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Migration guide

How to migrate from Confluence to BookStack

Unlike Outline, {to} organizes content in a fixed hierarchy of books, chapters, and pages — the hardest part of migrating isn't the text, it's deciding how to map {from}'s spaces onto that structure.

  1. 1

    Plan your book and chapter hierarchy before exporting

    BookStack organizes everything as Books → Chapters → Pages, a stricter hierarchy than Confluence's spaces. Before exporting, decide which space becomes which book — this avoids reorganizing everything after import.

  2. 2

    Export each page from Confluence as HTML or Markdown

    Export page by page or a full space from Confluence's export menu. BookStack's WYSIWYG editor imports HTML more reliably than Markdown for content with tables or complex formatting.

  3. 3

    Create the book structure in BookStack and import the content

    Create the empty books and chapters first, following your plan from step 1, then paste or import each exported page's content into its matching spot.

  4. 4

    Set granular permissions per book or chapter

    BookStack supports granular permissions at the book, chapter, or individual page level — review who had access to each space in Confluence and recreate it at that same level of detail.

Before cancelling Confluence

Before cancelling Confluence, verify images and attachments imported correctly on each page — BookStack's WYSIWYG editor handles them differently from Confluence's attachment macros.

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These steps are a general guideline — the exact export menu can vary depending on Confluence's plan and version.

Frequently asked questions

How does BookStack differ from Outline as a Confluence alternative?

BookStack organizes content in a fixed hierarchy of books, chapters, and pages — simpler and more predictable than Confluence's or Outline's spaces. It's MIT licensed (Outline uses BUSL-1.1, not OSI) and runs on PHP/Laravel with MySQL, a lighter stack.

Does BookStack support granular permissions?

Yes, at the book, chapter, or individual page level — useful for replicating who had access to which space in Confluence.

What happens to attachments and images when migrating?

They import along with each page's HTML content, but BookStack's editor handles them differently from Confluence's attachment macros — it's worth reviewing each page after import, not just the text.