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BookStack

BookStack is a free and open source wiki for creating structured, team-friendly documentation.

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BookStack is a free and open source wiki for creating structured, team-friendly documentation. It features a WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editor with a Markdown alternative, runs on MySQL, and supports role-based access control, making it a low-maintenance self-hosted knowledge base for teams and homelab users.

Platform availability

Available on 6 of 9 platforms

Health score?A 0-100 score computed nightly from four factors: maintained (40%: recent commits and steady activity), popular (25%: GitHub stars, log scale), easy to install (20%: platforms, install notes, setup guides, Docker image) and light to run (15%: minimum RAM, ARM support). When the source code has been checked, a fifth factor, security check (20%: automated scan for committed secrets, unsafe desktop-app settings, known-vulnerable dependencies and project hygiene; any serious finding caps it at 20), is added. Factors without data are left out and the rest are rescaled.

86/100 Excellent

Maintained
100last commit 9 days ago
Popular
601,008 GitHub stars
Easy to install
856 install platforms, install notes, Docker image
Light to run
95512 MB minimum RAM, runs on ARM

Availability: platform listings confirmed today, links checked 16 days ago

GitHub stars
1,008
Open issues
1
Last commit
2026-10-05
Latest release
v26.09.1-ls287
License
GPL-3.0
Activity
rising

Checked 9 days ago - source: GitHub (linuxserver/docker-bookstack)

Resources & Compatibility

Minimum requirements: 512 MB RAM, 1 CPU core(s), 1 GB disk. ARM (e.g. Raspberry Pi) is supported.

Checked 16 days ago - source: Docker Hub image tags and published docs

First-install notes

  • Pick the right Ubuntu install script Download the BookStack script for your exact Ubuntu version, make it executable, and run it with sudo (admin permissions) after reading its notes. It automates a fresh install, so using the wrong version or skipping the setup steps can leave the app broken. source
  • Create the app key and database tables For a manual install, run php artisan key:generate and php artisan migrate in the BookStack folder. The key protects sensitive data, and the migration step creates the database structure BookStack needs to start. source
  • Make a backup before changing things Use the BookStack system CLI backup command to save a ZIP of your database, settings file, and optional uploads or themes. Keeping this file means you can restore your notes, logins, and configuration if an update or permission change goes wrong. source

Fetched 16 days ago - each note links to its source

Alternatives (12)

  • An-Otter-Wiki
  • Confluence - Confluence is Atlassian's self-hosted team wiki for creating, organizing, searching, and sharing project documentation with permissions, ve…
  • Docmost - Open-source collaborative wiki and documentation software Create, collaborate, and share knowledge seamlessly with Docmost.
  • DokuWiki - DokuWiki is a self-hosted, database-free open-source wiki that stores pages as plain text files.
  • Foam - Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system inspired by Roam Research, built on Visual Studio Code and GitHub.
  • GitBook - GitBook is a tool for building beautiful books using Git and Markdown.
  • Gollum - Gollum is a simple Git-backed wiki for self-hosting lightweight documentation pages in a versioned repository, letting users edit markup fi…
  • HelixNotes - HelixNotes is a local markdown note-taking app built with Rust, Tauri 2.0, and SvelteKit.
  • MediaWiki - MediaWiki is a free and open-source wiki engine that powers Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects, bundled here with the VisualEditor…
  • Notesnook - Fully open-source, end-to-end encrypted notes with device-based security, secure sync, offline access, powerful editor, vault, backups, and…
  • Proton Docs
  • TiddlyWiki - TiddlyWiki is a single html file with all the characteristics of a wiki - including all of the functionality (including editing, saving, ta…

Checked 14 days ago - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

What CLI steps are required for a manual BookStack installation?

Run php artisan key:generate and php artisan migrate in the BookStack folder. The key protects sensitive data, and migration creates the database structure BookStack needs to start.

How can I create a restorable BookStack backup before changing settings or updating?

Use the BookStack system CLI backup command to save a ZIP of your database, settings file, and optional uploads or themes. Keeping this file lets you restore notes, logins, and configuration if something goes wrong.

How do I pull the LinuxServer.io BookStack container?

Pull the LinuxServer.io BookStack latest image. Docker uses a manifest for multi-platform awareness to retrieve the appropriate architecture.

What content hierarchy does BookStack use for organizing documentation?

BookStack uses shelves, books, chapters, and pages. This structure can map an organization, project, and step hierarchy.

Answers sourced from github.com, www.bookstackapp.com, www.bookstackapp.com, www.redditmedia.com

Community

Collected 16 days ago - public community threads