Best 5 XWiki Alternatives

XWiki is an open-source wiki platform first released in 2004 by Ludovic Dubost. Built on Java, it offers a wide range of features for knowledge management, including structured data, advanced permissions, extensions, and scripting capabilities. Over the years, XWiki has built a reputation as a highly customizable and extensible solution that can adapt to different organizational needs.

Its flexibility, however, often comes at the cost of usability. Many teams find the platform’s Java-based architecture heavy to maintain and complex to upgrade. The interface, while functional, can feel outdated compared to modern documentation tools. For non-technical users, the learning curve can be steep, and day-to-day management may require dedicated administrative effort.

As a result, organizations seeking a more lightweight, user-friendly, and modern experience are increasingly exploring alternatives to XWiki.

What are the Top 5 XWiki Alternatives?

In this article, we’ll explore the top 5 XWiki alternatives that provide a more modern, efficient, and user-friendly approach to knowledge management.

Docmost

Docmost is one of the best alternatives to XWiki. As a modern wiki and knowledge management platfor, it is lightweight yet, powerful alternative to legacy systems like XWiki. It combines clean design with enterprise-ready features, making it suitable for both small teams and large organizations.

The most striking difference is how teams work together. While XWiki lacks native real-time collaboration, forcing users to save and refresh pages to see updates, Docmost comes with Google Docs-style co-authoring out of the box. Multiple people can edit the same page simultaneously, see each other’s cursors, and watch changes appear as they type. This eliminates conflicts, reduces friction, and makes collaboration feel natural.

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.
• Attachments search: Full-text search and indexing of content in PDF and DOCX file attachments.
• Embeds: Embed content from Airtable, Loom, YouTube, and more.
• Authentication: Email and password, LDAP and SSO login (SAML/OIDC) in the Enterprise edition.

BookStack

If you're searching for an easy-to-use, lightweight knowledge management and documentation platform, you might need to give BookStack a try. BookStack categorizes content structure into three groups: books, chapters, and pages. Users can create books to collect relevant content, chapters to further organize content within books, and pages to include actual content like text, images, or files. This hierarchical structure makes it straightforward to organize and navigate information within BookStack.

BookStack is adaptable and provides a wide range of customization options to meet a variety of needs. Overall, the platform is best suited for smaller teams that require a simple solution for managing documents and knowledge.

BookStack features:

• BookStack provides version control functionality.
• It has a wide number of customisation possibilities that allow users to personalize the platform to their specific requirements.
• Content is organized in a hierarchical structure.
• BookStack allows integration with authentication providers such as Okta, LDAP, Google, GitHub, and Slack.
• BookStack supports various types of media.
• The user-interface is very friendly, making it accessible to users with varying levels of technical expertise.

Wiki.js

is a modern knowledge base software and one of the top XWiki alternatives to consider. Wiki.js is built for easy documentation and knowledge sharing, making it a popular choice for businesses of all kinds as well as for personal projects. This tool is adaptable and versatile, allowing it to function seamlessly across a variety of systems and environments. This gives users the freedom to deploy Wiki.js in the environment that best meets their requirements and infrastructure architecture.

Based on Node.js, Wiki.js operates swiftly. For non-technical users, the software includes Markdown support and WYSIWYG editing, while more technically inclined users can take advantage of advanced functions and integrations. You can integrate the platform with a variety of third-party tools and services, such as authentication providers and version control systems.

Wiki.js features:

• 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.

AppFlowy

AppFlowy is an open-source workspace that brings together project management, wikis, and team collaboration in a single platform. Positioned as a modern alternative to XWiki, it focuses on giving organizations full control over their data while still delivering a polished and user-friendly experience. Built with Rust, AppFlowy is designed to be fast, secure, and highly extensible.

Where XWiki can feel heavy and difficult to maintain, AppFlowy emphasizes simplicity and flexibility. Its block-based editor allows teams to create rich documents, organize them hierarchically, and link knowledge seamlessly. Real-time collaboration comes built in, enabling teams to co-author documents without version conflicts or refresh cycles. The platform also supports kanban boards, tables, and databases, making it useful not just for documentation but also for managing tasks and projects in the same workspace.

Appflowy features:

• Offline first: AppFlowy is designed to work seamlessly without an internet connection.
• File attachments: Upload and attach files or images directly to your pages, helping you keep all relevant content in one place.
• Rich text editor: Offers a powerful block-based editor that supports various content types including text, laTex, to-do lists and more.
• Cross-platform support: Available on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux.
• Kanban board: Visualize and manage tasks using built-in Kanban boards for flexible and intuitive project tracking.

Affine

Affine is a modern open-source knowledge management and collaboration platform that blends structured documents, whiteboards, and databases into one unified tool. Unlike traditional wiki systems such as XWiki, which rely heavily on hierarchical page structures and complex configurations, Affine emphasizes flexibility and simplicity for day-to-day use.

One of Affine’s standout capabilities is its real-time collaboration. Teams can co-author documents simultaneously, see edits as they happen, and avoid the save-and-refresh cycle that slows down platforms like XWiki. Its block-based editor supports both structured text and visual layouts, allowing users to switch between writing documents and sketching ideas on an infinite canvas. This duality makes Affine appealing to teams that want both traditional wiki documentation and free-form whiteboarding in a single tool.

Affine features:

• Real-time collaboration: Edit documents and boards simultaneously with teammates, complete with live cursors and instant updates.
• Whiteboard mode: Switch from structured text to a canvas-style whiteboard for brainstorming, diagramming, or visual planning.
• Offline support: Work locally and sync changes when you’re back online.
• Cross-platform: Available on web, desktop, and mobile, with seamless synchronization across devices.