Docusaurus vs MDwiki
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Docusaurus
Documentation website generator built with React
VS
MDwiki
CMS-free wiki that renders Markdown in the browser
| Feature | Docusaurus | MDwiki |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 19 · At risk |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 66,326 | ★ 3,187 |
| First released | 2017 | 2013 |
| Replaces | GitBook, Confluence | Confluence |
What are Docusaurus and MDwiki?
Docusaurus
Docusaurus is an open-source static site generator focused on building documentation websites quickly. It is built with React, supports versioning, internationalization, and Markdown-based content.
- React-powered docs sites
- Built-in versioning
- Internationalization support
- Plugin ecosystem
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
Docusaurus vs MDwiki: key differences
Docusaurus is written in TypeScript, while MDwiki is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Docusaurus versus GPL-3.0 for MDwiki. MDwiki is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Docusaurus. MDwiki is the more established project (first released 2013), while Docusaurus arrived in 2017. Docusaurus has the considerably larger community, at 66,326 GitHub stars versus 3,187.
Why pick each one
Choose Docusaurus if…
- Great for versioned docs
- Strong community and themes
Watch out for
- No web-based editing
- Requires Node tooling
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 Docusaurus or MDwiki better?
Neither is universally better. Docusaurus has the larger community, while MDwiki is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Docusaurus and MDwiki free and open-source?
Yes. Docusaurus is licensed under MIT and MDwiki under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Docusaurus and MDwiki with Docker?
Docusaurus: check the project docs for container support. MDwiki: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Docusaurus or MDwiki?
MDwiki has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Docusaurus. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.