bookstackapp/bookstack

Analysis updated 2026-06-21

★ 18,752PHPAudience · generalComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((bookstack))
    What it does
      Team wiki
      Books-chapters-pages
      Self-hosted docs
    Tech Stack
      PHP
      MySQL
      JavaScript
    Use Cases
      Internal procedures
      Team knowledge base
      Project documentation
    Features
      Multilingual support
      SSO integration
      Easy editing

mindmap root((bookstack)) What it does Team wiki Books-chapters-pages Self-hosted docs Tech Stack PHP MySQL JavaScript Use Cases Internal procedures Team knowledge base Project documentation Features Multilingual support SSO integration Easy editing

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Set up a private internal wiki for your team to store procedures, runbooks, and guides on a server you control.

USE CASE 2

Organize project documentation in a clear books-chapters-pages hierarchy without any technical writing tools.

USE CASE 3

Replace a hosted wiki subscription with a self-hosted alternative to keep sensitive documentation private.

What is it built with?

PHPMySQLJavaScript

How does it compare?

	bookstackapp/bookstack	easychen/howto-make-more-money	fruitcake/laravel-debugbar
Stars	18,752	18,533	19,210
Language	PHP	PHP	PHP
Setup difficulty	moderate	easy	easy
Complexity	3/5	1/5	2/5
Audience	general	pm founder	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 1h+

Requires a web server (Nginx or Apache), PHP, and a MySQL or MariaDB database.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial, with no restrictions beyond keeping the copyright notice. MIT license.

In plain English

BookStack is an open-source platform for storing and organizing information and documentation, built for teams and individuals who want an easy-to-use wiki-style system. The project is written in PHP and hosted on Codeberg (the GitHub mirror is now archived). It uses a hierarchical structure, books contain chapters, which contain pages, giving teams a clear place to store procedures, guides, and reference material without needing technical skills to write content. The design philosophy is deliberately opinionated: new users should find it intuitive, with only basic word-processing skills required to start creating content. More advanced power features exist for those who want them, but they don't disrupt the simple core experience. BookStack is self-hosted, meaning you run it on your own server, which keeps your documentation private and under your control. Setting up BookStack requires a web server environment. The project has a strong translation community managed through Crowdin, with support for many languages. Development is steady and incremental, prioritizing a stable upgrade path over rapid change. The project is MIT-licensed and supported through donations, with several corporate sponsors helping fund ongoing development.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I want to self-host BookStack on a Linux server. Walk me through installing it with Nginx, MySQL, and PHP from scratch.

Prompt 2

How do I import existing Markdown or HTML content into BookStack pages without retyping everything manually?

Prompt 3

I'm setting up BookStack for a multilingual team. How do I change the interface language and what languages does it support?

Prompt 4

How do I configure BookStack to use LDAP or SAML so my team can log in with their existing company accounts?

Prompt 5

How do I back up a BookStack installation, what files and database tables do I need to preserve?

Frequently asked questions

What is bookstack?

BookStack is a self-hosted, open-source wiki platform for teams to write and organize documentation in a simple books-chapters-pages structure, designed so anyone can start contributing content without technical skills.

What language is bookstack written in?

Mainly PHP. The stack also includes PHP, MySQL, JavaScript.

What license does bookstack use?

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial, with no restrictions beyond keeping the copyright notice. MIT license.

How hard is bookstack to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is bookstack for?

Mainly general.

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