LeafWiki vs Realms Wiki
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
LeafWiki
Lightweight self-hosted wiki with Markdown stored on disk
VS
Realms Wiki
Git-backed wiki that stores pages as Markdown
| Feature | LeafWiki | Realms Wiki |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 16 · At risk |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,149 | ★ 824 |
| First released | 2024 | 2014 |
| Replaces | DokuWiki, Confluence | Confluence |
What are LeafWiki and Realms Wiki?
LeafWiki
LeafWiki is a lightweight self-hosted wiki for long-lived documentation that stores Markdown pages on disk in a tree structure. It ships as a single Go binary with SQLite and supports tables, task lists, footnotes, and Mermaid diagrams.
- Single Go binary deployment
- Markdown pages stored on disk
- Tree-based page organization
- Mermaid diagram support
Realms Wiki
Realms Wiki is a lightweight, self-hosted wiki that stores all pages as Markdown files in a Git repository. This gives full version history and lets pages be edited either through the web UI or directly in Git.
- Git-backed pages
- Markdown editing
- Full version history
- Simple web UI
LeafWiki vs Realms Wiki: key differences
LeafWiki is written in Go, while Realms Wiki is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for LeafWiki versus GPL-2.0 for Realms Wiki. LeafWiki is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Realms Wiki. Realms Wiki is the more established project (first released 2014), while LeafWiki arrived in 2024.
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
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
Choose Realms Wiki if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Maintenance has slowed
- Basic feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is LeafWiki or Realms Wiki better?
LeafWiki is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Realms Wiki if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are LeafWiki and Realms Wiki free and open-source?
Yes. LeafWiki is licensed under MIT and Realms Wiki under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LeafWiki and Realms Wiki with Docker?
LeafWiki: yes. Realms Wiki: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, LeafWiki or Realms Wiki?
LeafWiki has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Realms Wiki. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.