, administration features or shared editing.

EdgeEver is a notebook app: nested notebooks, a note list, an editor, revision history, offline drafts that sync after reconnecting, public sharing with an optional password and a browser clipper. Its README says R2 needs a billing-enabled account even when usage stays inside the free allowance, and it documents a Docker install if you would rather run it on a server. It is AGPL-3.0. The catalog says plainly that it makes no claim of collaboration or full parity with the services it replaces. Our self-hosted note-taking app guide covers both projects in more depth.

Neither project describes a word processor with page layout, pagination, tracked changes or a document comparison view, and we did not look for them in the code. If you need to hand a formatted .docx to a client, check that yourself first.

Share a document and collect comments

sharehtml answers a narrower job: you have a document, you want others to read it and respond. The README describes deploying a local file with sharehtml deploy report.html to a link where people "collaborate with comments, reactions, and live presence". It lists threaded replies, emoji reactions, text anchoring and seeing who is viewing and their selections. Markdown and common code files are converted to styled HTML. Re-deploying updates the content at the same URL.

What that means for Google Docs users: the document is written elsewhere and pushed in with a command-line tool. The README does not describe typing together in the shared copy. Authentication is optional. The README says that without Cloudflare Access, "anyone with a link can view and comment", so choose the mode on purpose. It is Apache-2.0, and its pinned configuration declares an R2 bucket and two Durable Objects (one for the registry of users and documents, one per document for comments and presence). The README lists R2 as a prerequisite.

md.page publishes a Markdown file as a web page. The self-hosted engine gives anonymous publishing, and the README says those pages expire after 24 hours. The README attributes permanent pages, accounts and subdomains to the hosted service at md.page, not to the open-source engine. It lists a 500 KB content limit per page. It is MIT, and the only required binding is one KV namespace. There is no comment feature in the README. Use it to hand over a read-only copy, not to collaborate.

Store and organise files

If what you used Google Drive for was the file part, the catalog's Google Drive alternatives page maps R2-Explorer, a browser file manager for R2 buckets. The catalog's own scope note for it says no Google Docs editing, collaborative permissions or desktop sync is established. Its README lists in-browser file editing, but Google Docs-style document editing and collaboration are not established.

Can I edit a document with others in real time?

Google Docs lets several people edit one document at once, per Google Workspace. We have not verified that in any reviewed project. sharehtml has live presence and comments. 888wiki and EdgeEver have not been verified here for simultaneous editing, and the catalog scopes for both exclude collaboration. If simultaneous typing is the requirement, treat all four as unproven for it and test with two real accounts before committing a team.

Can it run on Cloudflare's free plan?

For a small personal or team workload, the catalog's cost notes say each project's configuration is eligible for Cloudflare Free allowances, with conditions. They are not measurements. The conditions that matter here:

• R2 needs a billing-enabled account. EdgeEver's and sharehtml's READMEs both list R2, and Cloudflare asks for a payment method to activate it even when usage stays inside the free allowance.
• KV and Worker limits. 888wiki and md.page use Workers KV. Check the current Free-plan write caps on Cloudflare's pricing page against how often you save.
• Separate costs. A domain, an AI provider (888wiki's AI features fall back to Groq unless you bind Workers AI) and any external attachment service are not part of the Cloudflare bill.

Which should you pick?

• You write alone and want Markdown with blocks and drawings: 888wiki.
• You want notebooks, a clipper and apps: EdgeEver.
• You write elsewhere and want colleagues to comment on a finished document: sharehtml, with Cloudflare Access turned on if the content is private.
• You want a quick read-only page from a Markdown file: md.page.
• Your team types in the same document all day: none of these is verified for it. Keep Google Docs for that job until a project in the catalog is verified for it, and use the open-source projects for the parts above.

For the paid side of the comparison, the catalog also maps Notion alternatives to 888wiki and EdgeEver, for note editing and publishing. For other self-hosting jobs on the same platform, see the bookmark manager and RSS reader guides.

Checklist before you move documents over

1. Deploy to a workers.dev address first with your own KV, D1, R2 and Durable Object settings, and follow each README's setup steps in order.
2. Set authentication before you add real documents, then open a share link in a private window and confirm it shows only what you meant to share.
3. Import or paste a handful of your real documents, not all of them, and check headings, tables, images and links survive.
4. If more than one person will use it, try two accounts at once and see what happens when both change the same page.
5. Export a copy (EdgeEver's Markdown ZIP, or sharehtml pull for a document) and restore it somewhere else before you trust it.
6. Set Cloudflare billing notifications, and read the AGPL, Apache-2.0 or MIT terms if you change the code and let others use your copy.