BookStack vs nb Notes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
BookStack
Simple self-hosted documentation and wiki platform
VS
nb Notes
Command-line note-taking, bookmarking, and archiving tool
| Feature | BookStack | nb Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,050 | ★ 8,410 |
| First released | 2017 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | Evernote, Notion |
What are BookStack and nb Notes?
BookStack
BookStack is a self-hosted platform for organizing and storing documentation in a books, chapters, and pages structure. It targets teams that want an approachable wiki without complexity. It is deployed via Docker or a LAMP stack.
- Books, chapters and pages structure
- WYSIWYG and Markdown editors
- Roles, permissions and SSO
- Full-text search
nb Notes
nb is a command-line and local web tool for plain-text note-taking, bookmarking, and archiving with Git-backed versioning and syncing. It works entirely in the terminal and supports encryption.
- Plain-text notes and bookmarks
- Git-backed sync
- Optional encryption
- Tagging and search
BookStack vs nb Notes: key differences
BookStack is written in PHP, while nb Notes is built with Shell. Licensing differs — MIT for BookStack versus AGPL-3.0 for nb Notes. Nb Notes is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 512 MB for BookStack. BookStack is the more established project (first released 2017), while nb Notes arrived in 2019. BookStack has the considerably larger community, at 19,050 GitHub stars versus 8,410. BookStack lists first-class Docker deployment; nb Notes does not.
Why pick each one
Choose BookStack if…
- Very easy to learn
- Clean organized structure
- Good permissions
Watch out for
- Rigid structure for some
- Fewer integrations than rivals
Choose nb Notes if…
- Powerful for terminal users
- Versioned with Git
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No graphical client
Frequently asked questions
Is BookStack or nb Notes 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 nb Notes free and open-source?
Yes. BookStack is licensed under MIT and nb Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BookStack and nb Notes with Docker?
BookStack: yes. nb Notes: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, BookStack or nb Notes?
nb Notes has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for BookStack. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.