Top 7 Open-Source Alternatives to Guru

Launched in 2015, Guru is an AI-powered knowledge management software. Guru boosts team productivity by making information readily available and easy to edit in real time. By nature, Guru arranges information into collections, boards, and cards. Boards and cards can be assigned to members of the team for the purpose of managing and updating the content within those boards and cards. Guru's AI features and browser interaction make it easy to retrieve information, and a powerful analytics suite helps keep track of and improve knowledge sharing. Teams can easily connect Guru to apps like Slack, JIRA, and Microsoft Teams. This way, users can access Guru's information without having to disrupt their existing workflow.

Guru is a powerful tool, but as a platform, it has several limitations. Compared to other wiki software, Guru offers fewer customization choices. Within cards, there aren't many options for formatting. New users may also find the design too complicated. There are various open-source alternatives to Guru that provide similar features as well as increased customisation and flexibility. This article will talk about six open-source programs that you could use instead of Guru.

Best 7 Open-Source Guru Alternatives

Here are the best 7 open-source alternatives to Guru that offer powerful knowledge management capabilities without vendor lock-in. These solutions provide comparable features, self-hosting options and data sovereignty.

Docmost

Docmost is one of the best open-source alternative to Guru, offering teams a self-hosted wiki and documentation platform that prioritizes data sovereignty and collaborative knowledge management.

A key difference lies in data ownership and platform independence. While Guru locks organizations into a proprietary SaaS platform, Docmost provides and open-source and self-hostable edition, giving teams full control over their knowledge infrastructure.

The rich-text editor supports advanced formatting, including user mentions, callouts, toggle blocks, LaTeX for mathematical equations, tables, clipboard image pasting, third-party embeds/integrations and more.

That's not all; Docmost has built-in support for diagramming tools such as Drawio, Excalidraw, and Mermaid. With these, you can draw and design charts and UML diagrams without leaving the editor.

Docmost features​

• Collaborative Real-time Editor: Work together on pages in real time.
• Diagrams: Built-in support for Drawio, Excalidraw, and Mermaid diagramming tools.
• Spaces: Organize your pages by team, projects, or departments for better collaboration.
• Permissions Management: Easily control access to pages with easy-to-understand permissions.
• Groups: Easily grant unified permissions to users via groups.
• Comments: Add inline comments to pages for better communication and feedback.
• Page History: Track changes with a comprehensive version history.
• Nested Navigation: You can nest and reorder pages via the sidebar.
• Search: Quickly find the information you need with powerful search capabilities.
• File Attachment: Attach files to your pages for quick reference and sharing.
• Embeds: Embed content from Airtable, Loom, YouTube, and more.
• Authentication: Email and password + SSO login (SAML 2.0/OIDC) in the Enterprise edition.

Wiki.js

Wiki.js is a popular open-source wiki software. Wiki.js is designed to facilitate successful collaboration, information organization, and knowledge documentation. It is adaptable and versatile, and it runs smoothly across a wide range of systems and environments. You can set your wiki to be private, public, or a combination of the two with this software.

Many people choose Wiki.js for managing information in their businesses, communities, and personal projects because it has an elegant user interface and several editing tools, including markdown, WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), HTML editor, and WikiText, which allows users to create and edit pages with ease. The software is built with Node.js, which ensures high performance, and overall, it can be a suitable open-source alternative to Guru.

Top features of Wiki.js:

• Wiki.js provides a straightforward installation process that can be done via Docker, Node.js, or manual deployment.
• Wiki.js features a rich text editor that allows users to create and format content easily with features such as headings, lists, tables, images.
• It can operate with databases from MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, or MS-SQL Server.
• Wiki.js includes built-in version control to track changes, compare revisions, and revert to previous versions if need be.
• Wiki.js supports integration with third-party authentication services such as GitHub, Google, and Microsoft for user authentication.
• Wiki.js includes powerful search functionality that enables users to quickly find relevant content within the wiki.

XWiki

XWiki is another powerful open-source wiki alternative to Guru. It offers a versatile and adaptable solution for knowledge management, collaboration, and documentation. XWiki's high degree of versatility allows for the creation of knowledge bases, intranets, and any other type of business application. The software can also manage both structured and unstructured data effectively.

XWiki can be used by small businesses or teams, but its advanced features and functions make it ideal for larger organizations and teams with complex collaboration and knowledge management needs. The built-in security measures make it simple to create group-specific wikis and manage user access appropriately.

Top features of XWiki:

• XWiki ensures seamless editing with WYSIWYG, Markdown, and wiki syntax editors.
• XWiki offers extensibility through its wide range of available extensions and plugins.
• XWiki offers access control features.
• XWiki offers hierarchical organization of structured content through nested pages and sub-wikis.
• XWiki includes built-in version control functionality, allowing users to track changes made to pages over time, revert to previous versions, and compare revisions.
• It provides collaboration features such as comments, notifications, and user mentions, facilitating communication and teamwork among users.

MediaWiki

MediaWiki is one of the most well-known knowledge bases and collaboration software. This software powers some of the largest wikis in the world. Whether you're constructing an internal knowledge base, a public documentation hub, or a collaborative project repository, MediaWiki has the flexibility and scalability to meet your needs.

MediaWiki is an excellent solution for businesses with large amounts of content. With handy plugins, you can customize templates and add more functionality. MediaWiki is not the easiest wiki software to use, however. The software has a lot of advanced features and customisation options that may require technical know-how to set up and manage properly. This may not be the best tool for you if most of your team is not tech-savvy.

Top features of MediaWiki:

• MediaWiki has a vast ecosystem of plugins and extensions which can be used to add additional functionality.
• Multiple users can edit the same page simultaneously, allowing for collaborative content creation and editing.
• Pages can be organized into categories, allowing for structured navigation and browsing of content.
• MediaWiki provides built-in media management capabilities, allowing users to upload and embed images, videos, and other files into wiki pages.
• MediaWiki supports templates, allowing users to create reusable content blocks.
• MediaWiki includes a powerful search engine that enables users to quickly find relevant content within the wiki.

AppFlowy

AppFlowy is an AI-powered, open-source collaborative workspace that serves as an excellent alternative to Notion and Guru. AppFlowy brings projects, wikis, and teams together with AI in a collaborative workspace where you achieve more without losing control of your data. As the leading open-source alternative to Notion, AppFlowy is designed for teams and individuals who want powerful knowledge management capabilities without sacrificing data privacy.

AppFlowy combines the flexibility of a note-taking app with the structure of a project management tool, allowing you to capture ideas, plan projects, and organize information all in one place. The platform is built with Flutter and Rust, ensuring high performance and cross-platform compatibility. Unlike cloud-based solutions, AppFlowy gives users complete control over their data while providing modern collaborative features.

Top features of AppFlowy:

• AI-powered collaboration that leverages AI to enhance team collaboration and productivity
• Customizable workspace that allows you to tailor your digital environment to fit your unique workflow and preferences
• Rich text editing with support for Markdown and various media types
• Powerful databases to organize and visualize data with customizable views, including tables, boards, and calendars
• Cross-platform support available on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux
• Task management features to keep track of to-dos and projects with built-in task lists and Kanban boards
• Data control that maintains full control over your data with open-source transparency

Anytype

Anytype is a privacy-focused, open-source knowledge management platform that offers a unique object-based approach to organizing information. Anytype is an encrypted, local-first alternative to cloud-based Internet services, designed for users who prioritize data ownership and privacy. The platform uses a revolutionary object-based system where everything you create becomes an interconnected object that can be linked and organized in multiple ways.

Anytype stands out for its strong focus on privacy and offline functionality, with data stored locally rather than online. Unlike traditional note-taking apps that treat each note as a standalone entity, Anytype introduces a new way of thinking through its object-based approach. This makes it particularly suitable for implementing advanced knowledge management methodologies like the Zettelkasten method.

Top features of Anytype:

• Object-based approach that allows for better organization and flexibility through interconnected notes using relations and fields
• Local-first architecture with encrypted peer-to-peer syncing
• Block-based document editing with a custom object model for data types
• Custom templates and graph view functionality to visualize complex relationships between notes
• End-to-end encryption and encryption keys for local access
• Community-driven development as an open-source platform that encourages collaboration and transparency
• Rich UI for organizing knowledge like a personal wiki

DokuWiki

DokuWiki is an open-source wiki software that runs without a database. All of the data is saved in plain text files, which makes the process of storing and retrieving the data much simpler. This software has all the important features you'd expect from wiki software, including built-in access controls and a large variety of extensions and plugins. It also supports over 50 languages.

DokuWiki is simple to install, update, and operate, as well as integrate and manage the plugins. If your organization needs a simple documentation and collaboration platform with low system requirements, then this tool is worth looking at as an alternative to Guru.

Top features of DokuWiki:

• DokuWiki uses a simple and intuitive markup language, making it easy for users to create and format content without needing to learn complex syntax.
• DokuWiki offers an array of themes and templates that can be customized to create a unique and engaging user experience.
• It has a wide range of add-ons, also known as plugins and extensions that extend its basic functionality.
• DokuWiki performs automatic backups to avoid loss of data during editing.
• It offers built-in version control, allowing users to track and manage changes to software code.
• DokuWiki prioritizes security with features such as access control, CSRF protection, and optional encryption for sensitive data.