BookStack Alternatives

BookStack is described as 'Free and open source knowledge management platform built on PHP. The system has been built around simplicity to ensure that adding information to it is not a chore. The content structure is built on the metaphors of Books, Chapters & Pages' and is a very popular Wiki Engine in the development category. There are more than 100 alternatives to BookStack for a variety of platforms, including Web-based, Self-Hosted, Windows, Linux and Mac apps. The best BookStack alternative is Notesnook, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like BookStack are TiddlyWiki, Docmost, Ibis Wiki and DokuWiki.

filter to find the best alternatives

BookStack alternatives are mainly Note-taking Tools, but if you're looking for Team Collaboration Tools or Todo List Managers you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Self-Hosted + Open Source. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to BookStack.
BookStack iconBookStack
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BookStack is a free and open source knowledge management platform built on PHP. The system has been built around simplicity to ensure that adding information to it is not a chore. The content structure is built on the...

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BookStack alternatives page was last updated Jun 3, 2025
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  1. Notesnook icon
     144 likes
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    Notesnook is a simple and cross-platform private notes app that keeps your notes organized and synced on your phone, tablet and computer. Take notes, capture ideas, create to-do lists, keep a journal, write your assignments and manage projects, we have got you covered.

    257 Notesnook alternatives

    License model

    • FreemiumOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • PK flagPakistan

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Google Chrome
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    • Flatpak

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Distraction-free

    Features

    1.  Encrypted Notes
    2.  Private notes
    3.  Works Offline
    4.  Note organization
    5.  End-to-End Encryption
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Support for MarkDown
    9.  No Tracking
    10.  Cloud Sync
    11.  Web Clipper
    12.  Reminders

    Notesnook VS BookStack

     
    Comments about Notesnook as an Alternative to BookStack
    neotrino
    Negative Jan 13, 2024
    1

    Note taking app, not a wiki

    BookStack Icon
    Notesnook icon
    • Notesnook is the most popular Web-based, Windows, Android & Mac alternative to BookStack.

    • Notesnook is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to BookStack.

    • Notesnook is Freemium and Open SourceBookStack is Free and Open Source
    • Notesnook is Privacy focusedBookStack is not according to our users
  2. TiddlyWiki icon
     297 likes
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    TiddlyWiki is a single html file with all the characteristics of a wiki - including all of the functionality (including editing, saving, tagging and searching) and the style sheet. Because its a single file, its very portable - you can email it, put it on a web server or share...

    162 TiddlyWiki alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • BSD
    • Self-Hosted
    • Xfce
    • RemoteStorage

    Properties

    1.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Standalone
    2.  Cross page linking
    3.  Support for MarkDown
    4.  Wiki
    5.  Portable
    6.  Wiki-like interface
    7.  Personal Information Manager (PIM)
    8.  No registration required
    9.  Ad-free
    10.  Dark Mode
    11.  No Coding Required
    12.  WYSIWYG Support

    TiddlyWiki VS BookStack

     
    • TiddlyWiki is the most popular Self-Hosted alternative to BookStack.

    • TiddlyWiki is Free and Open SourceBookStack is also Free and Open Source
    • TiddlyWiki is CustomizableBookStack is not according to our users
  3. Docmost icon
     34 likes
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    Docmost is an open-source collaborative wiki and documentation software. It is an open-source alternative to Confluence and Notion.

    68 Docmost alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Full-Text Search
    2.  No Tracking
    3.  Real time collaboration
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  File Versioning
    6.  Support for MarkDown
    7.  Knowledge base
    8.  Nested Notes
    9.  Activity history
    10.  Wiki
    11.  Attachments
    12.  Knowledge Management

    Docmost VS BookStack

     
  4. Ibis Wiki icon
     13 likes
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    Ibis is a federated encyclopedia which uses the ActivityPub protocol, just like Mastodon or Lemmy. Users can create, browse, edit articles and use many other features. If you want to start a wiki for a TV series, a video game, or an open source project, then Ibis is for you!

    30 Ibis Wiki alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Docker
    • Self-Hosted
    • PostgreSQL

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  No Tracking
    2.  Support for MarkDown
    3.  Ad-free
    4. LaTeX icon  Support for LaTeX
    5.  Dark Mode
    6. ActivityPub icon  Support for ActivityPub
    7.  Built-in Commenting System
    8.  Comment section
    9.  Wiki
    10.  Fediverse
    11.  Federated
    12.  Rust

    Ibis Wiki VS BookStack

     
  5. DokuWiki icon
     188 likes
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    DokuWiki is a standards compliant, simple to use Wiki, mainly aimed at creating documentation of any kind. It is targeted at developer teams, workgroups and small companies. It has a simple but powerful syntax which makes sure the datafiles remain readable outside the Wiki and...

    91 DokuWiki alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron

    DokuWiki Features

    1.  Plain text file
    2.  Wiki
    3.  No database needed
    4.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    5.  Multiple languages
    6.  Access Control
    7.  Support for Multiple Users
    8.  Drag and Drop

    DokuWiki VS BookStack

     
    Comments about DokuWiki as an Alternative to BookStack
    Wolfram Schmidt
    Positive Nov 12, 2017
    0

    DokuWiki is pretty powerful once you get used to using the syntax. Once you use it you can be working very fast on DokuWiki.

    BookStack Icon
    DokuWiki icon
    • Almost everyone thinks DokuWiki is a great BookStack alternative.

    • DokuWiki is Free and Open SourceBookStack is also Free and Open Source
  6. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Docs in Proton Drive are end-to-end encrypted so your work stays safe from data breaches, online surveillance, and can never be fed into AI models.

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Country of Origin

    • CH flagSwitzerland

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  End-to-End Encryption
    2.  No Tracking
    3.  Real time collaboration
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  Cloud Sync
    6.  Online collaboration
    7.  Two-factor Authentication
    8.  Spell Checking
    9.  Support for MarkDown
    10.  Dark Mode
    11.  WYSIWYG Support

    Docs in Proton Drive VS BookStack

     
  7. MediaWiki icon
     176 likes
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    MediaWiki is a free software wiki package written in PHP, originally for use on Wikipedia. It is now used by several other projects of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and by many other wikis.

    88 MediaWiki alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    • Cloudron
    • Sandstorm

    Top MediaWiki Features

    1.  WYSIWYG Support
    2.  File Versioning
    3.  Business-wiki
    4.  Multi-user editing
    5.  Syntax Highlighting
    6.  Semantic Data
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Wiki
    9.  Non profit
    10.  Suggests DSL format
    11.  Web-Based
    12.  Wiki-like interface

    MediaWiki VS BookStack

     
  8. Foam icon
     47 likes
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    Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system inspired by Roam Research, built on Visual Studio Code and GitHub.

    237 Foam alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Visual Studio Code

    Foam Features

    1.  Knowledge base
    2.  VSCode
    3.  Knowledge Management
    4.  Write files in markdown
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  Works Offline
    7.  Support for MarkDown
    8.  Graph view

    Foam VS BookStack

     
  9. UpNote icon
     38 likes
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    UpNote is an elegant and powerful note app that works seamlessly across platforms: iOS, Android, Mac and Windows.

    308 UpNote alternatives

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Country of Origin

    • VN flagVietnam

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Distraction-free

    Features

    1.  Note organization
    2.  Nested Folders
    3.  Support for MarkDown
    4.  Notebook
    5.  Multiplatform
    6.  Cloud Sync
    7.  Works Offline
    8.  No registration required
    9.  Dark Mode
    10.  Ad-free
    11.  No Coding Required
    12.  Markdown preview

    UpNote VS BookStack

     
  10. XWiki icon
     92 likes
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    XWiki is the ultimate open-source structured wiki designed to enhance business collaboration and efficiency. Tailored for tech-savvy professionals, XWiki’s extensibility, customization, and flexibility make it indispensable for managing large projects and datasets, while...

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • FR flagFrance
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Structured data
    2.  Support for scripting
    3.  Real time collaboration
    4.  Hierarchical Structure
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  Support for @mentions
    7.  Support for MarkDown
    8.  Works Offline
    9.  Full-Text Search
    10.  Reminders
    11.  WYSIWYG Support
    12.  No Tracking

    XWiki VS BookStack

     
  11. GitBook icon
     55 likes
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    GitBook is a tool for building beautiful books using Git and Markdown. It can generate your book into multiple formats:

    78 GitBook alternatives

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Country of Origin

    • FR flagFrance
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Online

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Support for MarkDown
    2. Git icon  Git Support
    3.  Ad-free
    4.  Command line interface
    5.  AsciiDoc

    GitBook VS BookStack

     
  12. Wiki.js icon
     48 likes
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    Write your content in the widely used and simple Markdown format, using the built-in visual editor. Unlike other wiki software that save content in a database with a difficult to extract format, Wiki.js saves all your content directly into Markdown (.

    74 Wiki.js alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • CA flagCanada

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron

    Wiki.js Features

    1.  Support for MarkDown
    2.  Built-in authentication
    3.  Wiki
    4.  Built-in search engine
    5.  Knowledge base
    6. Git icon  Git Support
    7.  WYSIWYG Support
    8.  Real time collaboration
    9.  Access Control

    Wiki.js VS BookStack

     
12 of 103 BookStack alternatives