Quick Verdict
BookStack is the better choice for team documentation and wikis today — it's mature, lightweight, and reliable. AppFlowy is better if you specifically need Notion-style databases (kanban boards, calendar views, table views) and are willing to accept the complexity of its multi-service self-hosted stack. BookStack is proven; AppFlowy is promising.
Overview
BookStack is a team documentation platform using a library metaphor (shelves/books/chapters/pages). It's been stable and actively maintained since 2015. PHP/Laravel with MariaDB.
AppFlowy is an open-source Notion alternative with documents, databases, kanban boards, and calendar views. Its self-hosted version (AppFlowy Cloud) requires a complex multi-service stack: API server, GoTrue (auth), PostgreSQL, Redis, and MinIO (S3). It's under active development and growing rapidly.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | BookStack | AppFlowy |
|---|---|---|
| Documents | Structured (book/chapter/page) | Flexible (nested pages) |
| Databases | No | Yes (tables, kanban, calendar) |
| Editor | WYSIWYG + Markdown | Block-based, slash commands |
| Multi-user | Yes (RBAC) | Yes (workspace-based) |
| SSO | LDAP + SAML + OIDC | OIDC via GoTrue |
| Desktop app | No (web-only) | Yes (Rust/Flutter) |
| Mobile app | No | Yes (Flutter) |
| Docker services | 2 | 5+ (API, auth, DB, Redis, MinIO) |
| RAM usage | ~400 MB | 2–4 GB |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Maturity | v25.x (10+ years) | v0.9.x (pre-1.0) |
Installation Complexity
BookStack deploys with two containers. Simple environment variables, well-documented. Running in 10 minutes.
AppFlowy Cloud is one of the most complex self-hosted apps to deploy. Five or more services, extensive environment configuration, OIDC setup. The official approach is cloning the repository and running docker compose with a configured .env. Expect 30–60 minutes minimum for a working deployment.
This is not a close comparison. BookStack is dramatically simpler.
Performance and Resource Usage
BookStack runs on approximately 400 MB total. It's one of the lighter wiki platforms.
AppFlowy Cloud requires 2–4 GB of RAM for the full service stack. This is substantial — it's one of the heavier self-hosted applications. Not suitable for low-resource servers.
Use Cases
Choose BookStack If...
- You need a reliable team wiki
- You want simple deployment and maintenance
- SSO with LDAP or SAML is required
- You value stability over cutting-edge features
- Resources are constrained
Choose AppFlowy If...
- You need Notion-style databases (kanban, calendar, tables)
- Desktop and mobile apps are important
- You have 4+ GB RAM to spare
- You want a Notion replacement, not just a wiki
- You're comfortable with pre-1.0 software
Final Verdict
BookStack is the pragmatic choice for documentation. It does one thing — team wikis — and does it exceptionally well. Its 10-year track record speaks for itself.
AppFlowy is the ambitious choice for teams who want the full Notion experience self-hosted. If databases, kanban boards, and calendar views are essential, no other self-hosted option matches AppFlowy. But the deployment complexity and resource requirements are significant.
For pure documentation, BookStack wins. For "Notion but self-hosted," AppFlowy is the closest option.
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