BookStack vs Khoj
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?
BookStack
Simple self-hosted documentation and wiki platform
VS
Khoj
Self-hostable AI assistant over your personal notes
| Feature | BookStack | Khoj |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 18,974 | ★ 36,386 |
| First released | 2017 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | Notion AI, Evernote |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is BookStack or Khoj better?
Neither is universally better. Khoj has the larger community, while BookStack is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BookStack and Khoj free and open-source?
Yes. BookStack is licensed under MIT and Khoj under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BookStack and Khoj with Docker?
BookStack: yes. Khoj: yes.