SHSelfHostIndex

BookStack vs Gollum

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — 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 GO Gollum A simple, Git-powered wiki with a sweet API
FeatureBookStackGollum
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseWikis & Documentation
LicenseMITMIT
LanguagePHPRuby
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbinary, docker, source
GitHub stars★ 18,974★ 14,308
First released20172010
ReplacesConfluence, NotionConfluence, Notion

Why pick each one

Choose BookStack if…

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

Choose Gollum if…

  • Pages are plain files in Git
  • Easy version control
Gollum details

Frequently asked questions

Is BookStack or Gollum better?

BookStack is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Gollum if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are BookStack and Gollum free and open-source?

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

Can I run BookStack and Gollum with Docker?

BookStack: yes. Gollum: yes.

Related comparisons