Gollum vs Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Gollum | Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | LGPL-2.1 |
| 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 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2010 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | Confluence, SharePoint |
What are Gollum and Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware?
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
Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware
Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware is an open-source platform combining a wiki, CMS, forums, and groupware features in a single application. It is known for having a very large set of built-in features.
- Wiki, CMS, and groupware in one
- Huge built-in feature set
- Forums and trackers
- Granular permissions
Gollum vs Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware: key differences
Gollum is written in Ruby, while Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Gollum versus LGPL-2.1 for Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware. Gollum is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware. Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware is the more established project (first released 2002), while Gollum arrived in 2010. Gollum has the considerably larger community, at 14,330 GitHub stars versus 300.
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 Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware if…
- Everything included out of the box
- No add-ons needed for most needs
Watch out for
- Can feel overwhelming
- Interface is dated
Frequently asked questions
Is Gollum or Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware 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 Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware free and open-source?
Yes. Gollum is licensed under MIT and Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gollum and Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware with Docker?
Gollum: yes. Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Gollum or Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware?
Gollum has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.