SHSelfHostIndex

Django Wiki vs Realms Wiki

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
DJ Django Wiki Wiki application for the Django web framework VS RE Realms Wiki Git-backed wiki that stores pages as Markdown
FeatureDjango WikiRealms Wiki
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score85 · Excellent16 · At risk
CategoryWikis & DocumentationWikis & Documentation
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguagePythonPython
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, source, dockerdocker, source
GitHub stars★ 1,936★ 824
First released20132014
ReplacesConfluence, MediaWikiConfluence

What are Django Wiki and Realms Wiki?

Django Wiki

Django Wiki is a wiki engine implemented as a reusable Django application, offering Markdown editing, revision history, and a permission system. It can be embedded into existing Django projects or run as a standalone site.

  • Markdown editing
  • Revision history
  • Granular permissions
  • Pluggable architecture

Realms Wiki

Realms Wiki is a lightweight, self-hosted wiki that stores all pages as Markdown files in a Git repository. This gives full version history and lets pages be edited either through the web UI or directly in Git.

  • Git-backed pages
  • Markdown editing
  • Full version history
  • Simple web UI

Django Wiki vs Realms Wiki: key differences

Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Django Wiki versus GPL-2.0 for Realms Wiki. Django Wiki has the considerably larger community, at 1,936 GitHub stars versus 824.

Why pick each one

Choose Django Wiki if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Python
Django Wiki details

Choose Realms Wiki if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM

Watch out for

  • Maintenance has slowed
  • Basic feature set
Realms Wiki details

Frequently asked questions

Is Django Wiki or Realms Wiki better?

Neither is universally better. Django Wiki has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Django Wiki and Realms Wiki free and open-source?

Yes. Django Wiki is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Realms Wiki under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Django Wiki and Realms Wiki with Docker?

Django Wiki: yes. Realms Wiki: yes.

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