Pell vs Plate
Pell
github.comPlate
platejs.orgSide by side
| Figure | Pell | Plate |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Rich Text Editor Software | 7.7 (#16) | 8.0 (#11) |
| Installation | The README documents installation with npm or by including CSS and JavaScript from unpkg in an HTML page. | Official setup paths include Plate UI, Next.js, React, RSC, Node.js, and manual installation. |
| License | Pell is released under the MIT License, which permits use, copying, modification, distribution, sublicensing, and sale subject to its stated conditions. | The platejs npm package is licensed under MIT. |
Plans
In their own words
Pell
Pell is a free, self-hosted WYSIWYG text editor for web pages. It is written in pure JavaScript using ES6 and has no dependencies. The package is listed at 1.38 kB minified and gzipped, or 3.54 kB minified. Built-in actions cover bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, headings, paragraphs, quotes, lists, code, horizontal rules, links, and images. You can add custom actions and decide which controls appear and in what order. Styling can be changed through Pell’s Sass file or by overriding CSS. The onChange callback provides the editor’s HTML output, and the project demonstrates converting that HTML to Markdown with Turndown. Installation is documented through npm or by including a browser script and stylesheet. React and Vue examples are available. Listed browser support includes IE 9+, Chrome 5+, Firefox 4+, Safari 5+, and Opera 11.6+. Pell uses the MIT license.
Plate
Plate is a React framework for building rich-text editors, with a headless runtime, composable plugins, and optional UI components. Setup paths cover Plate UI, Next.js, React, React Server Components, Node.js, and manual installation. Its plugin ecosystem includes AI menus, copilot, comments, suggestions, blocks, code, tables, media, mentions, import and export, and collaboration. The AI package provides streaming menus and chat, AI-marked text, and API-route integration patterns. Yjs collaboration supports IndexedDB, Hocuspocus, WebRTC, awareness, remote cursors, and custom providers. Media features support images, video, audio, and files, including embeds, uploads, drag-and-drop, clipboard paste, URL embedding, and captions. The package is MIT-licensed. The Free plan is free; Personal is €299, paid once and Teams is €799, paid once. The provided UploadThing middleware is intended for local development; production use requires application session and permission checks.