Wiki.js vs XWiki
Both are alternatives to Confluence. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as XWiki vs Wiki.js — same comparison, one verdict.
Wiki.js
Every editor, every auth provider, every storage backend.
Wiki.js is the flexible one: Markdown, WYSIWYG, HTML and AsciiDoc editors, more than fifty authentication providers, and content that can sync to Git so your wiki has real version history in a repository you control. AGPL-3.0, around 29k stars. That Git sync is the feature worth noticing — it makes documentation reviewable in pull requests, which is how engineering teams already work. The trade is configuration: it does a great deal, and it asks you to decide about most of it.
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.
Side by side
| Wiki.js | XWiki | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 92 | 91 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Pricing | Free and open source. You supply the server and database. | Free and open source. Commercial support available from XWiki SAS. |
Wiki.js edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Wiki.js
Strengths
- +Git storage backend gives real version control over documentation
- +Over fifty auth providers — SSO into almost anything
- +Multiple editors, so writers are not forced into one style
- +Mature, with years of production use
Trade-offs
- −More configuration than BookStack before it feels finished
- −Node and a database to operate
- −Version 3 has been a long time coming
- −Search is adequate rather than excellent
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
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-08-03. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.