How to self-host your Google Docs alternative
Moving collaborative document editing to a server of your own means fixing the data's scope first: real-time text only, or the full office cycle with spreadsheets and presentations included? And in this specific case there's a second axis that matters too: what that server can actually read of the content it hosts.
Tools that meet this intent
Alternative to Google Docs
Real-time collaborative editor, a lightweight alternative to Google Docs.
Alternative to Google Docs
End-to-end encrypted office suite, an alternative to Google Docs.
Real server requirements
Between 256MB and 1GB of RAM depending on the tool — never a single number.
Etherpad covers real-time collaborative text editing specifically — as the project itself specifies, "it has no spreadsheets or presentations, just text." It isn't an incomplete office suite — it's a tool with a deliberately narrower scope, built for quick shared notes, not for replacing all of Google Workspace. CryptPad covers much more: documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms and kanban boards on the same platform.
The second difference is architectural: CryptPad encrypts content end-to-end, so the server hosting it can't read what's inside the documents — that's a design fact, verifiable in that CryptPad doesn't even use a traditional database (it stores everything as encrypted files). Etherpad has no such design: its server can read the content, stored in a normal relational database.
What you gain and lose versus the SaaS
This isn't a claim that CryptPad is "more secure" in the abstract — it's a concrete architectural fact (the server can't read the content in the clear) that may or may not matter for your case. If all you need is quick collaborative notes, Etherpad is simpler to deploy and maintain. If you need a full suite and want encryption built into the server's design, CryptPad is the option that offers it.