TogetherJS is a JavaScript service that enables real-time collaboration on web pages by synchronizing user interactions like cursors, edits, and browsing activity.
The tool solves the problem of adding collaborative features to websites without requiring developers to build complex synchronization infrastructure from scratch. It works by embedding a client-side library on your site that communicates through a relay server, which echoes messages between connected users. The server component is intentionally minimal, with the bulk of functionality residing in the client library that handles cursor tracking, form input synchronization, and shared browsing state.
Teams considering adoption should evaluate whether their use case benefits from lightweight real-time collaboration without heavy infrastructure investment. The tool suits websites where temporary, session-based collaboration is valuable—such as customer support scenarios, pair programming environments, or collaborative browsing experiences. If you run an HTTPS site, you must use an HTTPS or WSS hub server; the project recommends hosting your own relay using the Cloudflare Workers implementation, which runs on Cloudflare's free tier. The README does not compare TogetherJS to alternative collaboration frameworks.
The project experiences slow response times to issues and pull requests, with first responses often taking weeks or longer. Work in the issue tracker centers on contribution-wanted items, bug reports, and design discussions, suggesting the project is open to external contributions but may lack dedicated maintainer bandwidth for rapid iteration.
