SHSelfHostIndex

DokuWiki vs MDwiki

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 MD MDwiki CMS-free wiki that renders Markdown in the browser
FeatureDokuWikiMDwiki
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseWikis & Documentation
LicenseGPL-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguagePHPJavaScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 4,694★ 3,191
First released20042013
ReplacesConfluenceConfluence

Why pick each one

Choose DokuWiki if…

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

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
MDwiki details

Frequently asked questions

Is DokuWiki or MDwiki 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 MDwiki free and open-source?

Yes. DokuWiki is licensed under GPL-2.0 and MDwiki under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run DokuWiki and MDwiki with Docker?

DokuWiki: yes. MDwiki: check the project docs for container support.

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