head to head · open source
Outline vs BookStack
Outline has 40,599 GitHub stars, 3,562 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped today. BookStack has 19,049 stars, 2,422 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped today. Outline leads on adoption by 113% (40,599 vs 19,049 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 | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| 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
Outline is an open source knowledge base application built with React and Node.js, designed for teams needing a fast, collaborative documentation platform. It runs as a self hosted service or via a hosted option at getoutline.com, and its source code powers the public instance along with all supporting services. The project lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem and uses MobX for state management.
read the full Outline overview →
About BookStack
BookStack is a self hosted documentation platform written in PHP on top of the Laravel framework, released under the MIT license. It is described by its maintainers as an opinionated platform for storing and organising information and documentation, and it is distributed as an open source project whose development is now managed on Codeberg. The project has existed for roughly eleven years and carries a substantial community footprint, with more than nineteen thousand stars and over two thousand forks recorded against its repository history.
read the full BookStack overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Outline or BookStack more popular?
Outline has 40,599 GitHub stars and BookStack has 19,049. 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 (40,599 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose BookStack if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.