Confluence is the team wiki many companies default to: spaces, pages, permissions, search and tight links into Jira. Open-source wikis cover the documentation side well, and you can run them on your own server without per-user pricing.
All seven tools are under OSI-approved licences (AGPL-3.0, MIT, LGPL-2.1, GPL-2.0), checked in their repositories. Outline, a popular option often described as open source, is listed separately because it uses the Business Source License. Jira-style issue tracking is out of scope here, see our Asana and Trello pages for project tools.
Licences checked against each repository on November 7, 2026.
Describes itself as open-source collaborative wiki and documentation software. Offers live multi-user editing, spaces, user groups with access controls, comments, page history, search and diagrams through draw.io, Excalidraw and Mermaid.
Strengths
+ Live editing and comments
+ Spaces with groups and permissions
+ Docker and Compose files in repo
Trade-offs
− Enterprise code is under a separate Docmost licence
A platform for storing and organising information and documentation, an opinionated platform with a simple out-of-the-box experience. Content is organised in books, with SAML and OAuth2 login suggested by its dependencies.
Strengths
+ Easy to learn
+ Docker Compose file in repo
+ MIT licence
Trade-offs
− Development has moved to Codeberg, the GitHub repo points there
A generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it, with download and installation docs and user, admin and developer guides.
Describes itself as a privacy-focused, local-first, open-source alternative for Notion and Miro. Merges docs and whiteboard on one canvas, with Docker self-hosting for the Community Edition.
Strengths
+ Doc and whiteboard on one canvas
+ Local-first with sync
+ MIT Community Edition
Trade-offs
− Focused on notes and boards more than wikis
− Enterprise edition is listed as not yet published
A simple, Git-powered wiki with a local frontend and support for many kinds of markup. Pages live in a Git repo and run via Ruby gem, Docker or a Java WAR file.
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How to choose
If you need…
Start with
A modern team wiki with spaces and permissions
Docmost
A wiki non-technical editors can use on day one
BookStack
Docs in Git next to your code
Gollum or Wiki.js
An extensible enterprise wiki
XWiki
A tiny wiki with minimal hosting
DokuWiki
Docs mixed with whiteboards
AFFiNE
Often called open source, but aren't
Public source code, but under licences the Open Source Initiative doesn't approve. Fine to use; read the terms first.
Outline(BSL 1.1)
Public source and self-hosting, but the Business Source License is not an OSI-approved licence. Releases convert to Apache-2.0 after a change date.
Open-source Confluence alternatives: FAQ
Quick answers to common questions
What is the best open-source alternative to Confluence?
Docmost is the closest in feel, with spaces, permissions, live editing and page history. BookStack is simpler and very easy for non-technical editors.
Is Outline open source?
No. It uses the Business Source License 1.1, which is not OSI-approved, though each version converts to Apache-2.0 after a change date.
Can I migrate from Confluence?
Plan on exporting pages as HTML or Markdown and importing them manually or with a script. Macros, Jira links and page trees rarely carry over cleanly, and we did not verify importers for these projects.
Do these have Jira integration?
None of the READMEs we checked claim Jira integration. OpenProject lists integrations with Nextcloud, XWiki, GitHub and GitLab, which may suit teams moving off both products.
Which one is easiest to self-host?
Docmost, BookStack, Wiki.js, AFFiNE and Gollum all list Docker options. DokuWiki installs on a PHP web server.
Maintain an open-source Confluence alternative?
List it on TechLogHub and we'll review it for this page.
