Best Self-Hosted Wiki Software

Self-hosted wikis replace Confluence and Notion with a knowledge base that lives on your own server. The six picks here come in three shapes: Docmost and Outline are modern, real-time collaborative editors in the Notion mould; BookStack and Wiki.js are structured documentation wikis with a lighter footprint; DokuWiki and MediaWiki are classic wiki engines — one flat-file and tiny, one built for public encyclopedias. Decide which shape you actually want first, then compare footprint and what each free edition holds back.

Wiki & docs

BookStack

A simple, genuinely open-source documentation wiki organized into shelves, books, and pages — easy to run and easy for non-technical teams to use.

PHPLaravel

easyRead guide →

Wiki & docs

Docmost

A collaborative wiki and documentation tool that positions itself as an open-source alternative to Confluence and Notion: real-time co-editing, spaces, groups and permissions, comments, page history, search, attachments, and built-in Draw.io, Excalidraw, and Mermaid diagrams. The core is AGPL-3.0 and runs as one Node.js container beside PostgreSQL and Redis; Bases (databases), SSO, AI features, audit logs, and SCIM are licensed Business/Enterprise features.

TypeScriptNode.jsPostgreSQLRedis

easyRead guide →

Wiki & docs

DokuWiki

A long-lived PHP wiki engine that stores pages as plain text files — no database to run, back up, or migrate. The project's own Docker image (a PHP + Apache container with a single storage volume) is the whole install; a web installer configures the wiki on the first visit, and the plugin and template ecosystem is where most of its features live.

PHPApache

easyRead guide →

Wiki & docs

MediaWiki

The PHP wiki engine behind Wikipedia, licensed GPL-2.0-or-later and built for large public knowledge bases: wikitext markup, categories, templates, full revision history, and a vast extension ecosystem. It runs on MariaDB/MySQL (recommended), PostgreSQL, or SQLite, and its own documentation recommends no Docker image for third-party production use — the Docker Hub image is community-maintained and the install still ends with you saving a generated LocalSettings.php.

PHPMariaDB

moderateRead guide →

Wiki & docs

Outline

A polished, real-time collaborative team knowledge base with a great editor and search. Heavier to run, but the closest self-hosted feel to Notion.

TypeScriptNode.js

moderateRead guide →

Wiki & docs

Wiki.js

A Node.js wiki with a modern admin area, Markdown and visual (WYSIWYG) editors, and a wide set of pluggable modules — local, social, and enterprise auth (LDAP, SAML, OIDC, CAS) with optional 2FA are all part of the free AGPL-3.0 build. It brings its own web server but no database: PostgreSQL is the recommended engine, and the other supported engines are slated to be dropped in the next major version.

Node.jsVuePostgreSQL

easyRead guide →

Head-to-heads in this category

Wiki & docsSep 2026

BookStack

vs

Outline

Simple and truly open vs. slick and real-time.

Read the verdict →

Wiki & docsSep 2026

Docmost

vs

BookStack

A real-time Notion-style wiki with a paid ring vs. the simplest fully free docs wiki.

Read the verdict →

Wiki & docsSep 2026

Docmost

vs

Outline

Two Notion-style real-time wikis on the same stack — an AGPL core with a paid ring vs. a source-available whole.

Read the verdict →

Wiki & docsSep 2026

DokuWiki

vs

MediaWiki

The flat-file team wiki with page ACLs vs. the engine behind Wikipedia.

Read the verdict →

Wiki & docsSep 2026

Wiki.js

vs

BookStack

A Markdown-first Node.js wiki with an official image and a big module set vs. the simplest shelves-and-books docs wiki.

Read the verdict →