MediaWiki vs MoinMoin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | MediaWiki | MoinMoin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 73 · Good |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,174 | ★ 373 |
| First released | 2002 | 2000 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | Confluence |
What are MediaWiki and MoinMoin?
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is the free, open-source wiki software developed for and used by Wikipedia. It is built to handle large collaborative knowledge bases with powerful templating, extensions, and revision history.
- Powers Wikipedia at scale
- Powerful template system
- Vast extension library
- Full revision history
MoinMoin
MoinMoin is an open-source wiki engine written in Python with a focus on being easy to use yet extensible. It stores pages as files and supports access control, themes, and a plugin macro system.
- File-based page storage
- Access control lists
- Macro and plugin system
- Theming support
MediaWiki vs MoinMoin: key differences
MediaWiki is written in PHP, while MoinMoin is built with Python. MoinMoin is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for MediaWiki. MoinMoin is the more established project (first released 2000), while MediaWiki arrived in 2002. MediaWiki has the considerably larger community, at 5,174 GitHub stars versus 373. MediaWiki lists first-class Docker deployment; MoinMoin does not.
Why pick each one
Choose MediaWiki if…
- Battle-tested at massive scale
- Huge extension ecosystem
Watch out for
- Wikitext has a learning curve
- Setup can be involved
Choose MoinMoin if…
- No database to manage
- Long-running, stable project
Watch out for
- Smaller modern community
- Dated interface in older versions
Frequently asked questions
Is MediaWiki or MoinMoin 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 MediaWiki and MoinMoin free and open-source?
Yes. MediaWiki is licensed under GPL-2.0 and MoinMoin under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MediaWiki and MoinMoin with Docker?
MediaWiki: yes. MoinMoin: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, MediaWiki or MoinMoin?
MoinMoin has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for MediaWiki. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.