BookStack vs Gollum
BookStack
bookstackapp.comGollum
github.comSide by side
| Figure | BookStack | Gollum |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £37.50/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 0 |
| Spec score · Knowledge base software | 8.9 (#8) | 7.3 (#123) |
| Spec score · Wiki Software | 9.0 (#3) | 7.9 (#18) |
| Publishing audience | both | Gollum is presented as a Git-based wiki that can be used for documentation and edited locally or through its web interface. |
| Authentication | BookStack supports OIDC, SAML2 and LDAP, plus social-based secondary authentication options. | Gollum can run alongside a CAS single sign-on server, which the documentation says adds basic user support. |
| Installation | Installation 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. | The README documents installation as a Ruby gem, running through Docker, or launching a downloadable WAR file with Java. |
| Security | BookStack supports CSP headers to increase protection against malicious content and stores MFA secrets encrypted in the database. | The security documentation says Gollum uses Loofah’s default whitelist to filter potentially insecure HTML, and that its behavior can be changed in the configuration file. |
| SSO support | Yes | Yes |
| Version history | Yes | Yes |
Plans
BookStack
- BookStack self-hostedFree
- Community SupportFree
- Professional Support Plan£450 a year
- Enterprise Support Plan£4,500 a year
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.