Feather Wiki vs MediaWiki
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?
Feather Wiki
Tiny single-file personal wiki for note taking
VS
MediaWiki
The wiki engine that powers Wikipedia
| Feature | Feather Wiki | MediaWiki |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 900 | ★ 5,135 |
| First released | 2021 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Notion, TiddlyWiki | Confluence, Notion |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Feather Wiki or MediaWiki better?
Neither is universally better. MediaWiki has the larger community, while Feather Wiki is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Feather Wiki and MediaWiki free and open-source?
Yes. Feather Wiki is licensed under MIT and MediaWiki under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Feather Wiki and MediaWiki with Docker?
Feather Wiki: check the project docs for container support. MediaWiki: yes.