Gobby

Free plan APILinuxMacSelf-hostedWindows

What Gobby is

Gobby is a free collaborative text editor for sessions where several people edit documents and chat together over the internet. A session can hold multiple documents, and participants can edit the same document in real time. The editor supports syntax highlighting through GtkSourceView and full Unicode. Remote cursors, selections, and user-specific text colors distinguish contributors; group undo does not reverse remote users’ changes. Integrated group chat is included, and the note-chat server plugin supports chat documents. Sessions can be password-protected, data transfer supports encryption with perfect forward secrecy, and access-control lists can set permissions for documents, directories, and the server. Gobby includes a built-in server, while the infinoted package provides a dedicated server that stores documents persistently and supports configurable plugins. Windows downloads include the editor and dedicated server, and Gobby is available on most Linux distributions. It also runs on Mac OS X, but the project does not offer a pre-built Mac package and recommends installation with brew and required packages. Gobby is licensed under GPLv2+ and ISC.

Who it suits

Gobby suits groups that want to edit text collaboratively and chat within shared sessions. It may also suit technical users who want to run the dedicated server or configure plugins.

What it does well

Supports real-time editing by multiple users.
Sessions can contain multiple documents.
Includes group chat and chat-document support.
Offers access-control lists and protected sessions.

What to know first

No pre-built Mac package is offered.
Mac installation requires brew and required packages.
Linux local discovery is not available on Windows or Mac OS X.

Getting started

Visit https://gobby.github.io/.
On Windows, use the installer, which includes Gobby and the Infinoted dedicated server.
On Linux, install the gobby editor package; install infinoted for the dedicated server.
On Mac OS X, install Gobby and required packages with brew.
Use Gobby's built-in server or run the dedicated infinoted server.

Verdict

Gobby combines collaborative editing, chat, and server options in a free package. Mac users should account for the installation requirement, while teams can choose between its built-in server and dedicated server.

Questions

Is Gobby free?

Yes. Gobby is free and has a free plan.

Which platforms does Gobby support?

Its listed platforms are API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, and Windows. The project says it does not offer a pre-built Mac OS X package and recommends installation with brew and required packages.

Can people chat while editing?

Yes. Sessions include multi-user group chat, and the note-chat server plugin supports chat documents.

Can Gobby be self-hosted?

Yes. Gobby has a built-in server, and the libinfinity package includes the dedicated infinoted server, which stores documents persistently.

Is Gobby open source?

Gobby is licensed under GPLv2+ and ISC.

Where can users report bugs or request features?

Bug reports and feature requests are directed to Gobby's GitHub issue tracker.

Facts from Gobby's own pages

Access control: Gobby provides access-control lists for documents, directories, and server-wide permissions. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Chat: Gobby includes integrated group chat and supports chat documents through the note-chat server plugin. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Collaboration: Gobby shows remote participants’ cursors and selections, highlights text by user, and supports group undo that does not undo remote users’ changes. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Collaboration features: Gobby supports lock-free editing, group undo, remote cursors and selections, and user-specific text colors. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Dedicated hosting: The libinfinity package includes the infinoted dedicated Gobby server, which stores documents persistently and supports configurable plugins. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Editing: The editor supports syntax highlighting through GtkSourceView and full Unicode. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Licensing: Gobby is licensed under GPLv2+ and ISC. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Linux download: Gobby is available on most Linux distributions; Ubuntu and Debian packages are named gobby for the editor and infinoted for the dedicated server. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Local discovery: On Linux, Gobby usually lists other Gobby computers on the same Wi-Fi network automatically; the project says this is not available on Windows or Mac OS X. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Mac limitation: The project says it cannot offer a pre-built Mac OS X package and recommends installing Gobby and required packages with brew. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
macOS support: Gobby runs on Mac OS X, but the project says it does not currently offer a pre-built package and describes installation with brew. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Platforms: Binary distributions or installation instructions are provided for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Purpose: Gobby is a collaborative text editor that lets multiple users edit the same document over the internet in real time. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Real-time editing: Multiple users can edit the same document together over the internet in real time. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Release information: The download page identifies Gobby 0.5.0 as the most current version listed there. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Security: The project describes encrypted data transfer with perfect forward secrecy, password-protected sessions, and access control lists. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026
Server: Gobby includes a built-in server, and more technical users can run a dedicated server. · gobby.github.io, 2 Oct 2026
Server API: The document-stream plugin provides a simple API to text and chat documents through Unix domain sockets. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Server security: The infinoted server supports TLS, including a require-tls policy, and automatically uses perfect forward secrecy when TLS is enabled. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Sessions: A session can contain multiple documents and includes multi-user group chat. · gobby.github.io, 2 Oct 2026
Support: The project directs users to report bugs and feature requests through its GitHub issue tracker. · gobby.github.io, 2 Oct 2026
Text editing: The editor provides full-fledged text editing capabilities, including syntax highlighting using GtkSourceView. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Unicode: Gobby supports full Unicode. · github.com, 1 Oct 2026
Windows download: The Windows installer includes the Gobby text editor and the Infinoted dedicated server. · github.com, 2 Oct 2026

Where Gobby stands on Freedom251

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