head to head · open source
Outline vs BookStack
Outline has 41,145 GitHub stars, 3,650 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. BookStack has 19,122 stars, 2,433 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Outline leads on adoption by 115% (41,145 vs 19,122 stars). Outline is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; BookStack is written in PHP under MIT. Outline has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, BookStack 13%. BookStack was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (wiki), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | BookStack | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 19K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.6K | ⑂ 2.4K |
| 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 BookStack if
- You want the BookStack feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and BookStack 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 BookStack
BookStack A platform for storing and organising information and documentation. Details for BookStack can be found on the official website at Installation Instructions Documentation Demo Instance Screenshots BookStack Blog Issue List Community Discussions Support Options 📚 Project Definition BookStack is an opinionated documentation platform that provides a pleasant and simple out of the box experience. New users to an instance should find the experience intuitive and only basic word processing skills should be required to get involved in creating content on BookStack. The platform should provide advanced power…
read the full BookStack overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Outline or BookStack more popular?
Outline has 41,145 GitHub stars and BookStack has 19,122. Outline has the larger community by that measure.
Are Outline and BookStack free?
Both are open source. Outline has no licence declared in this registry, and BookStack is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Outline and BookStack?
Outline is written in TypeScript and BookStack in PHP. 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 BookStack?
Choose Outline if you want the larger community (41,145 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose BookStack if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.