SHSelfHostIndex

BookStack vs Laverna

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 LA Laverna Markdown note-taking app with client-side encryption
FeatureBookStackLaverna
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseMITMPL-2.0
LanguagePHPJavaScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 18,974★ 9,182
First released20172014
ReplacesConfluence, NotionEvernote, Simplenote

Why pick each one

Choose BookStack if…

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

Choose Laverna if…

  • Strong privacy focus
  • No backend required
Laverna details

Frequently asked questions

Is BookStack or Laverna 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 Laverna free and open-source?

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

Can I run BookStack and Laverna with Docker?

BookStack: yes. Laverna: check the project docs for container support.

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