BookStack vs Confluence
BookStack
bookstackapp.com
Confluence
atlassian.comSide by side
| Figure | BookStack | Confluence |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £37.50/mo | $5.42/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 4 |
| Spec score · Knowledge Management Software | 9.0 (#2) | 9.2 (#1) |
| Spec score · Knowledge base software | 8.9 (#8) | 9.4 (#2) |
| Spec score · Wiki Software | 9.0 (#3) | 9.3 (#1) |
| Publishing audience | both | both |
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes |
| Founded | 2015 | 2002 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| SSO support | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Official paid support services are provided by HTTP Functions Ltd., while community support is available through discussions, Codeberg, Reddit, documentation and YouTube. | Free includes Atlassian Community support, Standard provides regional business-hours support, Premium provides 24/7 critical-issue support, and Enterprise provides 24/7 support with a 30-minute critical-issue response time. |
| Version history | Yes | Yes |
Plans
BookStack
- BookStack self-hostedFree
- Community SupportFree
- Professional Support Plan£450 a year
- Enterprise Support Plan£4,500 a year
Confluence
- FreeFree
- Standard$5.42 a month
- Premium$10.44 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
BookStack
BookStack is a free, open-source platform for organizing and storing information on a self-hosted instance. It organizes content into Books, Chapters and Pages, with a WYSIWYG editor and an optional Markdown editor with live preview. Search works within a book or across books, chapters and pages, and users can link directly to paragraphs. The editor includes diagrams.net drawing capability. Authentication supports OIDC, SAML2 and LDAP, as well as social-based secondary authentication options. Built-in multi-factor authentication can be enforced by role and uses TOTP and static backup codes. Content exports include contained HTML, PDF, plain text, Markdown and Portable ZIP. The project describes a growing REST API for automation and importing content. The MIT-licensed software has no cost to download and install. Setup requires PHP 8.2 or newer, MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.6 or newer, Git, Composer 2.2 or newer and a PHP-compatible web server. BookStack does not currently support shared PHP hosting. Community support is free but does not assure a response, support or resolution; paid support plans are also listed.
Confluence
Confluence is Atlassian's workspace for knowledge management and project collaboration, with pages, whiteboards, databases and Loom video messaging. Teams can edit content together in real time, comment, and receive notifications when tagged or assigned tasks. Its Jira connection links project tracking with documentation planning, and whiteboards can turn ideas into Jira work. View-only pages can be shared publicly; version history, content analytics and app integrations are also available. Rovo can turn content into timelines, charts, maps, slides and prototypes, while its connectors bring knowledge from services including Google Drive, Slack, Salesforce, GitHub, Microsoft Teams and SharePoint into AI search and workflows. Cloud products are hosted, while Data Center products can run on infrastructure of your choice. The Free plan supports up to 10 users, includes 2 GB of storage and allows three active whiteboards per user. Confluence is available on web, Android, iOS and as self-hosted software. Pricing starts at $5.42/user/mo, and a 7-day trial is listed.