Should I self-host Slab?

KINDAworth it if…

Slab is a lovely wiki at $6.67/seat; BookStack is a solid wiki at $0/seat. Same honest caveat as Confluence: the tool swap is easy, the knowledge-base migration and team adoption are the actual cost.

The math (nothing hidden, including your time)

Slab (Startup, per seat)	$6.67/mo
VPS share + storage	−$0.50/mo
Your maintenance: 25 min/mo at $20/h	−$8.33/mo
Net saving	$-2.16/mo
Setup: 15 min measured (one-time)	$5.00
Break-even	never
Markup Index (price ÷ real self-host cost)	0.8×

What's your hour worth? $20/h$0/h = "my homelab time is free and I love it" — a legitimate position

Price: source, checked 2026-08-06. Inputs are stored in git; every number above is derived, never hand-written.

What you lose

Slab's editor polish and search quality

What you're paying Slab for

team knowledge base
editor & topics
integrations
search

BookStack running from the boot-verified compose file — BookStack, running from the compose file on this page — screenshot from our verified instance, not marketing material.

Ranked alternatives

1. BookStack

A team wiki organised into shelves, books, chapters and pages, on a hostname you own and a database you can dump.

BookStackApp/BookStack · ★ 18,980 · last commit 0d ago · MIT

2. Docmost

Spaces, nested pages and an editor two people can type in at once, with every word in a Postgres you can dump.

docmost/docmost · ★ 21,316 · last commit 0d ago · AGPL-3.0

Hardware

Runs comfortably on a real VPS (2 GB+).

Verification

Protocol v1 · verified by zernonia on 2026-08-10 · setup measured at 15 min · AI assistant: claude-code (allowed & stated)

Full timed log

# Slab — verdict log

- **Date:** 2026-08-10
- **Verdict:** KINDA — worth it if…
- **Protocol:** v1 (2GB reference env, Docker preinstalled, AI assistant: claude-code)

## Why no compose file

- This verdict is decided by economics/capability, not setup effort — the rubric doesn't require a timed install to conclude the subscription should stay (or that the replacement's cost lives elsewhere, e.g. GPUs, egress, or an installer script).

## The call

Slab is a lovely wiki at $6.67/seat; BookStack is a solid wiki at $0/seat. Same honest caveat as Confluence: the tool swap is easy, the knowledge-base migration and team adoption are the actual cost.

Verdict history

2026-08-10: unscored → KINDA — Initial verdict: Slab is a lovely wiki at $6.67/seat; BookStack is a solid wiki at $0/seat.