BookStack vs XWiki

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

XWiki

• Organizations that want an open-source alternative to Confluence
• Teams that need structured data and small apps inside a wiki
• Companies that have to host their wiki on their own servers

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.

XWiki

• Paid plans are priced in euros by a calculator that scales with team size; Starter stops at 25 users and runs on XWiki Cloud only.
• The free Community version comes without vendor support, and the XWiki Pro applications start on the Basic plan.
• OIDC, Entra ID, CAS and SAML sign-in need the Business plan, and SCIM needs Enterprise.
• Support hours on every paid plan are 09:00 to 17:00 CET.

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.

XWiki

WYSIWYG editing with history

Pages are edited in a WYSIWYG editor with link and macro editors and in-place editing. A full history of changes is kept, alongside comments, annotations and user mentions.

Structured data and apps

AppWithinMinutes builds custom data structures by drag and drop. Entries are edited through forms and browsed in filterable tables that XWiki calls livetables.

Permissions and sign-in

User and group management and an advanced permission system are built in. Paid plans add LDAP and Active Directory, then OIDC, Entra ID, CAS and SAML, and SCIM on Enterprise.

Extensions

More than 700 extensions are available: about 600 from the community plus 60 recommended and Pro extensions such as diagrams, task management and calendars.

Office and PDF handling

Office documents can be imported or previewed, images and other attachments previewed in the page, and pages viewed and exported as PDF.

Cloud or on-premises

From the Basic plan up, the same subscription price covers XWiki Cloud or your own servers; Starter is cloud only. One instance can hold several sub-wikis.

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.

XWiki

• CommunityFree

  The open-source software and community extensions, set up and run on your own servers without vendor support.

• Starter309 €

  per year for 10 users, the smallest team size

  XWiki Cloud only, for up to 25 users and ordered online: early security patches, the antivirus application, one sub-wiki and portal support.

• Basic5,796.84 €

  per year for 100 users (4.83 € per user / month)

  Cloud or on-premises for up to 1,000 users: XWiki Pro applications, LDAP and Active Directory sign-in, a custom domain on XWiki Cloud and 25 sub-wikis.

• Business11,216.70 €

  per year for 250 users (3.74 € per user / month)

  Up to 10,000 users: adds OIDC, Entra ID, CAS and SAML sign-in, IP allowlisting, the Confluence migration toolkit and faster support response times.

• Enterprise33,990 €

  per year for 500 users (5.67 € per user / month)

  Unlimited users: adds SCIM, Kubernetes, Windows and clustered installations, a dedicated account manager, AI integration in beta and 100 sub-wikis.

BookStack

No public discounts listed.

XWiki

• Other savings

  20% off with a 3-year subscription

  The pricing calculator offers a 3-year subscription period that saves 20% compared with the yearly price.

• Other savings

  5% off for ordering online

  The Basic, Business and Enterprise plans list a 5% reduction when the subscription is ordered online rather than manually.

• Nonprofit

  50% off for NGOs

  The special discounts on the pricing page give NGOs a 50% discount on support, hosting and apps.

• Education

  50% off for academic institutions

  Academic institutions are listed for a 50% discount on support and hosting.

• Other savings

  Free cloud hosting for open source projects

  Open source software projects get free cloud hosting at the Starter level and Pro Apps licenses, plus a 50% discount on support.