MediaWiki vs Read the Docs
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | MediaWiki | Read the Docs |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,174 | ★ 8,390 |
| First released | 2002 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | GitBook, Confluence |
What are MediaWiki and Read the Docs?
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
Read the Docs
Read the Docs is an open-source documentation hosting platform that automatically builds and versions documentation from a Git repository. The community edition can be self-hosted for internal docs.
- Automatic docs builds from Git
- Version and language management
- Webhook-triggered rebuilds
- Full-text search
MediaWiki vs Read the Docs: key differences
MediaWiki is written in PHP, while Read the Docs is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for MediaWiki versus MIT for Read the Docs. MediaWiki is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Read the Docs. MediaWiki is the more established project (first released 2002), while Read the Docs arrived in 2010.
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 Read the Docs if…
- Great for versioned project docs
- Automated build pipeline
Watch out for
- Complex to self-host
- Heavier resource needs
Frequently asked questions
Is MediaWiki or Read the Docs better?
Neither is universally better. Read the Docs has the larger community, while MediaWiki is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are MediaWiki and Read the Docs free and open-source?
Yes. MediaWiki is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Read the Docs under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MediaWiki and Read the Docs with Docker?
MediaWiki: yes. Read the Docs: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, MediaWiki or Read the Docs?
MediaWiki has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Read the Docs. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.