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MediaWiki

The open-source wiki engine behind Wikipedia, built for large, multilingual wikis.

Open sourceSelf-hostableWiki and knowledge base tools
Visit MediaWikiSee 5 alternatives
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About MediaWiki

MediaWiki is the free, server-based wiki software developed by the Wikimedia community for Wikipedia and its sister projects. It is also used by tens of thousands of other sites, from fan and gaming wikis to company knowledge bases and research projects. It is built to scale: categories, templates, talk pages, detailed page histories, user rights and a vast catalogue of extensions handle everything from structured data to visual editing and single sign-on. It is written in PHP and usually runs with MySQL or MariaDB. For a small team it can feel like a lot, because configuration happens in PHP files, extensions need to be installed and kept compatible by hand, and wikitext markup takes some learning, though the VisualEditor extension makes editing friendlier. It is completely free under the GPL, with optional paid hosting and consulting available from third parties. It suits public or community wikis and organisations that want Wikipedia-style collaboration and are comfortable running servers.

Best for: Large public or community wikis that want Wikipedia-style editing and history.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Proven at Wikipedia scale
  • Huge library of extensions and templates
  • Strong multilingual support

Why people leave

  • Configuration and upgrades are hands-on
  • Wikitext and templates have a learning curve
  • Not designed for private team permissions out of the box

Top MediaWiki alternatives

See all 5
  1. 1Confluence logo
    Confluence

    Hosted, managed wiki for companies that don't want to run servers.

    70.3
  2. 2DokuWiki logo
    DokuWiki

    Much lighter to run for small wikis, with no database.

    66.5
  3. 3Wiki.js logo
    Wiki.js

    Modern Markdown wiki with simpler setup and group permissions.

    62.6
  4. 4XWiki logo
    XWiki

    Enterprise-oriented open-source wiki with MediaWiki migration support.

    59.6
  5. 5BookStack logo
    BookStack

    Easier for private team docs with built-in fine-grained permissions.

    57.2

Why people left MediaWiki

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from MediaWiki, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

Reviews

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MediaWiki: common questions

Is MediaWiki free?

Yes. MediaWiki is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is MediaWiki open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at wikimedia/mediawiki. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does MediaWiki run on?

MediaWiki is available for Web and Self-hosted.

What are the best alternatives to MediaWiki?

The highest-ranked MediaWiki alternatives right now are Confluence, DokuWiki and Wiki.js. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 MediaWiki alternatives