Best Self Hosted Alternatives to HCL Connections

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.

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.

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.

Elgg is an open source social networking engine that provides a robust framework for creating social environments such as campus networks, internal collaboration platforms, or brand communities. It emphasizes a plugin-driven architecture, a well-documented API, and a flexible content model that can be extended with plugins.

Key Features

• Well-documented core API with a gentle learning curve
• Composer-based installation and plugin management
• Hook and event system enabling plugins to extend functionality
• Extendable views for theming and presentation
• Client-side API with asynchronous modules for dynamic interactions
• Flexible entity system with a unified API layer for custom content types
• Fine-grained access control for private networks and user content
• Out-of-the-box Groups, Notifications, and file storage integration
• RPC web services for external integrations and mobile clients
• Internationalization and localization support

Use Cases

• Build campus-wide social networks or university intranets
• Create internal collaboration platforms for organizations
• Launch brand communities or client engagement portals

Conclusion

Elgg’s modular architecture makes it suitable for a range of social applications, from education to enterprise. It relies on PHP/MySQL and standard web servers, with a rich plugin ecosystem to tailor functionality.

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)

Operately is an open-source company operating system designed to connect strategy to day-to-day work. It provides opinionated workflows for goals, projects, reviews and check-ins, and includes an AI executive coach (Alfred) in early beta. (operately.com)

Key Features

• Structured goal management (OKRs-style targets, champions, timelines)
• Project management with milestones, task boards and ownership tracking
• Scheduled reviews, automated check-ins and reminders to keep goals active
• Team spaces, permissions and activity feeds for oversight and compliance
• Alfred: an AI executive coach that reviews plans and gives operational feedback (beta)

(operately.com)

Use Cases

• Running company-wide OKR and goal programs with linked projects and milestones
• Coordinating cross-functional projects with recurring check-ins and ownership
• Establishing repeatable operational processes and handbooks for small teams

(operately.com)

Limitations and Considerations

• The AI coach (Alfred) is explicitly described as early beta; features, coverage and availability may be limited and subject to change. (operately.com)

Operately is focused on providing an opinionated, workflow-first alternative to flexible note tools: it ties goals, projects and reviews together so teams make consistent progress without reinventing processes. For teams wanting an open, self-hostable company OS with built-in operational workflows and an evolving AI assistant, Operately is positioned as a practical choice. (operately.com)

Tracim is a modular team collaboration platform that unifies conversations, file storage, documentation and basic project management in organized workspaces. It provides threaded discussions, versioned files and collaborative pages to centralize team activity and knowledge.

Key Features

• Threaded conversations and real-time team communication organized by spaces
• File sharing with versioning and full history for documents and attachments
• Collaborative pages and documentation support for knowledge management
• Task and project organization inside spaces with simple project management primitives
• Multilingual interface and content support
• Workspace-based permissions and history/audit of content changes

Use Cases

• Small to medium teams needing a unified workspace for chat, documents and files
• Documentation and knowledge base hosting with versioned pages and history
• Project collaboration where files, discussions and tasks must be tracked together

Limitations and Considerations

• Upstream Docker images for the latest releases are reportedly restricted to paying customers, which can complicate easy deployment of cutting-edge releases
• The project maintains multiple licenses across components, which may require review for redistribution or commercial use
• The development and release processes are under active rework, so release cadence and distribution methods may change

Tracim is suitable for organizations that want an integrated, open collaboration environment combining chat, file drive and documentation. It emphasizes versioning, structured workspaces and multilingual support for team collaboration.

BuddyPress is a WordPress plugin that provides social networking and community features for WordPress sites. It adds member profiles, activity streams, groups, messaging, and developer hooks to extend site functionality.

Key Features

• Member profiles and extended profile fields for customizable user data
• Activity streams with posting, commenting, and basic mention/interaction support
• User groups with configurable public/private/group management features
• Private messaging and site notification mechanisms for user-to-user communication
• Developer hooks, APIs and template integration points for plugins and themes
• Integration with WordPress user system, roles, and widgets for consistent site management
• Extensible architecture allowing third-party plugins to add forums, commerce, or other features
• Local development tooling and JS build tooling for contributors

Use Cases

• Build a niche social network or community portal with profiles, groups, and activity feeds
• Add member directories and internal community features for intranets or membership sites
• Extend an existing WordPress site with social features, group-based content, and member interactions

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires a WordPress installation and follows WordPress theming and plugin compatibility constraints
• Very large communities may need caching, database optimization, and horizontal scaling measures to maintain performance
• Some advanced social features (advanced forums, complex realtime chat, mobile apps) typically require additional plugins or custom development

BuddyPress is a mature, extensible solution for adding community and social features to WordPress sites. It focuses on integration with the WordPress ecosystem and provides developer-friendly hooks to customize and extend social functionality.

WackoWiki is a compact, open-source wiki engine designed for collaborative content creation and knowledge management. It focuses on simplicity, multilingual support, and per-page access control while providing a traditional wiki feature set suitable for teams, projects, and communities.

Key Features

• WYSIWYG and plain-text editing with section editing support
• Per-page access control lists (ACLs) for fine-grained permissions
• Full revision control with diffs between revisions and page history
• Multilingual and full UTF-8 support with configurable localization
• Supports PHP 8.x and works with MariaDB, MySQL or SQLite backends
• Template engine (Smarty-based) and theming/skins for custom designs
• File uploads, thumbnail generation and media handling per page
• Page watching with email notifications on changes and comments
• Actions/highlighters to embed dynamic or extended markup functionality
• Multiple cache levels and a lightweight architecture for modest deployments

Use Cases

• Internal knowledge base and company wiki with per-page access controls
• Project documentation and collaborative editing for open-source teams
• Educational or community portals requiring multilingual content and revision history

Limitations and Considerations

• Smaller ecosystem and fewer third-party extensions compared to larger wiki platforms, which may limit available integrations
• Very large deployments may require careful tuning of database, PHP runtime, and caching layers for performance

WackoWiki is a pragmatic choice when you need a straightforward, extensible wiki with strong per-page permission controls and multilingual support. It favors a lightweight footprint and easy installation over a large plugin ecosystem.

WikiSuite is a curated and integrated collection of open source applications focused on helping organizations manage knowledge, communications, and infrastructure from a unified solution. It centers on Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware and bundles complementary tools for chat, conferencing, webmail, search, and remote/device administration.

Key Features

• Knowledge management and intranet features via Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware
• Real-time communications with XMPP-based chat clients and servers
• Video conferencing using WebRTC conferencing components
• Unified webmail through a webmail client component
• Integrated search capabilities via a dedicated search engine component
• Device and infrastructure management, including remote device administration
• Web-based administration panels to configure services without editing config files
• “Upstream first” approach that contributes improvements back to upstream projects

Use Cases

• Company intranet for documentation, procedures, and collaborative workspaces
• Secure internal communications with chat and video meetings
• Small-to-mid sized organization stack for webmail, search, and IT administration

Limitations and Considerations

• As a multi-component suite, upgrades and troubleshooting may require coordinating several upstream projects and their dependencies

WikiSuite is best suited to knowledge-centric organizations that want a broad set of integrated capabilities while retaining control over deployment, auditing, and extensibility. It provides a pragmatic way to assemble a full collaboration and admin environment using established FLOSS projects.

MediaWiki is an open source wiki platform for creating and maintaining collaborative websites where content is edited in the browser and tracked over time. It powers Wikipedia and is widely used for documentation portals, internal knowledge bases, and public community wikis.

Key Features

• Browser-based editing with full page history, diffs, and rollback
• Wikitext markup with templates, categories, and transclusion for structured content
• Built-in user accounts, permissions, and moderation workflows
• Internationalization support for multilingual sites and content
• Extensible architecture with a large ecosystem of extensions and skins
• Search integration and site navigation features suited to large knowledge bases

Use Cases

• Company or team knowledge base with change tracking and permissions
• Public documentation site with community contributions and discussion
• Community-managed encyclopedia or fan wiki with scalable organization

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires ongoing maintenance (updates, extension compatibility, caching) for large installs
• Advanced customization often depends on extensions and familiarity with wikitext/templates

MediaWiki is a mature, highly extensible wiki engine designed for collaborative authoring at scale. It is a strong choice when you need robust revision control, structured wiki content, and a proven ecosystem for long-term knowledge management.