BookStack vs Hudu
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
BookStack
Free self-hosted wiki organized into books, chapters and pages
Hudu
IT documentation platform with a password vault and asset tracking
Where they differ
- BookStack starts at £450 per year for an optional support plan; the software itself is free. Hudu starts at $27 per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly).
- BookStack has a free plan. Hudu does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Hudu lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only Hudu lists a browser extension.
- BookStack is open source, according to its own site.
- BookStack also covers Markdown and diagrams.
- Hudu also covers AI search and password manager.
At a glance
| BookStack | Hudu | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | £450 per year for an optional support plan; the software itself is free | $27 per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | The whole application is free and MIT licensed, with no cost to download and install your own instance. Community support carries no assurance of a response. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Dan Brown | Hudu Technologies, Inc. |
| Price read from | bookstackapp.com | hudu.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
BookStack
- Teams that want a free wiki running on their own server
- Mixed technical and non-technical staff writing documentation
- Organizations that need LDAP, SAML2 or OIDC sign-in at no cost
Hudu
- Managed service providers documenting many client environments
- Internal IT teams keeping credentials, assets and how-tos in one system
- Organizations that need to host their IT documentation on their own servers
Worth knowing
BookStack
- There is no official hosted version: you install and maintain it yourself, which takes some knowledge of hosting a PHP application and database.
- It needs PHP 8.2 or later with MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.6 or later, and shared PHP hosting is not supported.
- Paid support is priced in pounds, at £450 or £4,500 a year before VAT; free community support has no assured response.
Hudu
- There is no free plan: after the 14-day trial each user who can log in costs $27 a month billed annually, or $30 monthly.
- It is built for IT documentation, so the feature set centers on assets, credentials, networks and client companies.
- Automatic network discovery is the separate Hudu Radar add-on, from $44 a month billed annually for 5 collectors.
- The mobile app does not cover every web feature; Hudu's release notes say the rest are still being added.
Key features
BookStack
- Books, chapters and pages
- All content sits in a three-level structure of books, chapters and pages, and pages can be re-sorted across books.
- WYSIWYG and Markdown editors
- Pages are written in a simple WYSIWYG editor by default. An optional Markdown editor shows a live preview as you write.
- Search and paragraph links
- Search works within a single book or across every book, chapter and page, and any paragraph can be linked to directly.
- Built-in diagrams
- The page editor has diagrams.net drawing built in, so diagrams can be created without leaving the documentation.
- Roles, permissions and sign-in
- A role and permission system locks down content and actions. Sign-in supports OIDC, SAML2 and LDAP besides email and password, and multi-factor authentication can be enforced per role.
- Revisions and API
- Page revisions and image management are built in, and each instance documents an API covering pages, chapters, books, shelves and attachments.
Hudu
- Structured documentation
- Knowledge base articles, checklists and SOPs follow consistent layouts and templates, with version histories, flags and reviews, and links between related records.
- Password vault
- Company and personal credential vaults store passwords and one-time passcodes, with role-based access, group permissions and a full audit history.
- Assets, IP addresses and racks
- Devices, vendors and systems are tracked through structured forms, alongside IP address management, rack layouts and a photo gallery.
- Expirations and monitoring
- Domains, SSL certificates, warranties and contract renewals are tracked with alerts before they lapse, and the plan includes website and SSL monitoring.
- Client portal
- Clients get limited access to their own documentation through a portal. Read-only portal users are unlimited and do not count toward the license total.
- Hudu AI and MCP server
- Plain-English questions are answered from assets, articles and client data with source links, and an MCP server connects Hudu to Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot. Included in the plan.
Plans
BookStack
BookStack (self-hosted)Free
The full application on your own server, with community support through the project's discussions, Codeberg and Reddit.
Professional Support Plan£450
per year, VAT not included
Email and help-desk support covering installation and updating issues, with high-priority handling of bug and issue reports.
Enterprise Support Plan£4,500
per year, VAT not included
Everything in Professional, plus highest-priority handling, help with API integrations and up to 10 hours of video support a year.
Hudu
Hudu$27
per user / month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)
One plan, cloud-hosted or self-hosted: documentation, password vault, assets, IPAM, client portal with unlimited free portal users, AI assistant, API and SSO.
Hudu Radar Starter$44
per month, billed annually at $529 ($49 billed monthly)
Optional network discovery add-on with 5 collectors. One collector is one Radar install in a client environment.
Hudu Radar Growth$89
per month, billed annually at $1,068 ($99 billed monthly)
The Radar network discovery add-on with 25 collectors.
Hudu Radar Scale$269
per month, billed annually at $3,229 ($299 billed monthly)
The Radar network discovery add-on with 150 collectors.
Hudu Radar Enterprise$449
per month, billed annually at $5,389 ($499 billed monthly)
The Radar network discovery add-on with 500 collectors. Larger deployments are quoted on request.
Ways to pay less
BookStack
No public discounts listed.
Hudu
- Annual discount
Save 10% with annual billing
The pricing page marks annual billing as saving 10%: $27 per user a month instead of $30 billed monthly, with no minimums or contracts.
