You've likely spent weeks looking at different commenting SDK options, only to find they're either too basic for your needs and require you to build half of the features yourself. For adding collaboration to your text editor focused app, you're choosing between Tiptap Comments and Velt's complete collaboration SDK.

TLDR:

• Tiptap Comments focuses on text editor commenting with basic threaded conversations

• Velt provides a complete collaboration layer with 25+ features including contextual comments, real-time presence, video huddles, recordings and notifications

• Tiptap requires setting up separate backend infrastructure and building supporting features manually

• Velt offers complete frontend SDK and backend APIs that work in just 10 lines of code

• Choose Tiptap if you only need basic commenting within existing Tiptap editors

• Choose Velt for modern collaborative applications that need complete features beyond just text comments

What is Tiptap Comments

Tiptap Comments is part of the broader Tiptap editor ecosystem, designed to add commenting functionality to rich text editors. It allows users to share feedback through threaded conversations and provides a headless Comments extension that integrates directly with Tiptap's editor framework.

The solution focuses on inline suggestions and basic comment threads within text documents. Users can select text, add comments, and engage in discussions around particular content sections.

It's built as an extension to Tiptap's existing editor infrastructure, so it works well if you're already using Tiptap editors and only need basic commenting functionality.

However, the scope is intentionally narrow.

Tiptap Comments doesn't include features like real-time presence indicators, notification systems, or collaboration tools beyond basic commenting.

If you're wondering what is commenting SDK functionality more broadly, Tiptap represents the focused, editor-specific approach.

What is Velt Commenting SDK

Velt takes a different approach as a full-stack SDK that provides components for building complete commenting experiences. Think Figma-style contextual comments, Google Docs collaboration, or Notion's threaded discussions.

Rather than focusing solely on text editors, Velt Comments offers a complete collaboration layer. Velt offers text commenting that works amazingly in text editors like Tiptap, but you also get 25+ premium features out of the box: contextual comments that attach to any DOM element, real-time presence indicators, video huddles, screen recording with AI transcription, in-app notifications, reactions, and advanced analytics.

The platform handles both frontend components and backend infrastructure. While other solutions require you to build notification systems, user management, and real-time sync separately, Velt provides everything in one integrated package.

Velt includes features like live cursor tracking, follow-me mode, voice/video calls, and screen recording that would typically require multiple separate tools and months of development work.

This complete approach means you can add sophisticated collaboration features to dashboards, design tools, data applications, or any web-based product. The top commenting SDK needs to go beyond basic text commenting, and that's exactly what Velt delivers.

Key Feature Differences

The feature gap between these solutions is substantial. Tiptap Comments provides threaded conversations and inline suggestions within text editors, but lacks advanced features like notifications, presence indicators, or real-time collaboration tools.

The technical implementation differences are equally important. Tiptap requires setting up their collaboration backend called Hocuspocus, configuring user management, and building supporting features like notifications separately from webhooks. You're assembling multiple pieces to create a complete solution.

With Velt, everything works together smoothly. The commenting SDK customization options are extensive, but you don't need to build core functionality from scratch. Features like mention notifications, comment resolution workflows, and real-time sync work immediately.

For teams building modern collaborative applications, the difference matters. Users expect commenting systems that feel as polished as Figma or Google Docs, not basic text annotations. You can see this in action with our Tiptap editor integration, which adds Velt's advanced features to existing Tiptap setups.

Implementation and Developer Experience

The implementation complexity tells the real story. Tiptap's approach might seem simpler initially, but it requires major integration work to build a complete commenting experience. You need to set up backend infrastructure, handle user authentication, build notification systems, and create UI components for a truly collaborative experience.

With Velt, a single engineer can add commenting features in minutes without help from Product or Design teams. The SDK handles authentication, real-time sync, notifications, and UI components automatically. We're talking about 10 lines of code versus thousands.

Framework Support and Flexibility

Framework compatibility reveals another key difference. Tiptap Comments focuses exclusively on text editor integration within their ecosystem. If you're building anything beyond an experience using Tiptap editor, then you're out of luck.

Velt provides a complete collaboration layer that works across different frameworks and use cases. We support React, Vue, Svelte, Angular, and vanilla JavaScript. More importantly, commenting works on any type of content: documents, images, videos, dashboards, design files, or data visualizations.

The component library includes everything from basic comment threads to advanced features like screen recording and live cursors. You're not limited to text-based collaboration.

When to Choose Tiptap Comments

Tiptap Comments makes sense in specific scenarios. If you're already deeply invested in the Tiptap ecosystem and only need basic commenting within text editors, it can be a reasonable choice.

Teams that have built their entire content management system around Tiptap editors might prefer staying within a single vendor ecosystem. The commenting integration feels native, and you avoid adding another dependency to your stack.

The focused approach works well for simple use cases. If your users only need to add basic feedback to text documents without real-time collaboration, notifications, or advanced features, Tiptap Comments covers the basics.

Budget-conscious teams might initially consider Tiptap Comments as a simpler option. However, this often proves false economy when you factor in the development time needed to build supporting features like notifications, user management, and real-time sync.

Consider Tiptap Comments if you have a very specific, narrow use case around text editor commenting and don't anticipate needing broader collaboration features. Just remember that user expectations for commenting systems have evolved a lot. Modern applications need features that feel as polished as Google Docs commenting.

When to Choose Velt Comments

Velt becomes the superior choice for most modern collaborative applications. If you need features beyond basic text commenting, Velt provides everything in one integrated package.

Choose Velt when you're building applications that require:

• Advanced collaboration features: Multiple styles of contextual commenting, Live huddles, Video recording, AI transcription, and strong notification systems work together smoothly.

• Multiple styles of comments: Comments on text, images, videos, spreadsheet cells, Figma style freestyle comments and more.

• Rapid development: Instead of spending months building collaboration infrastructure, you get complete features immediately.

• Enterprise requirements: Self-hosting options, GDPR compliance, SOC 2 Type II certification, and dedicated support channels.

The practical benefits compound quickly. Teams like Trumpet increased engagement by using Velt's complete collaboration features rather than cobbling together multiple solutions.

Instead of managing separate tools for commenting, notifications, presence, and communication, you get everything from basic commenting to advanced collaboration tools in one integrated package.

Most teams building modern SaaS applications need this complete approach. Users expect commenting systems that include real-time presence, instant notifications, and smooth collaboration workflows. Velt delivers all of this without the complexity of building it yourself.

TheNotion-like comments experience that users expect requires sophisticated infrastructure. Velt provides that infrastructure so you can focus on your core product instead of rebuilding collaboration features from scratch.

FAQ

What's the main difference between Tiptap and Velt commenting?

Tiptap Comments focuses on text editor commenting with basic threaded conversations, while Velt provides a complete collaboration layer with 25+ features including contextual comments, real-time presence, video huddles, and notifications.

How long does it take to implement each solution?

Tiptap Comments requires setting up backend infrastructure, user management, and building supporting features separately, which typically takes weeks or months. Velt can be implemented in minutes with just 10 lines of code since it includes both frontend SDK and backend APIs.

Can I use Velt with existing Tiptap editors?

Yes, Velt integrates smoothly with Tiptap editors while adding advanced collaboration features. You can keep your existing editor setup and enhance it with Velt's complete commenting and collaboration tools.

Which solution is more cost-effective?

While Tiptap Comments might seem cheaper initially, the development time needed to build supporting features that are needed for a complete collaboration experience like notifications, real-time sync, and user management often makes it more expensive overall. Velt provides complete functionality immediately, reducing total cost of ownership.

Conclusion

Look, if you're building anything more than a basic text editor, you're going to need real collaboration features eventually.

You can either spend the next few months building all that infrastructure yourself (and probably getting it wrong the first time), or just drop in Velt's SDK and get back to working on the stuff that actually makes your product unique. The choice is pretty obvious when you think about it that way.