DokuWiki vs Outline

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?
FeatureDokuWikiOutline
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseGPL-2.0BSL-1.1
LanguagePHPTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 4,694★ 40,034
First released20042017
ReplacesConfluenceNotion, Confluence

Why pick each one

Choose DokuWiki if…

  • Trivial to back up
  • Very stable and mature
  • Low resource needs
DokuWiki details

Choose Outline if…

  • Polished team wiki
  • Great search
  • Strong integrations
Outline details

Frequently asked questions

Is DokuWiki or Outline better?

Neither is universally better. Outline has the larger community, while DokuWiki is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are DokuWiki and Outline free and open-source?

Yes. DokuWiki is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Outline under BSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run DokuWiki and Outline with Docker?

DokuWiki: yes. Outline: yes.

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