MediaWiki vs Otter Wiki
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?
MediaWiki
The wiki engine that powers Wikipedia
VS
Otter Wiki
Lightweight Git-backed documentation wiki
| Feature | MediaWiki | Otter Wiki |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,135 | ★ 1,494 |
| First released | 2002 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | Confluence, Notion |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is MediaWiki or Otter Wiki better?
Neither is universally better. MediaWiki has the larger community, while Otter Wiki is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are MediaWiki and Otter Wiki free and open-source?
Yes. MediaWiki is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Otter Wiki under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MediaWiki and Otter Wiki with Docker?
MediaWiki: yes. Otter Wiki: yes.