BookStack

BookStack is a free, open-source, self-hosted platform for organizing and storing information as a simple, intuitive wiki and knowledge base.

🚀 Overview

BookStack is a simple, self-hosted wiki and documentation platform designed to make organizing information effortless. It structures content into books, chapters, and pages with a clean, WYSIWYG editor that feels like basic word processing, solving the problem of complex wiki tools that overwhelm users with unnecessary features.

It's built for individuals, teams, and organizations who need a private, customizable knowledge base without recurring SaaS costs or vendor lock-in. From developers documenting code to companies managing internal manuals, anyone seeking straightforward information management will find it ideal.

Created by Dan Brown with simplicity as the top priority, BookStack evolved from a personal need for a stable, easy-to-use documentation tool. It offers core intuitive features out-of-the-box while keeping advanced options non-intrusive, fostering a relaxed development philosophy.

✨ Key Features

Hierarchical Organization: Content structured into Books > Chapters > Pages for intuitive navigation and management (essential for scaling documentation without chaos).
Powerful Search & Linking: Full-text search across all content with direct links to paragraphs, enabling quick access and connectivity.
Rich Editing Tools: WYSIWYG editor with diagrams.net integration, optional Markdown, image management, and page revisions for professional docs.
Security & Permissions: Role-based access, MFA (TOTP), integrations like LDAP, SAML2, OIDC for enterprise-grade control.
Optional: Upcoming WYSIWYG editor improvements (alpha in recent releases), enhanced search negation.

🛠 Tech Stack

Frontend: Blade templates, JavaScript/TypeScript (TinyMCE, Lexical, CodeMirror), SCSS
Backend: PHP, Laravel framework
Database: MySQL
Auth: Built-in (OIDC, SAML2, LDAP, social logins, MFA)
Hosting: Self-hosted (Docker, VPS like IONOS, any Linux server)

👥 Who Is This For?

This project is useful for:

Developers who want to ___document projects, APIs, and codebases privately
Teams looking for ___simple internal knowledge sharing without SaaS fees
Indie makers building ___personal wikis or company intranets

📸 Screenshots / Demo

Live demo: https://demo.bookstackapp.com (admin@example.com / password)
GitHub: https://github.com/BookStackApp/BookStack

🔥 Project Status

🟢 Actively building

Last updated: 2026-03-24

❓ FAQ

Is this project free?

Yes / Open Source (Fully free, MIT licensed self-hosted software with no costs for download or use.)

Is the source code available?

Yes — https://github.com/BookStackApp/BookStack

Can I contribute?

Contributions welcome via GitHub issues (use templates) and pull requests to the development branch. Help with translations via Crowdin, testing, or documentation. See CONTRIBUTING.md and code of conduct for details.