Gollum vs Outline

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?
FeatureGollumOutline
CategoryWikis & DocumentationNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseMITBSL-1.1
LanguageRubyTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentbinary, docker, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 14,308★ 40,034
First released20102017
ReplacesConfluence, NotionNotion, Confluence

Why pick each one

Choose Gollum if…

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

Choose Outline if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is Gollum or Outline better?

Neither is universally better. Outline has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Gollum and Outline free and open-source?

Yes. Gollum is licensed under MIT and Outline under BSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Gollum and Outline with Docker?

Gollum: yes. Outline: yes.

Related comparisons