Doctave vs Gollum
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Doctave | Gollum |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 12 · At risk | 51 · Fair |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 670 | ★ 14,330 |
| First released | 2021 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Confluence, GitBook | Confluence, Notion |
What are Doctave and Gollum?
Doctave
Doctave is an opinionated documentation site generator that builds fast static documentation sites from Markdown files. It includes built-in search, Mermaid diagram support, and live preview without requiring complex configuration.
- Markdown documentation
- Built-in search
- Mermaid diagrams
- Live preview server
Gollum
Gollum is an open-source wiki system built on top of Git, where every page is a file in a Git repository. It powers the wikis found on GitHub and supports many markup languages.
- Git-backed page storage
- Multiple markup languages
- Powers GitHub wikis
- Full history via Git
Doctave vs Gollum: key differences
Doctave is written in Rust, while Gollum is built with Ruby. Doctave is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Gollum. Gollum is the more established project (first released 2010), while Doctave arrived in 2021. Gollum has the considerably larger community, at 14,330 GitHub stars versus 670. Gollum lists first-class Docker deployment; Doctave does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Doctave if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Static output only
- Limited theming
Choose Gollum if…
- Pages are plain files in Git
- Easy version control
Watch out for
- No fine-grained ACLs
- Ruby toolchain required
Frequently asked questions
Is Doctave or Gollum better?
Neither is universally better. Gollum has the larger community, while Doctave is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Doctave and Gollum free and open-source?
Yes. Doctave is licensed under MIT and Gollum under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Doctave and Gollum with Docker?
Doctave: check the project docs for container support. Gollum: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Doctave or Gollum?
Doctave has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Gollum. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.