MediaWiki logo

Alternatives to MediaWiki

MediaWiki is a free and open-source wiki software package written in PHP. It serves as the platform for Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, used by hundreds of millions of people each month. Find open source and proprietary alternatives that serve similar purposes.

License:NOASSERTION
Stars:4,678
Difficulty:Medium

Self-hosted alternatives to MediaWiki

Open source projects that can replace MediaWiki:

Wiki.js logo

Wiki.js

26,716
AGPL-3.0
Wiki.js screenshot

Wiki.js is a modern, powerful wiki platform designed for teams and organizations that need a comprehensive knowledge management solution. Built on Node.js, it combines the simplicity of traditional wikis with contemporary features and a beautiful, intuitive interface.

Key Features

  • Modern Editing Experience: Wiki.js provides multiple editing modes including a rich WYSIWYG editor, Markdown support, and a code editor for technical documentation. The platform offers real-time collaborative editing, making it easy for teams to work together on documentation.

  • Beautiful Themes & Customization: The platform comes with elegant, responsive themes that work perfectly across all devices. You can customize the appearance to match your brand or organizational style, ensuring your wiki integrates seamlessly with your existing tools.

  • Git-Based Storage: One of Wiki.js's standout features is its Git integration for content storage. This provides version control, backup capabilities, and the ability to sync content across multiple instances. Your documentation is stored as files that can be version-controlled just like code.

  • Flexible Authentication: Support for multiple authentication providers including LDAP, Active Directory, OAuth, and social logins makes it easy to integrate with existing organizational systems and user management workflows.

  • Powerful Search & Organization: Built-in full-text search capabilities help users quickly find the information they need. The platform supports hierarchical page organization, tags, and tags for logical content structure.

Who Should Use Wiki.js

Wiki.js is ideal for:

  • Development Teams who need technical documentation with code syntax highlighting and Git integration
  • Organizations requiring centralized knowledge management with role-based access controls
  • Educational Institutions looking for collaborative documentation platforms
  • Companies that want self-hosted solutions with enterprise-grade features

Getting Started

Wiki.js can be deployed via Docker for quick setup, or installed directly on servers running Node.js with database support for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, or SQLite. The platform provides comprehensive documentation and community support to help you get started.

Whether you're documenting APIs, creating team wikis, or building comprehensive knowledge bases, Wiki.js provides the tools and flexibility needed for modern collaborative documentation.

BookStack logo

BookStack

17,054
MIT
BookStack screenshot

BookStack is a self-hosted platform for creating documentation and organizing information in an intuitive book-like structure. It provides a simple yet powerful interface for teams and individuals to build comprehensive knowledge bases and documentation systems.

Key Features

Hierarchical Organization

  • Three-tier structure: Books, Chapters, and Pages
  • Drag-and-drop organization
  • Book and chapter templates
  • Cross-linking between content
  • Tag system for flexible categorization
  • Custom sorting and ordering

Rich Content Editing

  • WYSIWYG editor with live preview
  • Markdown editing support
  • Code syntax highlighting
  • Mathematical equation rendering
  • Drawing and diagram tools
  • Image and file attachments

User Management & Permissions

  • Role-based permission system
  • Granular access controls per book/chapter/page
  • User registration and authentication
  • LDAP and SAML integration
  • Social authentication (Google, GitHub, etc.)
  • Guest access controls

Search & Discovery

  • Full-text search across all content
  • Advanced search filters
  • Recent activity tracking
  • Watchlists for content monitoring
  • Popular content highlighting
  • Search result relevance ranking

Customization & Theming

  • Custom CSS and JavaScript injection
  • Theme customization options
  • Custom header and footer content
  • Configurable homepage layouts
  • Multi-language support
  • Custom favicon and branding

Integration Features

  • API for external integrations
  • Webhook support for automation
  • Export options (PDF, HTML, Plain Text)
  • Import from various formats
  • Backup and restore functionality
  • Activity logging and auditing

Administrative Tools

  • User activity monitoring
  • Content audit trails
  • System health monitoring
  • Maintenance mode
  • Database backup tools
  • Performance optimization settings

BookStack focuses on simplicity and usability while providing powerful features for content organization, making it an excellent choice for teams that need straightforward documentation without complexity overhead.

DokuWiki logo

DokuWiki

4,369
GPL-2.0

DokuWiki is a versatile, open-source wiki software written in PHP that focuses on simplicity and ease of use. Unlike many wiki platforms, it doesn't require a database, storing all content in plain text files. This approach makes it particularly easy to maintain, back up, and integrate into existing systems.

Key Features

  • Simple File System Storage:

    • No database required
    • Plain text file storage
    • Easy backup and version control
    • Simple to maintain and migrate
    • Efficient resource usage
  • Access Control & Authentication:

    • Built-in ACL system
    • Multiple authentication backends
    • LDAP/Active Directory support
    • User and group management
    • Page-level permissions
  • Clean Syntax & Editing:

    • Readable wiki syntax
    • WYSIWYG editor available
    • Syntax highlighting
    • Media management
    • File upload support
    • Version control of pages
  • Enterprise Integration:

    • Authentication connectors
    • Extensive plugin system
    • Template system
    • Multi-language support
    • XML/RSS feeds
    • Full text search

Who Should Use DokuWiki

DokuWiki is ideal for:

  • Corporate Teams needing a knowledge base
  • Development Projects requiring documentation
  • Educational Institutions seeking a learning platform
  • Small Organizations wanting easy maintenance
  • Personal Users desiring a simple wiki solution

Getting Started

DokuWiki offers straightforward deployment:

  1. Installation:

    • Download and extract files
    • Run install script
    • Configure basic settings
    • Start creating content
  2. Configuration:

    • Set up authentication
    • Configure access control
    • Customize appearance
    • Install needed plugins

The platform requires minimal system resources and maintenance while providing robust wiki functionality. Its file-based nature makes it particularly suitable for version control integration and backup procedures.

More wikis projects

Discover other open source projects in the wikis category:

Docmost
Docmost
Docmost is an open-source collaborative wiki and documentation software that provides real-time collaboration, diagrams support, and enterprise features as an alternative to Confluence and Notion.
wikidocumentation
Stars
16,529
Relative Popularity
68
License
AGPL-3.0
Gollum
Gollum
Gollum is a simple Git-based wiki system that allows for human-editable text/markup files, flexible organization, and support for multiple markup languages.
wikidocumentation
Stars
14,083
Relative Popularity
60
License
MIT
TiddlyWiki
TiddlyWiki
TiddlyWiki is a unique non-linear personal web notebook that anyone can use and keep forever, independently of any corporation. It's a complete interactive wiki in JavaScript that can be used as a single HTML file in the browser or as a Node.js application.
wikidocumentation
Stars
8,354
Relative Popularity
38
License
NOASSERTION
Raneto
Raneto
Raneto is a free, open-source Markdown-powered knowledge base platform built on Node.js. It uses static Markdown files to create documentation without requiring a database.
wikidocumentation
Stars
2,841
Relative Popularity
12
License
MIT
Documize
Documize
Documize is a modern, self-hosted, enterprise-grade knowledge management solution built with Go and EmberJS, designed to unify both customer-facing and internal documentation.
wikidocumentation
Stars
2,276
Relative Popularity
10
License
AGPL-3.0
Gitit
Gitit
Gitit is a wiki program written in Haskell that uses Happstack for the web server and pandoc for markup processing, with pages stored in git, darcs, or mercurial repositories.
wikidocumentation
Stars
2,216
Relative Popularity
10
License
GPL-2.0
Django Wiki
Django Wiki
Django Wiki is a mature wiki system built for Django that offers complex functionality with simple integration and a superb interface, using Django models as its foundation.
wikidocumentation
Stars
1,883
Relative Popularity
9
License
GPL-3.0
XWiki
XWiki
XWiki is an advanced open source enterprise wiki platform written in Java. It features a powerful WYSIWYG editor, strong rights management, and extensive customization capabilities through its extension system.
wikidocumentation
Stars
1,115
Relative Popularity
6
License
LGPL-2.1
OtterWiki
OtterWiki
An Otter Wiki is a minimalistic Python-based wiki software that stores content in git repositories and uses Markdown for markup. Built with Flask and featuring a clean interface with dark mode support.
wikidocumentation
Stars
952
Relative Popularity
4
License
MIT

Showing 1-9 of 13 projects in wikis

Explore by Category

Find more projects in these tags