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BookStack

Self-hosted wiki (PHP/Laravel, MySQL) that organizes docs as shelves, books, chapters and pages; free MIT edition

Visit bookstackapp.com
Screenshot of BookStack
BookStack, from bookstackapp.com

Our verdict

#1 of 7 in Self-hosted team wikis · Best for most small teams

Pros

  • MIT license with no paid edition
  • Roles with permission overrides on any shelf, book, chapter or page
  • OIDC, SAML2, LDAP, social login and enforceable two-factor login, all free
  • WYSIWYG editor, optional Markdown editor and built-in diagrams.net drawings

Cons

  • No live co-editing; two people on one page can overwrite each other
  • Content stops at four levels (shelf, book, chapter, page)
  • Docker is through community images only
  • No built-in Confluence import

Choose if: Your teammates aren't technical and nobody wants to run a complicated stack.

Skip if: Teams that regularly write the same page together at the same time.

Read the full review →

Rankings and alternatives

Self-hosted team wikis scores

Evaluated Nov 14, 2026 Evidence ↓
  • Writing experience · counts double 4

    4/5 means: A good visual or Markdown editor with diagrams or comments built in.

    Default WYSIWYG editor, an optional Markdown editor with live preview, built-in diagrams.net drawing and page revisions.

  • Simultaneous editing 1

    1/5 means: The last save overwrites the other person's changes.

    No real-time editing; two people on the same page can overwrite each other.

  • Track record · counts double 5

    5/5 means: A decade or more in production, a large user base and a steady stable release line.

    A long-running project with a steady stable release line and an active community; this rests on general knowledge, with 19k GitHub stars as a loose signal.

  • Structure and search 4

    4/5 means: Nested structure plus built-in full-text search that works for a team-sized wiki.

    Shelves, books, chapters and pages with searchable content; the four-level depth is rigid but easy to learn.

  • Access control and sign-in (free edition) 5

    5/5 means: Roles with page-level overrides, OIDC, SAML, LDAP and two-factor login, all in the free edition.

    Roles with overrides on any shelf, book, chapter or page, plus OIDC, SAML2, LDAP, social login and enforceable two-factor login, none of it paid.

  • Setup and upkeep · counts double 4

    4/5 means: The app plus one ordinary database; updates are documented and routine.

    PHP 8.2+ and MySQL or MariaDB; Docker is via community images; updates come from a release branch.

  • License and lock-in 5

    5/5 means: A fully open-source license (MIT, GPL, AGPL or LGPL) for everything in the free edition.

    MIT, with no paid edition.

  • Import, export and API 4

    4/5 means: Documented export and an API in the free edition, or plain-text storage; an importer from at least one other tool.

    REST API with per-user tokens; export and import of common formats from general knowledge, but no built-in Confluence import.

  • Extensions and customization 2

    2/5 means: A deliberately narrow product with an API but few extensions.

    Deliberately narrow and opinionated: an API and theming but no extension platform.

Pricing

  • Self-hosted (free, MIT) Free No paid edition or paid tier of the software appears on the official site; you pay for your own server. Third-party managed hosts exist but are not the assessed form.

From the vendor’s pricing page, checked Nov 14, 2026. That page is authoritative.

Evidence and sources

Self-hosted team wikis scores

Simultaneous editing 1 quote
  • “Neither one supports real-time collaborative editing, which is a needed feature when more than one person writes at the same time.”
    Paula Nwadiaro, author at Docmost, a competing open-source wiki vendor · docmost.com/blog/wiki-js-vs-bookstack · published · checked
Structure and search 1 quote
  • “Most times, this structure won't work if your documentation is deeper than four levels. Shelf holds book, book holds chapter, chapter holds page, and nothing goes below a page. If your content needs a fifth level, BookStack has nowhere to put it.”
    Paula Nwadiaro, author at Docmost, a competing open-source wiki vendor · docmost.com/blog/wiki-js-vs-bookstack · published · checked
Access control and sign-in (free edition) 1 quote
  • “As well as the default email/password login, BookStack supports OIDC, SAML2 and LDAP for self-hosted & enterprise environments, in addition to a range of social-based secondary authentication options.”
    bookstackapp.com · checked
Setup and upkeep 3 quotes
License and lock-in 1 quote
  • “BookStack is fully free and open, MIT licensed. The source is available on Codeberg. There is no cost to downloading and installing your own instance of BookStack.”
    bookstackapp.com · checked

Facts

License 1 quote
  • “BookStack is fully free and open, MIT licensed. The source is available on Codeberg. There is no cost to downloading and installing your own instance of BookStack.”
    bookstackapp.com · checked
Needs 2 quotes

More from the sources

Limits and known issues 1 quote
  • “High availability is not something we assure to support. There may be scenarios that will not allow availability. For example: The BookStack upgrade process does not assure availability when ran.”
    bookstackapp.com/docs/admin/installation · checked

Pricing

bookstackapp.com · checked