Foswiki 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?
Foswiki
Structured wiki and enterprise collaboration platform
VS
MediaWiki
The wiki engine that powers Wikipedia
| Feature | Foswiki | MediaWiki |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Perl | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 118 | ★ 5,135 |
| First released | 2008 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Confluence | Confluence, Notion |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Foswiki or MediaWiki better?
MediaWiki is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Foswiki if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Foswiki and MediaWiki free and open-source?
Yes. Foswiki is licensed under GPL-3.0 and MediaWiki under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Foswiki and MediaWiki with Docker?
Foswiki: yes. MediaWiki: yes.