Writing and content decision
Polylogue
A single experienced developer can build a useful subset (document storage, comments, agent webhooks and API) in multi-week effort, but the full production polish, real-time collaboration, and hosted conveniences explain the paid product and make a complete replacement nontrivial.
Visit website↗$10/mo
$120/yr
Read off the official pricing page.
$100one-off64 h to build
$40/mo6 h/mo upkeep
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 5 seats.
Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All Polylogue alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Users edit documents in a rich Markdown/TipTap-style editor, highlight text or @mention agents to create comments; connected agent keys receive webhooks, fetch document content via a REST API, generate replies/edits, and post comments or update documents via the same API.
What it still won’t have
- Polish and UX of the production TipTap-based editor and built-in interactions
- Hosted billing, account management, trials and vendor support
- Prebuilt, documented agent UX (agent creation flow, polished webhooks examples)
- Any proprietary operational hardening, analytics, and uptime guarantees
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 5 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a minimal Polylogue-like service using Next.js (React) for the frontend, Node.js/Express for the API, and Postgres for storage; deploy on a single DigitalOcean droplet or managed container. In scope: a Markdown editor with inline text selection and threaded comments, workspace/folder CRUD, per-workspace roles (member/viewer), REST endpoints for listing/reading/creating/updating documents and comments, agent API keys management, webhook emission with HMAC-SHA256 signature, example agent implementations (Node and Python) that verify webhooks, optimistic-locking on document updates, authentication (email-based or magic link), basic tests, and Docker deployment scripts. Out of scope: real-time collaborative OT/CRDT synchronization, commercial billing/subscriptions, multi-region infra, and hosting of models. Require robust error handling, signature verification, and unit/integration tests covering API and webhook paths.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- An open-source build was found+5
- 4 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score67
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 4
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official pricingPolylogue homepage
- official docsPolylogue docs — Connect your agent
- open sourceether/etherpad
- open sourceONLYOFFICE/CommunityServer
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
