SHSelfHostIndex

DokuWiki vs LeafWiki

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
DO DokuWiki Simple, file-based wiki without a database VS LE LeafWiki Lightweight self-hosted wiki with Markdown stored on disk
FeatureDokuWikiLeafWiki
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseWikis & Documentation
LicenseGPL-2.0MIT
LanguagePHPGo
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 4,694★ 997
First released20042024
ReplacesConfluenceDokuWiki, Confluence

Why pick each one

Choose DokuWiki if…

  • Trivial to back up
  • Very stable and mature
  • Low resource needs
DokuWiki details

Choose LeafWiki if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Go
LeafWiki details

Frequently asked questions

Is DokuWiki or LeafWiki better?

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

Are DokuWiki and LeafWiki free and open-source?

Yes. DokuWiki is licensed under GPL-2.0 and LeafWiki under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run DokuWiki and LeafWiki with Docker?

DokuWiki: yes. LeafWiki: yes.

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