Rich text editor for Bubble: native, plugins and Tiptap compared

Last updated 15 October 2026. Plugin listings change, so re-check the marketplace before you buy.

Short answer

Bubble's built-in rich text editor handles formatting and display. Bubble's manual for it describes no real-time collaboration. If two people need to type in the same document at once, you need an editor with a collaboration backend. The Tiptap editor with WhoIsTyping is the option where we tested two signed-in users editing together. The other plugins below are useful for other jobs, and we did not test their collaboration claims.

Options compared

The table covers only what we could verify from Bubble's manual, the plugin listings and our own collaboration test. A plugin being listed does not mean it works the way its copy says.

Which to pick

Choose the built-in editor if one user writes at a time and you only need basic formatting. It needs no plugin and no outside service.

Choose a listed plugin if you need mentions, block content or custom toolbar buttons, and you do not need several people typing together. Test its collaboration claim on a staging app before you rely on it.

Choose Tiptap with WhoIsTyping if several people must edit one document live. Read the Google Docs-style collaboration guide before you commit, because it explains what the editor does and does not provide.

Setup walkthrough: Tiptap editor in Bubble

This walkthrough gets a working Tiptap editor on a page first, then turns on collaboration. Do the steps in order, so a styling problem is not confused with a connection problem.

1. Install the Rich Text Editor (Tiptap.dev) plugin in your Bubble development app. Note the plugin version. We tested 4.14.0, and a different version can behave differently.
2. Add a Tiptap element to a page. Type into it with collaboration off, and check that the text and formatting appear. Do not continue until a single-user editor works.
3. Get the Document Server ID and Document Server Secret for a WhoIsTyping project you are authorized to use. Reuse an existing project where that makes sense.
4. In Plugins → Rich text editor, enter the secret in Custom collab document server secret. For a development test, use the development override and leave the live key alone. Set Which document server secret to use to Custom. The secret stays in this server-side plugin setting. Do not put it in page text, custom JavaScript, URLs, logs or screenshots.
5. On the Tiptap element, turn on Enable collaboration?. Set the server address to wss://collab.whoistyping.wtf, enter the static Doc Server ID, and give the document a name. The document name only routes the connection. It does not lock anyone out.
6. Create a page-load workflow that generates the auth token and stores it in a page state. Pass that state into the editor's token field. The full token workflow is in the Bubble collaboration setup guide.
7. Test with two different signed-in users. Expected result: edits appear in both directions, the other user's caret moves, and the editor reconnects after a refresh. Two tabs signed in as the same user do not count as two people.

When you need collaboration

Collaboration matters when people edit the same document at the same time, not when they take turns. If your users take turns, the built-in editor or a listed plugin is cheaper and simpler. If you need comments, tracked changes or document history, WhoIsTyping does not provide them. The Tiptap Cloud alternative comparison covers Tiptap's own platform, which does.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Sources consulted on 15 October 2026:

• Bubble manual: Rich Text Editor: formatting, toolbar and height options. No collaboration described.
• Advanced Rich Text Editor plugin listing: the collaboration claim is from the listing copy and was not verified.
• Rich text editor (Tiptap.dev) plugin listing.
• WhoIsTyping Bubble collaboration guide: the setup steps.