XWiki
100 · HealthyEnterprise wiki with structured pages, fine-grained rights and an extension system for building apps on top.
Open source Wikis & knowledge base
Joplin
92 · HealthyNote-taking app with notebooks, tags, web clipping and end-to-end encrypted sync across devices.
Docs (La Suite)
90 · HealthyReal-time collaborative document editor from La Suite, the workplace tools built by the French and German governments.
Memos
88 · HealthyLightweight timeline for quick notes and memos, searchable by tag and date.
Onyx
88 · HealthyAI search and chat over your company's documents, with connectors for Slack, Google Drive, Confluence and more.
Scalar
88 · HealthyInteractive API reference docs and an API client, generated from OpenAPI documents.
AppFlowy
84 · HealthyCollaborative workspace for docs, databases, kanban boards and wikis, with built-in AI.
Logseq
78 · StableOutliner for notes and knowledge management, with daily journals, backlinks and a graph view.
Notesnook
77 · StableEnd-to-end encrypted note-taking app with notebooks, tags, reminders and web clipping.
AFFiNE
74 · StableWorkspace that puts docs, whiteboards and databases on one canvas, usable offline or self-hosted.
BookStack
74 · StableWiki organized as shelves, books, chapters and pages, built on Laravel.
Fumadocs
74 · StableReact and Next.js framework for documentation sites, with search, MDX content and API reference pages.
Standard Notes
73 · StableEnd-to-end encrypted notes and files, with editors for Markdown, code, tasks and spreadsheets.
SiYuan
70 · StableBlock-based personal knowledge base with Markdown, backlinks, databases and end-to-end encrypted sync.
Wiki.js
70 · StableNode.js wiki with Markdown and visual editors, Git sync and many auth providers.
Docmost
64 · StableCollaborative wiki with real-time editing, spaces, permissions, comments and diagrams.
Colanode
54 · CautionLocal-first workspace that combines team chat, pages and databases, with a self-hosted sync server.
Source-available and unverified licenses
The code for these is public, but the license is not an OSI open source license, or we have not verified it yet. Check the license notes on each project before relying on it.
Outline
Fast team knowledge base with real-time collaborative editing and Slack integration.
Alternative to
Will it still be around?
Stable
Score 72/100
Can a business use it freely?
Free, no reselling
Business Source License 1.1 · source-available, not open source
Features compared
has,doesn't2 features
9/12 Notion features free in Outline
Notion has every feature Outline has on this list.
✕ doesn't have it · ◐ partly · $ higher plan or paid editionBoth have 9
Headline Notion features on the Plus plan, and whether Outline has each in its free, self-hosted edition.
| Feature | NotionPlus plan | Outline9 of 12 free |
|---|---|---|
| Notion has, Outline doesn't2 | ||
| Databases with table and board views | Included | No |
| Offline mode | Included | No |
| Both have9 | ||
| Rich docs and nested pages | Included | Yes |
| Real-time co-editing | Included | Yes |
| Comments and mentions | Included | Yes |
| Templates | Included | Yes |
| Page history | Included30 days | Yes |
| Publish pages to the web | Included | YesPublic share links |
| Guest access | Included100 guests | Yes |
| Page-level permissions | Included | YesCollection and document permissions |
| API and integrations | Included | Yes |
| Neither has fully1 | ||
| SAML single sign-on | Higher planBusiness plan | PartlyGoogle, Microsoft, Slack and OIDC; SAML depends on edition |
Sources
- Notion, checked 2026-10-09: notion.com
- Outline, checked 2026-10-09: docs.getoutline.com, github.com
Flat Rate Deploy
A 25-member team on Notion Plus pays about $250 a month. Outline on OpenTools costs $39 a month, setup included, so you save $211 a month, about $7,596 over three years.
Monthly cost
- Outline on OpenTools
- $39
- Notion
$250
You save each month
$211/mo
84% less than today
Saving from month one
You save
- Over 3 years
- $7,596
- In year one
- $2,532
List price checked 7 Oct 2026 · Source · Disclaimer
Health score: 72/100
Stable · activity, bus factor and issue responsiveness, from GitHub
Score v2 · How it works
Activity
45% weight100/100
- Last commit 2 days ago (100/100).
- 2169 commits in the past 12 months (100/100).
- 18 releases in the past 12 months (100/100).
Bus factor
30% weight9/100
- Top contributor wrote 93% of the last 73 commits (past 12 months).
- 5 people authored those commits.
Responsiveness
25% weight96/100
- 99% of all issues are closed (36 open, 4281 closed) (100/100).
- 28 of 30 recent issues got a reply or were closed (93/100).
License
Free, no reselling
Business Source License 1.1 · Source-available, not open source
What you need to do
Free to self-host and use in your business, changes included. You may not sell it or offer it to others as a hosted service that competes with the vendor.
For Outline
Free to use, including commercially, but you can't offer it as a hosted document service to third parties. Version 1.10.1 becomes Apache-2.0 on 2030-09-09.
Business Source License 1.1 (Apache-2.0 after the change date) · Source-available, not open source. The code is public, but the license restricts how you can use it, usually by banning competing hosted services or capping production use. Not open source.
License text checked 2026-10-07 · Read it
GitHub activity
- Stars
- 41k
- Forks
- 3.6k
- Commits, 12 mo
- 2.2k
- last 2 days ago
- Releases, 12 mo
- 18
- last 30 days ago
- Contributors
- 250
- 5 in last 73 commits
- Open issues
- 36
- 4.3k closed
Snapshot from 2026-10-08 · Funding: github
Top contributors
Points for pull requests merged into Outline and reviews of them since 10 October 2025. Building something another user asked for earns more. 59 people have points on Outline in all.
