LeafWiki vs MkDocs
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
MkDocs
Documentation site generator for technical teams
| Feature | LeafWiki | MkDocs |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 997 | ★ 22,317 |
| First released | 2024 | 2014 |
| Replaces | DokuWiki, Confluence | Confluence, GitBook |
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
Frequently asked questions
Is LeafWiki or MkDocs better?
Neither is universally better. MkDocs has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are LeafWiki and MkDocs free and open-source?
Yes. LeafWiki is licensed under MIT and MkDocs under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LeafWiki and MkDocs with Docker?
LeafWiki: yes. MkDocs: check the project docs for container support.