Glyph is a real-time collaborative LaTeX editor that compiles documents inside a sandboxed Docker container — no subscriptions, no security compromises, no 5GB installs.
Works in your browser. Deploy with one Docker command.
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The mass-energy equivalence is expressed by the well-known equation:
where c denotes the speed of light in vacuum.
The moment your team grows past two, or you handle sensitive research, or you just refuse to pay $21/month per user — you hit a wall.
Real-time editing, track changes, comments, revision history — all paywalled. Other free plans cap you at one collaborator.
User-submitted .tex files can execute arbitrary shell commands via \write18. Running LaTeX directly on your server puts your host at risk.
texlive-full is massive. Getting PATH variables right across macOS, Linux, and Windows on your team is an exercise in frustration.
Glyph uses Yjs CRDTs over WebSockets — the same technology powering Notion and Linear. Collaborator cursors appear in real time. Changes sync conflict-free, even on poor connections.
Every compile job runs inside an isolated Docker container with restricted privileges. No shell escapes. No \write18 surprises. A database-backed job queue ensures zero race conditions under concurrent load.
No local TeX install. No environment variables. No version conflicts. Glyph bundles everything. If you already have latexmk installed locally, it uses that. If not, it falls back to Docker — automatically.
Live PDF or HTML output beside your source. No waiting for manual compiles.
Tree-structured workspace with nested folders, persisted in PostgreSQL.
Share read-only or write-access links. Manage permissions via Clerk-integrated tokens.
Detects your local latexmk. Falls back to Docker. You never have to configure anything.
Database-backed job queue. Handles multiple simultaneous compile jobs without race conditions.
Nothing to install. Works on any device with a modern browser.
We compared Glyph against standard paywalled LaTeX platforms. The difference is clear.
| Feature | Glyph | Other Editors |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time collaboration | Unlimited free | Paywalled / 1 user cap |
| Self-hostable | Yes (MIT License) | No (Cloud-only) |
| Sandboxed compilation | Yes (Docker) | Unknown |
| Price | Free forever | Up to $28/mo per user |
| Open source | Yes | No (Proprietary) |
| Offline / local compile | Yes | No |
Glyph is MIT licensed. Inspect the code, self-host on your university server, suggest a feature, or open a PR. No telemetry. No usage limits. No surprises.