I came across options such as Etherpad and Padland, but they use temporary public links without user accounts, leaving everything anonymous. I also thought about using a syncing service with a basic text editor; however, that approach doesn’t support true simultaneous editing since one save can overwrite the other person’s changes. Is there a more robust open-source solution that supports real-time, collaborative editing with proper user management?
An interesting alternative I discovered is Nextcloud Collabora Online integration. I set it up on my own server, and it provides full-fledged real-time collaborative editing with proper user accounts. Although it requires some configuration, once set up it offers reliable performance and a comparable experience to proprietary solutions, including robust conflict resolution and change tracking. The documentation is extensive and community support is good, which can ease the initial learning curve if customized installations are needed.