When comparing Ikiwiki vs BookStack, the Slant community recommends BookStack for most people. In the question“What are the best multi-user wikis?” BookStack is ranked 9th while Ikiwiki is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose BookStack is:
The stock interface design has a modern feel and is simple for new users to use.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Supports multiple human-readable text markup languages
ikiwiki supports Markdown, Creole, reStructuredText and Textile.
Pro Good tagging system
Pro Built-in attachment versioning
Pro Can substitute talk pages with blog-style comments system
Pro Uses version control systems to store pages
ikiwiki stores pages in Git, SVN and other version control systems.
Pro Clean & simple default interface
The stock interface design has a modern feel and is simple for new users to use.
Pro Free and open source
Released under the MIT license.
Pro Full role and permissions system built in
Granular permissions can be set up for specific roles on a per-content basis and permissions will waterfall down to child content.
Pro Multilingual
Over 9 different languages are built in to BookStack which can be set at a per-profile level.
Pro Feature rich and stable
Markdown editing, syntax highlighting, WYSIWYG, keyboard shortcuts, versioning, SSO, LDAP, different roles, performant and fast developer response.
Pro Support for domain authentication
Can be deployed within an active directory environment with its features to connect over LDAP.
Pro Supports SSO using Google Apps
Very convenient when you're a company that uses Google Apps, that makes logging into Bookstack more secure and more convenient.
Cons
Con No email notifications
Con No WYSIWYG editor
Con Limited customisability
Customisation options are limited with only the main theme color, logo and name being customisable.
Con No support for readable markup languages
The content entered through the WYSIWIG editor is stored as HTML. The HTML can be edited directly, but no other markup language is parsed. Speak ReST, Markdown, etc.
Con Limited to 2 levels of content
Bookstack implements a "Book / Chapter / Page" system which works fine, but lacks flexibility when you need to have more levels of imbrication.
Con Complicated installation
The current installation process involves many steps and may be a lot to take in for people not familiar with setting up Laravel applications.