XWiki vs Outline
Both are alternatives to Confluence. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Outline vs XWiki — same comparison, one verdict.
XWiki
The heavyweight — a wiki you can program like an application platform.
XWiki has been running enterprise documentation for two decades and is less a wiki than a platform you write applications on top of: structured data, scripting, forms and workflow all live inside the wiki itself. LGPL-2.1, Java, with a large extension marketplace. It is the only option here that genuinely replaces Confluence Data Center feature for feature, including the parts organisations use for regulated processes. It is also the heaviest, and it looks its age next to Docmost.
Outline
The best-looking option — and not open source, whatever the lists say.
Outline is a fast, beautifully judged team knowledge base with excellent search, a slash-command editor and Slack integration that people actually use. It is also the entry on this page most often mislabelled. Outline ships under the **Business Source License 1.1**, not an OSI licence: you may self-host it for internal use, but you may not offer it as a competing hosted service, and the licence converts to open source only after a delay. For most companies documenting their own work that changes nothing. If you were planning to build a product on it, it changes everything — and you would not learn that from the directory that told you it was open source.
Side by side
| XWiki | Outline | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 91 | 66 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | Business Source License 1.1 (source-available, not OSI open source) |
| Pricing | Free and open source. Commercial support available from XWiki SAS. | Self-hostable free within BUSL terms. Outline Cloud is paid per user. |
XWiki edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
XWiki
Strengths
- +The only true Confluence Data Center replacement, feature for feature
- +Structured data and scripting — build applications inside the wiki
- +Two decades of enterprise deployment behind it
- +LGPL with commercial support available
Trade-offs
- −Heaviest option here — a Java application to operate
- −Interface is dated next to the newer tools
- −Steep learning curve for the platform features
- −Overkill if you just want to write pages
Outline
Strengths
- +Best design and editing experience of anything on this page
- +Search is genuinely fast and good
- +Slack and API integrations that people use daily
- +Self-hostable for ordinary internal use
Trade-offs
- −NOT open source — Business Source License, despite near-universal mislabelling
- −Cannot be offered as a competing hosted service
- −Licence terms can be tightened by the vendor on future versions
- −Smaller plugin ecosystem than Confluence
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-08-03. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.