Craft vs Docs
Docs is a credible open-source replacement for Craft’s document-writing and knowledge-base workflows, especially where self-hosting and data control matter. Its documented scope is narrower: choose Docs for collaborative, structured documents and sub-documents; choose Craft if calendars, tasks, daily notes, whiteboards, templates, or dedicated cross-device apps are central to the workspace.
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose Docs if
- Organizations that must self-host documents on Docker Compose or Kubernetes
- Teams collaboratively editing structured documents with comments, sharing, permissions, search, and version history
- Knowledge-base workflows built around nested documents and sub-documents rather than project-planning modules or whiteboards-based planning workflows utilization workflows using whiteboards for project planning workflows
Stay with Craft if
- Calendar planning is required; no equivalent is documented for Docs
- Tasks and reminders are required alongside documents; no equivalent is documented for Docs
- Daily-note or journal workflows are central; no equivalent is documented for Docs management workflows wherein daily notes and journals are integrated into the platform; Docs does not document these features
Deployment and operations
Docs is MIT-licensed and can be self-hosted with Docker Compose or Kubernetes; Nix and YunoHost are community-provided options, and public instances are also available. Its contributor setup requires Docker, Docker Compose, and GNU Make. Some advanced features, including PDF export, depend on GPL-licensed BlockNote XL packages that are not MIT-compatible; the documented PUBLISH_AS_MIT=true build excludes those features. The README recommends rerunning the bootstrap command after pulling new code
Migration considerations
Docs documents import from .docx and .md, with export to .docx, .odt, and .pdf. No direct Craft importer or assurance that Craft document structure, tasks, calendars, whiteboards, or metadata will transfer is documented, so migration would require testing through a mutually usable file format.
Feature fit
What Docs covers
- Notes refined into shareable documents
- Structured, block-based documents
- Nested document organization
- External sharing and access controls
- API-based integrations
What’s different or missing
- No documented calendar planning
- No documented tasks or reminders
- No documented daily journal
- No documented whiteboards
- No documented template library
- No documented native device apps
- No documented Craft-specific importer
Project snapshot
- GitHub stars
- 16,725
- Contributors
- 81
- Language
- Python
- Last commit
- Aug 14, 2026
- Latest release
- Jul 9, 2026
Categories: Document Collaboration, AI Assistants, Project Management, Knowledge Management, Search Engines, Digital Whiteboards
Sources and editorial review11 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
Docs is an open-source collaborative editor that helps teams write, organize, and share knowledge together - in real time.
readme · github.comReal-time collaboration; Clean, structured documents; Knowledge organization; Data ownership & self-hosting
readme · github.com- Comments & sharing - Granular access control
readme · github.com- Subpages & hierarchy - Searchable content
readme · github.comDocs supports Kubernetes, Docker Compose, and community-provided methods such as Nix and YunoHost.
readme · github.comDocs comes with a resource server API and a server to server API which allows for awesome integrations.
readme · github.comDocs is an open-source text editor: web-native, made for real-time collaboration, cleanly structured documents and sub-documents with full ownership of your data.
verdict · github.comDocs is an open-source collaborative editor that helps teams write, organize, and share knowledge together - in real time.
shared feature · github.comDocs supports Kubernetes, Docker Compose, and community-provided methods such as Nix and YunoHost.
deployment · github.comSome advanced features (for example: `Export as PDF`) rely on XL packages from Blocknote. > These packages are licensed under GPL and are **not MIT-compatible**
deployment · github.com- Import to `.docx` and `.md` - Export to `.docx`, `.odt`, `.pdf`
migration · github.com
