BookStack vs Wiki.js
BookStack
bookstackapp.com
Wiki.js
js.wikiSide by side
| Figure | BookStack | Wiki.js |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | £37.50/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 1 |
| Spec score · HR Knowledge Base Software | 9.0 (#2) | 8.0 (#17) |
| Spec score · Knowledge Management Software | 9.0 (#2) | 7.9 (#26) |
| Spec score · Knowledge base software | 8.9 (#8) | 8.7 (#24) |
| Spec score · Wiki Software | 9.0 (#3) | 7.9 (#21) |
| API | The project describes a growing REST API for automation and importing content. | Every action in the Wiki.js 3.0 beta user interface is exposed as a REST endpoint documented with OpenAPI. |
| Publishing audience | both | both |
| Authentication | BookStack supports OIDC, SAML2 and LDAP, plus social-based secondary authentication options. | Supported authentication includes OIDC, LDAP, SAML 2.0, and local authentication. |
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| License | BookStack is fully free and open, MIT licensed, and has no cost to download and install your own instance. | Wiki.js is released under the AGPL license. |
| 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. | Support is provided through GitHub Discussions, bug reports, feature suggestions, vulnerability disclosure, and developer documentation. |
| 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.
Wiki.js
Wiki.js is a knowledge base for writing and sharing documentation, available as self-hosted software under the AGPL license. It can run in Docker, Kubernetes, or bare-metal environments on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its editor supports Markdown with live preview, tables, tabsets, diagrams, math, and syntax highlighting for more than 180 languages. Authentication options include OIDC, LDAP, SAML 2.0, and local authentication; permissions can be granted, denied, and inherited across groups and page rules. Edits are attributed, compared, and restorable, and content can synchronize with Git or be pushed to local disk and cloud storage such as S3, Azure, and GCP. In version 3.0 beta, Wiki.js uses Node.js with PostgreSQL, adds real-time collaboration, and exposes user-interface actions as REST endpoints documented with OpenAPI. Stable releases require Node.js 18.x or later and a supported database, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MSSQL, or SQLite3. The self-hosted plan is free forever.