Alternatives · Docs & Wikis
MediaWiki alternatives
MediaWiki compared with 5 alternatives: DokuWiki, XWiki, BookStack, Wiki.js and BlueSpice.
MediaWiki is free to use. All 5 alternatives are free or have a free plan.
5 tools · Listings checked up to Oct 9, 2026 · Where the facts come from
At a glance
How each one differs from MediaWiki
- Free
DokuWiki
Open-source wiki software that needs no database
- DokuWiki is free. MediaWiki is free.
Suits: Small teams that want a wiki without running a database
- Free plan · from €309/yr
XWiki
Open-source enterprise wiki with structured data and apps
- XWiki starts at 309 € per year for 10 users (Starter, XWiki Cloud only). MediaWiki is free.
- XWiki also covers databases.
Suits: Organizations that want an open-source alternative to Confluence
- Free plan · from £450/yr
BookStack
Free self-hosted wiki organized into books, chapters and pages
- BookStack starts at £450 per year for an optional support plan; the software itself is free. MediaWiki is free.
- BookStack also covers Markdown, templates and diagrams.
Suits: Teams that want a free wiki running on their own server
- Free
Wiki.js
Open-source wiki software built on Node.js with Git sync
- Wiki.js is free. MediaWiki is free.
- Wiki.js also covers Markdown and diagrams.
Suits: Developer teams that prefer writing documentation in Markdown
- Free plan · from $1,620/yr
BlueSpice
Open-source enterprise wiki built on MediaWiki
- BlueSpice starts at $1,620 per year for up to 25 users, cloud-hosted (about $5.40 per user / month). MediaWiki is free.
- BlueSpice also covers templates, diagrams and forms.
Suits: Organizations that want an open-source wiki with vendor support
Limits worth knowing in MediaWiki
- The manual says MediaWiki is often not suitable when access to part of a wiki must be restricted, because it was designed for open content.
- You host it yourself: it needs PHP 8.3 or later, web server software and a database such as MariaDB or MySQL, and ongoing security upgrades.
- It is optimized for very high-traffic sites and may not suit small sites where disk space or memory is the tighter limit.
- Hosting comes only from third parties: the site lists hosting services that the Wikimedia Foundation neither guarantees nor endorses.
Common questions
What are the alternatives to MediaWiki?
The alternatives to MediaWiki in this directory are DokuWiki, XWiki, BookStack, Wiki.js and BlueSpice. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with MediaWiki.
Is there a free alternative to MediaWiki?
Yes. DokuWiki and Wiki.js are free to use. XWiki, BookStack and BlueSpice have a free plan alongside paid ones.
When were these prices checked?
Each listing shows its own date. On this page they run from Oct 5, 2026 to Oct 9, 2026. Vendors change prices without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.