Doctave vs MDwiki
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Doctave | MDwiki |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 12 · At risk | 19 · At risk |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 670 | ★ 3,188 |
| First released | 2021 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Confluence, GitBook | Confluence |
What are Doctave and MDwiki?
Doctave
Doctave is an opinionated documentation site generator that builds fast static documentation sites from Markdown files. It includes built-in search, Mermaid diagram support, and live preview without requiring complex configuration.
- Markdown documentation
- Built-in search
- Mermaid diagrams
- Live preview server
MDwiki
MDwiki is a completely client-side wiki engine that renders a set of Markdown files into a navigable site without any server-side processing or database. Pages are loaded and rendered on demand directly in the browser.
- Pure client-side rendering
- No server logic
- Markdown content
- Themeable layout
Doctave vs MDwiki: key differences
Doctave is written in Rust, while MDwiki is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Doctave versus GPL-3.0 for MDwiki. MDwiki is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Doctave. MDwiki is the more established project (first released 2013), while Doctave arrived in 2021. MDwiki has the considerably larger community, at 3,188 GitHub stars versus 670.
Why pick each one
Choose Doctave if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Static output only
- Limited theming
Choose MDwiki if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (3.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Doctave or MDwiki better?
Neither is universally better. MDwiki has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Doctave and MDwiki free and open-source?
Yes. Doctave is licensed under MIT and MDwiki under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Doctave and MDwiki with Docker?
Doctave: check the project docs for container support. MDwiki: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Doctave or MDwiki?
MDwiki has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Doctave. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.