SHSelfHostIndex

Gollum vs Zettlr

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
GO Gollum A simple, Git-powered wiki with a sweet API VS ZE Zettlr Markdown editor for writers, researchers, and Zettelkasten users
FeatureGollumZettlr
CategoryWikis & DocumentationNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageRubyTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentbinary, docker, sourcebare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 14,308★ 13,354
First released20102017
ReplacesConfluence, NotionNotion, Obsidian

Why pick each one

Choose Gollum if…

  • Pages are plain files in Git
  • Easy version control
Gollum details

Choose Zettlr if…

  • Strong academic features
  • Plain Markdown files
Zettlr details

Frequently asked questions

Is Gollum or Zettlr better?

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

Are Gollum and Zettlr free and open-source?

Yes. Gollum is licensed under MIT and Zettlr under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Gollum and Zettlr with Docker?

Gollum: yes. Zettlr: check the project docs for container support.

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