Helpy 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?
Helpy
Open-source helpdesk and knowledge base platform
VS
MediaWiki
The wiki engine that powers Wikipedia
| Feature | Helpy | MediaWiki |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,481 | ★ 5,135 |
| First released | 2015 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Zendesk, Help Scout | Confluence, Notion |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Helpy or MediaWiki better?
Neither is universally better. MediaWiki has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Helpy and MediaWiki free and open-source?
Yes. Helpy is licensed under MIT and MediaWiki under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Helpy and MediaWiki with Docker?
Helpy: yes. MediaWiki: yes.