RichTextEditor vs Summernote
Looking for a Summernote alternative? A free, MIT-licensed Bootstrap editor vs a supported editor with the review workflow built in. A factual comparison for teams shortlisting a rich text editor in 2026 — pricing model, AI, collaboration, and when each option is the right call.
Free (Summernote) vs $129 once (RichTextEditor full workflow)
Side by side
| RichTextEditor | Summernote | |
|---|---|---|
| License | Perpetual, per-domain, from $129 one-time | MIT, free |
| AI features | Built-in AI Toolkit (Ask AI, AI Chat, AI Review) with BYOK - no add-on fee | No built-in AI |
| Real-time collaboration | Per-node Yjs CRDT engine included | Not built in |
| Self-hosting | Fully self-hosted; no phone-home, no load counting | Self-hosted, runs in the browser |
| Open-source core | No (commercial licence, full-feature trial) | Yes (MIT) |
| Track changes / comments | Included | Not built in |
| Tables | Full table editing with header cells and captions | Basic table insertion |
Choose Summernote when…
- You already use Bootstrap and need a free editor for simple formatted text.
- Your content is short and nobody needs review, comments or tracked changes.
- A zero licence budget matters more than the editing features you get.
Choose RichTextEditor when…
- You need review workflow: comments, track changes and revision history.
- You need tables with header rows and captions that survive export.
- You want one supported vendor with a licence that covers the whole editor, not a set of community plugins.
Frequently asked
Is Summernote free for commercial use?
Summernote is MIT-licensed, so you can use it in commercial products. The licence question for us is about what the editor includes, not whether you can use Summernote.
How long does a Summernote migration take?
Most sites move in a few days: export the stored HTML, sanitize it, and load it into the new editor on a staging page. The hard part is usually custom plugins, which need rebuilding on the new editor's API.
Competitor details reflect public pricing pages and documentation at the time of writing and may change; see source notes. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners.