BookStack vs Rowboat

Comparing two open source alternatives to Notion . Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.

BookStack

MIT

Open source wiki and documentation platform with a books/shelves/pages model — a simple, self-hostable alternative to Confluence and Notion.

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Rowboat

Apache-2.0

Open-source desktop AI coworker with a living knowledge graph, built-in email, browser, meeting notes, and code mode.

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Side-by-side comparison

	BookStack	Rowboat
License	MIT	Apache-2.0
Self-hostable	Yes	Yes
GitHub Stars	239	17,338
Forks	30	1,720
Open Issues	696	159
Last Commit	Aug 21, 2026	Aug 20, 2026
First Released	Apr 27, 2026	Jan 13, 2025
Categories	Wiki Software	Note Taking & Knowledge Management Tools Automation Tools AI Coding Agents
Tags	#documentation #self hosted #laravel #php #markdown	#ai #ai agent #desktop-app

GitHub stars over time

BookStack239

Rowboat

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