LeafWiki vs MDwiki
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?
LeafWiki
Lightweight self-hosted wiki with Markdown stored on disk
VS
MDwiki
CMS-free wiki that renders Markdown in the browser
| Feature | LeafWiki | MDwiki |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 997 | ★ 3,191 |
| First released | 2024 | 2013 |
| Replaces | DokuWiki, Confluence | Confluence |
Why pick each one
Choose LeafWiki if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Choose MDwiki if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (3.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is LeafWiki or MDwiki better?
Neither is universally better. MDwiki has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are LeafWiki and MDwiki free and open-source?
Yes. LeafWiki is licensed under MIT and MDwiki under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LeafWiki and MDwiki with Docker?
LeafWiki: yes. MDwiki: check the project docs for container support.