Gollum vs phpMyFAQ
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Gollum | phpMyFAQ |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 51 · Fair | 76 · Good |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,330 | ★ 620 |
| First released | 2010 | 2001 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | Zendesk Guide, Confluence |
What are Gollum and phpMyFAQ?
Gollum
Gollum is an open-source wiki system built on top of Git, where every page is a file in a Git repository. It powers the wikis found on GitHub and supports many markup languages.
- Git-backed page storage
- Multiple markup languages
- Powers GitHub wikis
- Full history via Git
phpMyFAQ
phpMyFAQ is a mature open-source FAQ and knowledge base system written in PHP. It supports multi-language content, categories, user permissions, and a powerful search for building help centers.
- FAQ-focused knowledge base
- Multi-language content
- Granular permissions
- Powerful search
Gollum vs phpMyFAQ: key differences
Gollum is written in Ruby, while phpMyFAQ is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Gollum versus MPL-2.0 for phpMyFAQ. Gollum is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for phpMyFAQ. PhpMyFAQ is the more established project (first released 2001), while Gollum arrived in 2010. Gollum has the considerably larger community, at 14,330 GitHub stars versus 620.
Why pick each one
Choose Gollum if…
- Pages are plain files in Git
- Easy version control
Watch out for
- No fine-grained ACLs
- Ruby toolchain required
Choose phpMyFAQ if…
- Purpose-built for help centers
- Mature and stable
Watch out for
- Interface feels dated
- Less suited to free-form wikis
Frequently asked questions
Is Gollum or phpMyFAQ better?
Neither is universally better. Gollum has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Gollum and phpMyFAQ free and open-source?
Yes. Gollum is licensed under MIT and phpMyFAQ under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gollum and phpMyFAQ with Docker?
Gollum: yes. phpMyFAQ: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Gollum or phpMyFAQ?
Gollum has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for phpMyFAQ. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.