head to head · open source
Outline vs Docmost
Outline has 41,145 GitHub stars, 3,650 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Docmost has 22,202 stars, 1,661 forks, 326 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Outline leads on adoption by 85% (41,145 vs 22,202 stars). Outline is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Docmost is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Outline has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Docmost 7%. Outline was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Outline | Docmost | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 22K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Outline if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Docmost if
- You want the Docmost feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Docmost fits your workflow better
About Outline
A fast, collaborative, knowledge base for your team built using React and Node.js. Try out Outline using our hosted version at www.getoutline.com . This is the source code that runs Outline and all the associated services. If you want to use Outline then you don't need to run this code, A hosted version of the app is offered at getoutline.com. You can also find documentation on using Outline in our guide. If you'd like to run your own copy of Outline or contribute to development then this is the place for you. Installation Please see the documentation for running your own copy of Outline in a production…
read the full Outline overview →
About Docmost
Docmost Open source collaborative wiki and documentation software. Website Documentation Twitter / X Getting started To get started with Docmost, please refer to our documentation or try our cloud version . Features Real time collaboration Diagrams (Draw.io, Excalidraw and Mermaid) Spaces Permissions management Groups Comments Page history Search File attachments Embeds (Airtable, Loom, Miro and more) Translations (10+ languages) Screenshots License Docmost core is licensed under the open source AGPL 3.0 license. Enterprise features are available under an enterprise license (Enterprise Edition). All files in the…
read the full Docmost overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Outline or Docmost more popular?
Outline has 41,145 GitHub stars and Docmost has 22,202. Outline has the larger community by that measure.
Are Outline and Docmost free?
Both are open source. Outline has no licence declared in this registry, and Docmost is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Outline and Docmost?
Outline is written in TypeScript and Docmost in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Outline or Docmost?
Choose Outline if you want the larger community (41,145 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Docmost if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.