SHSelfHostIndex

BookStack vs Reor

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 RE Reor AI-powered local-first personal knowledge management app
FeatureBookStackReor
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPJavaScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbinary, source
GitHub stars★ 18,974★ 8,574
First released20172024
ReplacesConfluence, NotionEvernote, Notion

Why pick each one

Choose BookStack if…

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

Choose Reor if…

  • AI features without sending data away
  • Notes stay as portable files
Reor details

Frequently asked questions

Is BookStack or Reor 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 Reor free and open-source?

Yes. BookStack is licensed under MIT and Reor under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run BookStack and Reor with Docker?

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

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