MediaWiki vs WikidPad
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
WikidPad
Single-user wiki notebook for thoughts and ideas
| Feature | MediaWiki | WikidPad |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | GPL-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,135 | ★ 209 |
| First released | 2002 | 2005 |
| Replaces | Confluence, Notion | OneNote, Evernote |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is MediaWiki or WikidPad better?
Neither is universally better. MediaWiki has the larger community, while WikidPad is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are MediaWiki and WikidPad free and open-source?
Yes. MediaWiki is licensed under GPL-2.0 and WikidPad under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MediaWiki and WikidPad with Docker?
MediaWiki: yes. WikidPad: check the project docs for container support.