Docs and wikis
Open-source alternatives to Notion, priced
4 open-source tools that can replace Notion, each shown with what it would actually cost to run for a team of 10 people. Notion on the Business tier costs $218 a month at that size.
The cheapest way to replace Notion here is BookStack, at $45.54 a month against $218, with your own time already counted.
| Tool | Server only | With your time | vs Notion | Operational weight | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BookStack | $8.04 | $45.54 | +$6,068 | easy | MIT |
| Outline | $8.04 | $121 | +$3,068 | medium | source-available |
| Docmost | $8.04 | $121 | +$3,068 | medium | AGPL-3.0 |
| AFFiNE | $8.04 | $121 | +$3,068 | medium | source-available |
The final column is the 36-month difference: positive means self-hosting is cheaper.
Which one to pick
BookStack 19,038 stars
Laravel and MySQL. The least demanding wiki on this list and the easiest to back up, because it is one database and one uploads directory.
At 10 people it needs 1.3 GB of memory and 12 GB of disk, which fits the CX23 (cost-optimized) at Hetzner Cloud for $6.70 a month. Setting it up is roughly 2 hours of work, then 0.5 hours a month to keep it healthy.
Full Notion versus BookStack breakdown · BookStack at every team size
Outline 40,524 stars
Needs PostgreSQL, Redis and S3-compatible object storage for attachments. The object storage requirement is the part people miss when budgeting.
At 10 people it needs 2.6 GB of memory and 18 GB of disk, which fits the CX23 (cost-optimized) at Hetzner Cloud for $6.70 a month. Setting it up is roughly 6 hours of work, then 1.5 hours a month to keep it healthy.
Full Notion versus Outline breakdown · Outline at every team size
Docmost 21,654 stars
PostgreSQL and Redis, with local disk for attachments by default. Closest to Confluence's page-tree model of the current crop.
At 10 people it needs 2.6 GB of memory and 18 GB of disk, which fits the CX23 (cost-optimized) at Hetzner Cloud for $6.70 a month. Setting it up is roughly 6 hours of work, then 1.5 hours a month to keep it healthy.
Full Notion versus Docmost breakdown · Docmost at every team size
AFFiNE 72,476 stars
The closest match to Notion's block editor and whiteboard combination. Self-hosting is supported but moves faster than the other options here, so pin your image tag.
At 10 people it needs 2.7 GB of memory and 19 GB of disk, which fits the CX23 (cost-optimized) at Hetzner Cloud for $6.70 a month. Setting it up is roughly 6 hours of work, then 1.5 hours a month to keep it healthy.
Full Notion versus AFFiNE breakdown · AFFiNE at every team size
How the pricing was established
Notion pricing was read from its own pricing page on 2026-09-12, quoted in euros and converted at 1.1193 dollars to the euro, the Frankfurter, European Central Bank reference rates rate for 2026-10-23. Server prices come from the providers listed on the hosting page. The sizing model and the cost of your time are set out in full on the methodology page.
Related
- All docs and wikis compared
- Alternatives to Confluence
- Where to host it
What you would be running
| Tool | Licence | Written in | Setup | Upkeep | GitHub stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BookStack | MIT License | PHP | 2 h | 0.5 h a month | 19,038 |
| Outline | Other | TypeScript | 6 h | 1.5 h a month | 40,524 |
| Docmost | GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 | TypeScript | 6 h | 1.5 h a month | 21,654 |
| AFFiNE | Other | TypeScript | 6 h | 1.5 h a month | 72,476 |
Questions people actually ask
Is there a free open-source alternative to Notion?
There are 4 on this page. 2 of them are open source, published under AGPL-3.0, MIT, with no licence to buy. Outline, AFFiNE ships its source under its own licence rather than a standard open-source one, so check its terms before commercial use. None of them is free to run: the cheapest, BookStack, costs $45.54 a month at 10 people once the server, backups and the time to look after it are counted.
How much does Notion cost?
Notion Business costs $218 a month at 10 people: EUR 19.50 per seat per month. That figure was read from the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-12.
What does it cost to self-host BookStack?
$45.54 a month at 10 people. That is $6.70 for the CX23 (cost-optimized) at Hetzner Cloud, plus backups, plus 0.5 hours a month of your own time priced at the published hourly rate.
How long before BookStack is cheaper than Notion?
Under a month, counting $150 of first-time setup. Over 36 months the difference is $6,068.
Which Notion alternative is the easiest to run?
BookStack, rated easy: about 2 hours to set up and 0.5 hours afterwards.