MediaWiki vs Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | MediaWiki | Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | GPL-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,174 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2002 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | Confluence, SharePoint |
What are MediaWiki and Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware?
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
Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware
Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware is an open-source platform combining a wiki, CMS, forums, and groupware features in a single application. It is known for having a very large set of built-in features.
- Wiki, CMS, and groupware in one
- Huge built-in feature set
- Forums and trackers
- Granular permissions
MediaWiki vs Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for MediaWiki versus LGPL-2.1 for Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware. MediaWiki has the considerably larger community, at 5,174 GitHub stars versus 300.
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 Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware if…
- Everything included out of the box
- No add-ons needed for most needs
Watch out for
- Can feel overwhelming
- Interface is dated
Frequently asked questions
Is MediaWiki or Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware 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 Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware free and open-source?
Yes. MediaWiki is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MediaWiki and Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware with Docker?
MediaWiki: yes. Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware: yes.