Alternatives to Outline

Team knowledge base with a fast editor and deep integrations. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Outline.

  • Notion

    All-in-one workspace combining notes, databases, wikis, and task boards.

    FreemiumProprietaryWindowsmacOSAndroidiOSWeb

    Notion is a hosted freemium workspace with databases, wikis and task boards plus desktop and mobile apps, but it cannot be self-hosted and is not open source.

  • Wiki.js

    Modern self-hosted wiki with Markdown editing and Git synchronisation.

    FreeOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    Wiki.js is a free AGPL-3.0 self-hosted wiki with Markdown editing, optional Git storage and many authentication providers, though version 3 has been in development for years.

  • BookStack

    Self-hosted wiki that organises documentation into shelves, books, chapters and pages.

    FreeOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    BookStack is a free MIT self-hosted wiki using a fixed shelves, books and chapters hierarchy, with LDAP, SAML and OIDC sign-in, running on PHP and MySQL.

  • AFFiNE Community

    Combine notes, tables and a drawing canvas in a local-first workspace.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxSelf-hostedWeb

    AFFiNE Community is an MIT-licensed local-first workspace combining notes, tables and a drawing canvas, with desktop apps and a self-hostable community edition.

  • AppFlowy

    Organize documents and projects in an open-source workspace.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOS

    AppFlowy is an AGPL-3.0 open source workspace for documents and projects with desktop and mobile clients and self-hosting options.

  • Docmost

    An open-source, self-hosted wiki for team documentation with real-time collaborative editing.

    FreemiumOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    Docmost is an open-source self-hosted team wiki with real-time collaborative editing, group permissions and Confluence or Notion migration, while some enterprise features are sold separately.

Also worth comparing

These listings name Outline as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • HackMD

    A web-based Markdown editor for writing and editing notes and documents together in real time.

    FreemiumProprietaryWeb

    Outline is a team knowledge base with a fast collaborative editor and nested collections, source-available under the Business Source License with paid hosting or a self-hosted setup.

  • HedgeDoc

    Collaborative Markdown editor for notes written together in real time.

    FreeOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    Outline provides a fast collaborative editor with nested collections for team knowledge, but it is source-available under BSL and self-hosting needs Postgres, Redis and object storage.

  • Notejoy

    A collaborative notes app for individuals and teams with quick find and full-text search.

    FreemiumProprietaryWindowsmacOSAndroidiOSWeb

    Outline is a team knowledge base with a fast collaborative editor, source-available under the Business Source License, with a paid hosted plan or self-hosting.

  • Nuclino

    A collaborative team workspace for wiki pages, documents and projects in one place.

    FreemiumProprietaryWeb

    Outline is a team knowledge base with nested collections that can be self-hosted with Postgres and Redis, under the source-available Business Source License.

  • Slite

    A hosted team knowledge base with AI features that keeps company documentation verified and current.

    FreemiumProprietaryWeb

    Outline is a team knowledge base with nested collections that can be self-hosted, licensed under the source-available Business Source License.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.