MediaWiki vs Wikidot (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MediaWiki and Wikidot share a 2.6 GPA, both have a free plan, and MediaWiki has no paid plan to buy, against $4.16 a month when paid by the year for Wikidot.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
MediaWiki grades higher on the free plan. Wikidot grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Wikidot
Hosted wiki sites with free and paid accounts
Which one is for you
Pick MediaWiki if
- Fits if you're building a large public wiki or an encyclopedia-style reference site
- Works for organizations with a server administrator to install and update it
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if parts of your wiki must stay private, because the manual says it was designed for open content
- Not for you if nobody can look after PHP 8.3, a web server, a database and regular security upgrades
- Tight if your server is short on disk space or memory, since it's tuned for very high-traffic sites
- Watch out: hosting comes only from third parties the Wikimedia Foundation neither guarantees nor endorses
- Not for you if you want phone apps or ready-made integrations: none are on record, and extensions may be unmaintained
Pick Wikidot if
- Fits if you run a community wiki or hobby project on a tight budget
- Works for a small group that wants a private wiki for up to 5 members free
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: free accounts show ads you cannot control
- Tight if you want an API or custom layout, as both are paid
- Watch out: prices are in US dollars for customers outside the EU, and EU customers see euro prices with 23% VAT
- Watch out: Community Sites cannot be made private and are only for approved sites
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAMediaWikiGood | 2.6GPAWikidotGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree of charge under the GNU General Public License, with no paid edition and nothing to upgrade to. You pay for a server and nothing else, and it comes with no warranty. | APro Lite is $49.90 a year, about $4.16 a month, under 60% of the category's cheapest quarter at $4.20. Pro is $119.90 and Pro Plus $239.90 a year. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright. The full software is a download for your own server, and help comes from the community support desk. There is no paid tier to be nudged towards. | BA free account with 5 sites, 300 MB per site, unlimited pages and revisions, and private sites for up to 5 members. Ads are shown with no control over them. |
| Features | CWikitext or the bundled VisualEditor, a full history of every revision, extensions, an API and room for millions of hits a day. The gap is a big one, and the manual says it: MediaWiki is often not suitable when access to part of a wiki must be restricted. Third-party extensions may also be unmaintained. | CWiki pages with full history, members and roles, themes and domains, and private sites. Gaps: the XML-RPC API and custom layout are paid, and extra sites and storage are sold in packs. |
| Ease of use | DYou host it yourself. It needs PHP 8.3 or later, web server software, a database such as MariaDB or MySQL, and ongoing security upgrades. Ready-made hosting comes only from third parties the Wikimedia Foundation doesn't endorse. | CNo store rating on record. Wikidot has its own markup and layout to learn, and permissions and themes are yours to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | CA browser and nothing else: no phone or desktop app, and no integrations at all on record. The Action API is the one way in for programs, letting them log in, read data and post changes over HTTP. | CWeb only, with an XML-RPC API on the paid plans. No apps or integrations are listed. |
| Best for | large public wikis that anyone can read | hosted wikis for communities and small teams |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: MediaWiki and Wikidot. How we grade
Price against what you get
MediaWiki has no paid plan and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Wikidot starts at $4.16 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
Wikidot scores higher, and starts $4.16 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other docs and wiki tools on the chart, none scores higher than MediaWiki for less, and 5 score higher than Wikidot for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- MediaWiki is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| MediaWiki | Wikidot | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $49.90 per year |
| Free plan | The software is free of charge and licensed under version 2 or later of the GNU General Public License, with no warranty. | Free account: 5 sites, 300 MB of storage per site, unlimited pages and revisions, private sites with up to 5 members, community support. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Wikimedia Foundation | Wikidot Inc. |
| Price read from | mediawiki.org | wikidot.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Wikidot
- Paid prices are US dollars for customers outside the EU; EU customers see euro prices that include 23% VAT.
- Free accounts show ads with no control over them, and the API and custom layout are paid features.
- Community Sites cannot be made private and are only for approved sites.
- Extra sites and storage are sold in 5-slot packs: $59.90 a year.
Key features
MediaWiki
- Wikitext and VisualEditor
- Pages use MediaWiki's wikitext format, which needs no knowledge of HTML or CSS. The VisualEditor extension, bundled since version 1.35, allows editing pages as rich content instead.
- Full revision history
- Every edit is written to the database without deleting earlier versions of the page, so vandalism, spam or mistakes can be reverted easily.
- Extensions
- Administrators add functions by installing extensions. Some are bundled with the software; third-party ones may be unmaintained or incompatible with each other.
- Action API
- A web service at the api.php endpoint lets programs log in, read data and post changes over HTTP, covering features such as page operations and search.
- Built for high traffic
- The software was designed to serve sites that get millions of hits a day. It supports caching and can be coupled with proxy server software.
- Image and media files
- MediaWiki also manages images and multimedia files, which are stored in the server's file system rather than in the database.
Wikidot
- Wiki pages with full history
- Every plan has unlimited pages and unlimited revisions per page.
- Members, roles and permissions
- Advanced membership, roles and permissions are available on all plans, including the free one.
- Custom themes and domains
- Custom CSS themes, custom domain mapping and HTTPS are on every plan.
- Private sites
- Sites can be made private, with a member cap that rises by plan.
- XML-RPC API
- The paid plans include an XML-RPC API.
Plans
MediaWiki
MediaWiki$0
The full software, downloaded and installed on your own server, with help from the community support desk.
Wikidot
Free$0
5 sites with 300 MB of storage each, 25 MB files and private sites for up to 5 members. Ads are shown with no control over them.
Pro Lite$49.90
per year (US dollars, outside the EU)
5 sites and 30 GB of storage, private sites for up to 10 members, custom layout and an XML-RPC API.
Pro$119.90
per year (US dollars, outside the EU)
10 sites and 100 GB of storage, private sites for up to 20 members, web traffic statistics and email support.
Pro Plus$239.90
per year (US dollars, outside the EU)
30 sites and 200 GB of storage, unlimited private-site members, a custom footer and priority email support.
Community Site$0
For approved, high-quality community sites: practically unlimited storage, traffic and members, with priority email support.
Ways to pay less
MediaWiki
No public discounts listed.
Wikidot
- Other savings
Free Community Site status
Wikidot gives approved, high-quality community-driven sites practically unlimited resources at no charge.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, MediaWiki or Wikidot?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MediaWiki is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $4.16 a month when paid by the year for Wikidot. MediaWiki is free, and Wikidot starts at $49.90 per year.
Which has a free plan, MediaWiki or Wikidot?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both MediaWiki and Wikidot have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.