Read the Docs vs Realms Wiki
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted wikis & documentation options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Read the Docs | Realms Wiki |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 16 · At risk |
| Category | Wikis & Documentation | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,390 | ★ 824 |
| First released | 2010 | 2014 |
| Replaces | GitBook, Confluence | Confluence |
What are Read the Docs and Realms Wiki?
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
Realms Wiki
Realms Wiki is a lightweight, self-hosted wiki that stores all pages as Markdown files in a Git repository. This gives full version history and lets pages be edited either through the web UI or directly in Git.
- Git-backed pages
- Markdown editing
- Full version history
- Simple web UI
Read the Docs vs Realms Wiki: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — MIT for Read the Docs versus GPL-2.0 for Realms Wiki. Realms Wiki is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Read the Docs. Read the Docs is the more established project (first released 2010), while Realms Wiki arrived in 2014. Read the Docs has the considerably larger community, at 8,390 GitHub stars versus 824.
Why pick each one
Choose Read the Docs if…
- Great for versioned project docs
- Automated build pipeline
Watch out for
- Complex to self-host
- Heavier resource needs
Choose Realms Wiki if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Maintenance has slowed
- Basic feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is Read the Docs or Realms Wiki better?
Neither is universally better. Read the Docs has the larger community, while Realms Wiki is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Read the Docs and Realms Wiki free and open-source?
Yes. Read the Docs is licensed under MIT and Realms Wiki under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Read the Docs and Realms Wiki with Docker?
Read the Docs: yes. Realms Wiki: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Read the Docs or Realms Wiki?
Realms Wiki has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 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.