Docs and wikis
Self-hosted 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 $226 a month at that size.
| Tool | Server only | With your time | vs Notion | Operational weight | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BookStack | $14.40 | $51.90 | +$6,119 | easy | MIT |
| Outline | $28.80 | $141 | +$2,601 | medium | source-available |
| Docmost | $28.80 | $141 | +$2,601 | medium | AGPL-3.0 |
| AFFiNE | $28.80 | $141 | +$2,601 | 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 Basic 2 GiB at DigitalOcean for $12.00 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 Basic 4 GiB at DigitalOcean for $24.00 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 Basic 4 GiB at DigitalOcean for $24.00 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 Basic 4 GiB at DigitalOcean for $24.00 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 1.1592 dollars to the euro, the Frankfurter, European Central Bank reference rates rate for 2026-09-11. 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.