SHSelfHostIndex

BookStack vs DokuWiki

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
BO BookStack Simple self-hosted documentation and wiki platform VS DO DokuWiki Simple, file-based wiki without a database
FeatureBookStackDokuWiki
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseMITGPL-2.0
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 18,974★ 4,694
First released20172004
ReplacesConfluence, NotionConfluence

Why pick each one

Choose BookStack if…

  • Very easy to learn
  • Clean organized structure
  • Good permissions
BookStack details

Choose DokuWiki if…

  • Trivial to back up
  • Very stable and mature
  • Low resource needs
DokuWiki details

Frequently asked questions

Is BookStack or DokuWiki better?

Neither is universally better. BookStack has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are BookStack and DokuWiki free and open-source?

Yes. BookStack is licensed under MIT and DokuWiki under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run BookStack and DokuWiki with Docker?

BookStack: yes. DokuWiki: yes.

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