BookStack vs SwaggerHub
BookStack
bookstackapp.comSwaggerHub
swagger.ioSide by side
| Figure | BookStack | SwaggerHub |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £37.50/mo | $61.67/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 5 |
| Spec score · Knowledge base software | 8.9 (#8) | 8.4 (#48) |
| Publishing audience | both | both |
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes |
| Security | BookStack supports CSP headers to increase protection against malicious content and stores MFA secrets encrypted in the database. | SmartBear says its security program aligns with SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001, GDPR and CCPA, and NIST CSF, and describes encryption in transit and at rest. |
| 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
SwaggerHub
- FreeFree
- Team 1 User$740 a year
- Team 2 Users$1,480 a year
- Team 3 Users$2,220 a year
- Team 4 Users$2,960 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.
SwaggerHub
SwaggerHub provides API design, testing, documentation, and governance tools for software teams. Swagger Studio combines a visual editor with a shared API catalog for collaborative design, including work by contributors who do not code. It supports OpenAPI and AsyncAPI specifications, style guides, templates, reusable components, and centralized governance. Teams can generate mock servers to test endpoints and use contract or functional tests that integrate with CI/CD pipelines. Swagger Portal creates API documentation and onboarding guides, with branded portals and access controls. Listed integrations include GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, AWS, Bitbucket, Gradle, and ReadyAPI. The product is available on the web or self-hosted, and lists role-based access, SSO, version history, and custom domains. Swagger Enterprise is described as deployable on-premise or in the cloud and includes dedicated support and account management. A free plan covers basic API design and documentation. Listed Team plans begin at $740 a year for one user, billed over 12 months; pricing is also available on request.