MDwiki 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?
MDwiki
CMS-free wiki that renders Markdown in the browser
VS
MediaWiki
The wiki engine that powers Wikipedia
| Feature | MDwiki | MediaWiki |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,191 | ★ 5,135 |
| First released | 2013 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Confluence | Confluence, Notion |
Why pick each one
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 MDwiki or MediaWiki better?
Neither is universally better. MediaWiki has the larger community, while MDwiki is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are MDwiki and MediaWiki free and open-source?
Yes. MDwiki is licensed under GPL-3.0 and MediaWiki under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MDwiki and MediaWiki with Docker?
MDwiki: check the project docs for container support. MediaWiki: yes.