Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Archbee

Docusaurus is an open source tool for building documentation and project websites. It turns Markdown/MDX content into a static site and provides a React-based framework to customize layouts and extend functionality.

Key Features

• Docs and blog content authored in Markdown and MDX (with embedded React components)
• Built-in documentation versioning to keep multiple product versions in sync
• Internationalization (i18n) support for localized documentation sites
• Pluggable architecture with themes and plugins for extensibility
• Static HTML output suitable for simple hosting and deployments
• Search integration support (commonly used with external doc-search providers)

Use Cases

• Product and API documentation portals for open source or internal projects
• Versioned release documentation for libraries, SDKs, and platforms
• Lightweight project websites that combine docs, blog posts, and landing pages

Docusaurus is a strong fit when you want content-first docs with modern UI customization via React, while still generating a fast static website that is easy to deploy and maintain.

Outline is a team knowledge base and wiki that helps organizations capture, organize, and share information. It offers a markdown-friendly editor, real-time collaboration, AI-powered search, and Slack integration. It can be hosted in the cloud or self-hosted on your own infrastructure. (getoutline.com)

Key Features

• Real-time collaborative editing with a markdown editor, slash commands, and embeddable content
• Fast full-text search with AI-powered answers across documents
• Slack integration to search docs and post updates within channels
• Public sharing with private access controls, custom branding and domains
• Open source with self-hosted deployment and a public API
• Multi-language translations and RTL support
• 20+ integrations with other tools
• Regular open-source development with an active changelog
• API access for programmatic docs management (getoutline.com)

Use Cases

• Build a centralized internal knowledge base and wiki for teams with real-time collaboration
• Publish public or private documentation portals under your brand and domain
• Integrate with Slack and other tools to surface docs in workflows

Outline combines collaborative editing, powerful search, and flexible hosting to help teams organize knowledge efficiently. With cloud hosted or self-hosted options and extensive integrations, it's suitable for teams of any size. (getoutline.com)

Wiki.js is a modern, lightweight wiki application designed for internal documentation, knowledge bases, and team collaboration. It focuses on modular extensibility, strong access controls, and flexible deployment options.

Key Features

• Markdown-based content editing with rich formatting and media support
• Modular architecture with many optional integrations (auth, search, storage, logging, rendering)
• Extensive administration interface for managing content, users, and settings
• Flexible access control for public, private, or mixed wikis
• Multiple authentication options including local auth and enterprise integrations (LDAP, SAML, OAuth2/OIDC)
• Two-factor authentication support for compatible authentication modules
• Compatible with multiple SQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, Microsoft SQL Server, SQLite)

Use Cases

• Team knowledge base for processes, runbooks, and internal documentation
• Product and engineering documentation portal with structured pages
• Company intranet wiki with SSO-backed access control

Limitations and Considerations

• Some advanced capabilities depend on enabling and configuring specific modules and external services
• Database and authentication feature availability can vary depending on the selected backend and provider

Wiki.js is a solid choice for organizations that want a fast, customizable wiki with strong administration and authentication flexibility. Its modular design makes it suitable for both small private wikis and larger documentation hubs.

MkDocs is a static site generator focused on building project documentation. It converts Markdown source files into a themed HTML site using a single YAML configuration file, and includes a built-in development server for fast preview while you write.

Key Features

• Builds static HTML documentation sites from Markdown
• Simple YAML configuration for navigation, theme settings, and build options
• Built-in development server with live preview and auto-reload
• Extensible via third-party themes, plugins, and Markdown extensions
• Output can be hosted anywhere static files can be served

Use Cases

• Publishing documentation for software libraries, APIs, and internal tools
• Creating version-controlled docs sites for teams and open source projects
• Generating lightweight help sites that can be deployed to static hosting

MkDocs is a good fit when you want a straightforward documentation workflow with minimal setup, while still having an ecosystem of themes and plugins to extend functionality. Because it produces static output, it is easy to deploy and run on a wide range of infrastructure.

Docmost is a collaborative wiki and documentation platform designed for teams to create, organize, and share internal knowledge. It provides a modern editor with real-time collaboration and structured spaces, making it a practical alternative to tools like Confluence and Notion.

Key Features

• Real-time collaborative editing with live cursors and instant syncing
• Team spaces for organizing documentation by department, project, or domain
• RBAC-style permissions with groups and granular access controls
• Inline comments for discussions directly on pages
• Page history for tracking changes over time
• Built-in diagram support (Draw.io, Excalidraw, Mermaid)
• File attachments and rich embeds from external tools
• Full-text search across content
• Imports from Confluence, Notion, and HTML/Markdown files
• Multilingual UI with support for many translations

Use Cases

• Internal company wiki for policies, runbooks, and engineering docs
• Project documentation hub with permissions per team or space
• Publishing selected pages as a public-facing knowledge base

Limitations and Considerations

• Some functionality is reserved for an Enterprise Edition under a separate license from the AGPL-licensed core

Docmost combines collaborative editing, structured organization, and strong access controls to help teams manage documentation at scale. It is well-suited for organizations that want control over deployment and data while retaining a modern documentation experience.

BookStack is an opinionated documentation and wiki platform for storing and organizing information in a structured way. It focuses on an intuitive editing experience while still providing advanced features like granular permissions, revisions, and integrations.

Key Features

• Book/Chapter/Page content model for structured documentation
• WYSIWYG editor plus an optional Markdown editor with live preview
• Full-text search across books, chapters, and pages
• Direct links to specific paragraphs for precise referencing
• Page revisions and content history
• Role-based access control and permissions
• Integrated authentication options including LDAP, OIDC, and SAML2
• Built-in multi-factor authentication (TOTP and backup codes)
• Built-in diagrams.net drawing support in the editor

Use Cases

• Internal team knowledge base and operational runbooks
• Product or project documentation portal for organizations
• Centralized documentation for self-hosted/homelab services and processes

Limitations and Considerations

• Designed as an opinionated documentation system rather than a highly extensible general-purpose platform

BookStack is a solid choice when you want a clean, structured wiki with strong access control and authentication options. Its focus on usability makes it approachable for non-technical contributors while remaining capable for larger teams.

Docs is an open-source collaborative note-taking, wiki and documentation platform from La Suite numérique. It provides real-time collaborative editing, offline sync, export options and a Django + React/Next.js stack for extensible deployments. (github.com)

Key Features

• Real-time collaborative editing powered by operational transform / CRDT tooling (Yjs / HocusPocus) for low-latency co-editing.
• Dual editing modes: rich in-line editor (BlockNote) and Markdown support with slash-commands and block types.
• Offline editing with automatic sync when reconnected.
• Export to multiple document formats (.odt, .docx, .pdf) with customizable templates.
• Granular access controls and subpages to organize team knowledge.
• AI-assisted actions (rephrase, summarize, translate, prompt creation) integrated into the editor.
• Production-ready deployment patterns: Kubernetes for production and Docker Compose for local/dev environments. (github.com)

Use Cases

• Internal knowledge base and team wiki for public sector or enterprise documentation.
• Collaborative authoring of policies, procedures, and technical docs with live multi-author workflows.
• Documentation portals and public-facing docs sites when combined with La Suite deployment patterns. (github.com)

Limitations and Considerations

• Some advanced editor features (for example certain PDF export capabilities) rely on BlockNote "XL" packages that are GPL-licensed and not MIT-compatible; those features can be disabled to produce an MIT-only build (PUBLISH_AS_MIT).
• Official public instances may require federated or government-specific authentication (example: ProConnect for certain French government instances). (github.com)

Docs is suitable for organizations that need a self-hosted, extensible collaborative documentation solution with real-time editing and export workflows. The project is community-driven and designed to scale from small teams to government deployments. (github.com)

La Suite Docs is a collaborative editor for notes, wiki pages, and internal documentation that helps teams turn documents into structured knowledge. It focuses on real-time co-editing, organized pages, and secure sharing.

Key Features

• Real-time collaborative editing powered by CRDT-based synchronization
• Block-based rich-text editor with slash commands and Markdown input
• Granular access control for documents and workspaces
• Subpages to organize content into navigable knowledge structures
• Offline editing with automatic sync when back online
• Export to multiple formats (with optional components depending on licensing)
• Built-in AI actions for rewriting, summarizing, translation, and typo fixing

Use Cases

• Team knowledge base and lightweight internal wiki
• Collaborative meeting notes and project documentation
• Shared writing workspace for public-sector or enterprise teams needing access controls

Limitations and Considerations

• Some export capabilities rely on optional components that may introduce GPL-licensed dependencies depending on build configuration

La Suite Docs is a strong fit for organizations that want an editor-first documentation tool with live collaboration and structured knowledge building. It can be deployed in production using containerized setups, and scales to larger installations when paired with appropriate infrastructure.

Gollum is a simple, Git-powered wiki with a local frontend and support for multiple markup formats. It stores pages in a Git repository, allowing edits via the built-in web interface or any text editor and enabling easy synchronization with GitHub- and GitLab-style wikis.

Key Features

• Git-powered wiki with a built-in web interface and local frontend
• Multi-markup support (Markdown, RDoc) with optional renderers for AsciiDoc, Creole, MediaWiki, Org, and more
• Diagrams and visuals via Mermaid or PlantUML
• BibTeX and citation support
• Annotations using CriticMarkup
• Math rendering with KaTeX or MathJax
• Macros and redirects; RSS feed of latest changes
• Compatibility with GitHub/GitLab wiki workflows
• Docker deployment, Rack compatibility, and a Java WAR option for web servers

Use Cases

• Team knowledge bases and project documentation stored in a Git repository
• Open-source or private wikis that benefit from versioned history and multi-markup content
• Personal knowledge management wikis for notes, reference material, and planning

Limitations and Considerations

• Some markup renderers are optional and require installing additional gems (eg, AsciiDoc, MediaWiki, PlantUML, etc.) to enable those formats

Gollum offers a lightweight, Git-backed wiki with versatile markup support and flexible deployment options, suitable for internal knowledge bases, project documentation, and personal wikis.

TiddlyWiki is a self-contained personal wiki and non-linear web notebook implemented in JavaScript. It can run directly in a web browser as a single HTML file, or be deployed using Node.js for more advanced multi-user and automation scenarios.

Key Features

• Single-file wiki that can be opened and used directly in the browser
• “Tiddlers” (small pages/notes) with powerful linking and transclusion for non-linear writing
• Highly customizable UI and behavior via built-in WikiText, macros, and plugins
• Tagging, search, filtering, and flexible navigation for personal knowledge management
• Node.js-based server mode for hosting, building, and automated publishing workflows

Use Cases

• Personal knowledge management (notes, journals, research, Zettelkasten-style linking)
• Team or personal documentation and lightweight wikis
• Offline-first portable notebooks stored and shared as a single file

TiddlyWiki is well-suited for users who want a durable, hackable wiki that can live as a file or be hosted as a Node.js application. Its plugin ecosystem and deep customizability make it adaptable to many note-taking and documentation workflows.

HedgeDoc (formerly CodiMD) is an open-source, web-based Markdown editor focused on real-time collaboration. It enables teams to co-edit notes in the browser, share note links, and work together on text, diagrams, and presentations.

Key Features

• Real-time collaborative editing in the browser
• Markdown-based notes with support for diagrams and embedded content
• Presentation mode for Markdown slides
• Simple note permission controls for sharing and editing
• Revision history with the ability to review and revert changes
• Designed to run with low system requirements

Use Cases

• Team meeting notes and collaborative documentation
• Workshops, classes, and live note-taking sessions
• Creating Markdown slide decks for internal presentations

Limitations and Considerations

• HedgeDoc 2 is a rewrite and the development branch may not include all features compared to the stable 1.x releases

HedgeDoc is well-suited for groups that want a fast, link-shareable collaborative editor with Markdown-centric workflows. It combines realtime editing with practical publishing features like revisions and presentation mode for everyday knowledge sharing.

DokuWiki is an open source wiki engine designed for creating and maintaining documentation and knowledge bases. It stores content in plain text files rather than a database, making it straightforward to deploy, back up, and migrate.

Key Features

• File-based storage (no database required) using plain text pages
• Access control lists (ACL) for fine-grained permissions
• Built-in revision history and page diffs for change tracking
• Full-text search across wiki pages
• Media manager for uploading and organizing files
• Extensible through plugins and templates for customization and integrations

Use Cases

• Team or project documentation portals and internal knowledge bases
• Product manuals and technical documentation with change history
• Lightweight intranet wiki with role-based access control

Limitations and Considerations

• Not designed for real-time collaborative editing in the same way as office-suite style editors
• Large installations may require careful caching and tuning for best search and performance

DokuWiki is a solid choice when you want a dependable wiki with strong permissions and simple operations. Its file-based approach and mature ecosystem make it suitable for both small teams and larger documentation sites.

Raneto is an open-source knowledge base and wiki that serves documentation from static Markdown files. It is designed to be simple and lightweight, with optional edit protection and a built-in web editor, without requiring a database.

Key Features

• File-based content storage using Markdown (easy to version with Git)
• In-browser Markdown editor for creating and updating pages
• Full-text search across page titles and content
• Optional login system to protect editing
• Custom themes and templating for branded documentation sites
• Syntax highlighting for code blocks

Use Cases

• Internal team wiki for engineering and operations runbooks
• Product documentation and user guides maintained as Markdown
• Lightweight documentation portal for small projects without a database

Limitations and Considerations

• File-based storage can be less suitable for large, highly concurrent editing workflows
• Feature set is intentionally minimal compared to full enterprise wiki platforms

Raneto is a good fit for teams who want a straightforward, fast documentation site backed by Markdown files, with web-based editing and search. It works well when you value simplicity, portability, and Git-friendly content management.

EventCatalog is an open source documentation tool that helps teams model and document distributed software architecture. It focuses on making domains, services, events, schemas, and their relationships discoverable and searchable across event-driven and microservice systems.

Key Features

• Markdown- and MDX-driven content for documenting domains, services, messages/events, and schemas
• Generation and synchronization of catalog content from OpenAPI and AsyncAPI inputs
• Schema and architecture primitives designed to capture ownership, dependencies, and relationships
• Diagram support (including versioned diagrams stored with your repository) to document system views and flows
• CLI-driven workflows suitable for local use and CI/CD automation
• Extensible via SDK/API to integrate with custom brokers, registries, or internal systems
• AI-oriented capabilities such as querying structured architecture knowledge and MCP server integration

Use Cases

• Create a searchable source of truth for event-driven architectures across teams and repositories
• Keep architecture documentation aligned with API/spec changes by regenerating catalog content in CI/CD
• Improve onboarding and incident response by making owners, dependencies, and event flows easy to discover

EventCatalog works well for organizations adopting DDD, microservices, and event-driven architecture who want documentation to evolve with their system rather than drift over time. It is especially useful when architecture knowledge is fragmented across multiple tools and teams.

Documize is an open source documentation and knowledge management platform positioned as a modern alternative to Confluence. It helps teams create, organize, and publish internal and customer-facing documentation with a structured, searchable wiki-style experience.

Key Features

• Spaces and categories for organizing documentation
• Label-based organization and discoverability
• Full-text search backed by the selected database engine
• Supports internal and external documentation use cases
• Single-binary server distribution for straightforward deployment
• Multiple authentication options including LDAP/Active Directory and Keycloak integration
• Multi-language UI support (with several translations included)

Use Cases

• Team knowledge base for engineering, IT, and operations runbooks
• Customer-facing product documentation and help content
• Centralized repository for policies, procedures, and internal documentation

Documize fits organizations that want a self-managed documentation system with enterprise-oriented features and database-backed search. Its Go-based backend and Ember.js frontend make it suitable for both small teams and larger deployments that need structured documentation and flexible authentication.

Gitit is a wiki program written in Haskell. It uses Happstack for the web server and pandoc for markup processing. Pages and uploaded files are stored in a git, darcs, or mercurial repository and may be modified either by using the VCS's command-line tools or through the wiki's web interface.

Key Features

• Written in Haskell; uses Happstack for the web server and pandoc for markup processing.
• Pages and uploaded files stored in a git, darcs, or mercurial repository and editable via VCS or web UI.
• Default markup is Pandoc's extended Markdown; supports reStructuredText, LaTeX, HTML, DocBook, and Org-mode.
• TeX math support via texmath and syntax highlighting via highlighting-kate.
• Plugins enabling dynamic page transformations written in Haskell.
• Categories and Atom feeds.
• Caching for performance.
• A library Network.Gitit to embed a wiki in Happstack apps.

Use Cases

• Host private or public wikis for team documentation with Git-backed storage.
• Create educational wikis or course notes with math and code highlighting.
• Publish lightweight project docs or knowledge bases with a web interface.

Conclusion: Gitit provides a compact, version-controlled wiki workflow with Pandoc-based authoring and pluggable extensions. It is well-suited for personal, team, or small-scale documentation needs.

django-wiki is an extensible wiki application for Django that provides a full-featured knowledge base you can integrate into an existing Django project. It focuses on a strong, familiar web UI while keeping customization and extension within standard Django patterns.

Key Features

• Markdown-based content editing with a built-in web interface
• Built-in revision system for page history and rollback
• Hierarchical page structure for organizing content
• Permissions and access control suitable for teams and organizations
• Pluggable architecture for extending functionality without forking
• Template and theming customization via Django templates and SCSS

Use Cases

• Internal team documentation and engineering knowledge bases
• Product or project documentation embedded into a Django site
• Community or organization wikis with structured permissions

Limitations and Considerations

• Customization typically requires Django knowledge (templates, URLs, plugins)
• Markdown rendering is a core part of the system and is not intended to be swapped out

django-wiki is a solid choice when you want a wiki tightly integrated with Django’s models, authentication, and admin ecosystem. Its extension points and stable APIs make it well-suited for long-lived documentation deployments within Django projects.

An Otter Wiki is a lightweight wiki for collaborative content management. Pages are stored as Markdown files in a Git repository, providing built-in version tracking and a simple, clean editing experience.

Key Features

• Git-backed storage with full changelog, page history, diffs, and revert support
• Markdown editor with highlighting and conveniences (including tables)
• Extended Markdown support (tables, footnotes, alerts, fancy blocks, and Mermaid diagrams)
• File attachments and image pasting/uploading into pages
• User authentication with self-registration and password recovery
• Minimalistic interface with dark-mode support
• Customizable sidebar with menu and/or page index
• Experimental Git HTTP server to clone, pull, and push wiki content

Use Cases

• Team documentation and internal knowledge bases with auditable history
• Personal or small-group notes where Git-based workflows are preferred
• Project wikis that need attachments and easy revision comparison

Limitations and Considerations

• The built-in Git HTTP server is marked experimental and may not fit all production workflows

An Otter Wiki is a solid choice if you want a simple, readable wiki that keeps content in plain files and leverages Git for tracking and recovery. It works well for small teams and projects that value minimal UI and straightforward content management.

XWiki is an extensible, enterprise-focused wiki platform implemented in Java that provides runtime services for building collaborative applications and structured content. It is maintained as an open-source project and distributed under the LGPL license. (platform.xwiki.org)

Key Features

• WYSIWYG and wiki-syntax editors with realtime collaboration support. (platform.xwiki.org)
• Fine-grained rights and access management for spaces, pages and applications. (platform.xwiki.org)
• Extension ecosystem with 900+ apps and an Extension Manager for installing apps, macros and skins. (platform.xwiki.org)
• Structured data and in-page scripting to build small applications inside wiki pages (forms, classes, live tables). (platform.xwiki.org)
• Packaged as a Java web application with Maven-based builds, CI pipelines, and a public source repository on GitHub. (github.com)

Use Cases

• Internal knowledge bases and collaborative intranets for teams and enterprises. (platform.xwiki.org)
• Documentation portals and product documentation sites that require structured content and versioning. (platform.xwiki.org)
• Lightweight web applications built inside the wiki (custom apps, workflows, procedures) using XWiki's structured data and scripting. (platform.xwiki.org)

Limitations and Considerations

• XWiki is a Java web application that requires a Java runtime, a servlet container (Tomcat, Jetty, GlassFish, etc.) and a relational database; proper configuration and JVM resources are important for production scalability. (xwiki.org)
• Persistence relies on Hibernate, so supported database backends align with Hibernate support; some tuning or specific dialect configuration may be necessary for non-standard databases. (xwiki.org)

XWiki combines a full-featured wiki editor, structured-content capabilities and an extensions ecosystem to serve knowledge management and internal application needs. The project is actively developed with releases and an open GitHub repository containing the Maven-based sources. (platform.xwiki.org)

DOCAT is a lightweight server for hosting static documentation projects (MkDocs, Sphinx, mdBook, etc.) and multiple versions of those projects. It provides a simple HTTP API and a companion CLI to push, tag and serve documented sites from a single instance.

Key Features

• Host multiple documentation projects with multiple versions and per-version tagging (e.g., latest).
• Push documentation archives via an HTTP API or the provided CLI tool (docatl) for CI/CD integration.
• Built-in static file serving with a web frontend and full-text search for hosted docs.
• Docker-first distribution (container image) and Dockerfile for easy deployment and updates.
• Frontend is configurable via a simple JSON config (header/footer HTML) and supports serving static files from a mounted volume.
• Simple project claiming and token-based control for modification actions; README recommends protecting write endpoints (e.g., HTTP basic auth).
• Designed to be minimal and easy to operate: focuses on hosting and versioning only, not authoring.

Use Cases

• Host internal or public product documentation with versioned releases for software teams.
• Integrate documentation publishing into CI pipelines to automatically deploy new versions of docs.
• Provide a single, self-hosted docs portal for multiple projects where users can switch between released versions.

Limitations and Considerations

• By default the server allows unauthenticated uploads and modifications until a project is claimed; administrators should secure the API (README recommends HTTP basic auth for POST/PUT/DELETE).
• DOCAT is a host for static documentation only — it does not provide authoring, rendering pipelines, or dynamic content generation.
• There is limited built-in access control and no advanced role-based permissions; for public deployments additional reverse-proxy authentication or network controls are recommended.

DOCAT is a focused, pragmatic tool for teams that need a simple, versioned documentation host with easy CI integration. It emphasizes ease of deployment and minimal configuration while leaving authoring and build workflows to established static documentation tools.