An Otter Wiki vs Wiki.js (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Wiki.js grades higher than An Otter Wiki: 2.8 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Wiki.js grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
An Otter Wiki
Minimal self-hosted wiki powered by Python, Markdown and Git
Free
Which one is for you
Pick An Otter Wiki if
- Fits if you want a plain wiki whose pages live as Markdown in a Git repo
- Works for small teams with a server and no budget for a hosted wiki
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a hosted service, because the site describes none
- Not for you if you rely on embeds, which are labeled experimental
- Too light for a large company wiki, since the listing shows accounts but no wider admin features
- Watch out: support is through GitHub issues
Pick Wiki.js if
- Fits if your developers want to write docs in Markdown and mirror them to a Git repo
- Works for companies already on LDAP, SAML, Okta or Azure AD that host their own software
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if nobody on the team wants to run a server, because there's no hosted plan
- Not for you if you want someone to call when it breaks, as no paid support is listed
- Not for you if you're set on MySQL or SQLite, since the next major version keeps only PostgreSQL
- Watch out: version 3.0 is still in beta, and modules like the WikiText and tabular editors are marked coming soon
- Tight if you wanted it in a subfolder of your site, as it needs its own domain or sub-domain, and there are no phone apps
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAAn Otter WikiFair | 2.8GPAWiki.jsGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$0 under the MIT license, but you host it on your own server, so it sits in the middle for value. | AIt costs nothing. The whole application is free and open source under the AGPL-v3 licence, with no paid tier holding anything back and no managed plan to upsell you. Your only bill is the server you run it on. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree with no paid plan, and one person could run it. You supply the server. | AFree outright, for good. The project is kept going by sponsors, backers and donations, so there isn't a paid plan to be nudged towards at any point. |
| Features | CMarkdown editor, Git backend, page history, attachments and user accounts. It does the wiki job fully but it's a small one, and embeds are experimental. | CThree editors (Markdown with live preview, a visual one and plain HTML), every change tracked with a visual compare, group permissions with page rules, Git and cloud storage sync, and a GraphQL API. The gaps are the listing's own: version 3.0 is still in beta and modules like the tabular editor are marked coming soon. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. It is installed on your own server, so there is setup and upkeep. | DYou host it yourself. It needs a server running Node.js and a domain or sub-domain of its own, since it can't sit in a subfolder. A DigitalOcean Marketplace image speeds that up, but there's no managed plan and no paid support. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only. Git is the only integration named, and no phone or desktop apps. | BA web app wherever Node.js runs, with no desktop or phone apps listed. Modules connect it to GitHub, GitLab, Google, Slack, Okta and Elasticsearch, and a GraphQL API reads and changes everything in the wiki. |
| Best for | a small wiki backed by Git | a free Markdown wiki on your own server |
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: An Otter Wiki and Wiki.js. How we grade
Price against what you get
An Otter Wiki has no paid plan and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Wiki.js has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Wiki.js scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other docs and wiki tools on the chart, none scores higher than An Otter Wiki for less, and none scores higher than Wiki.js 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
- Wiki.js also covers diagrams.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostableMarkdownWiki
At a glance
| An Otter Wiki | Wiki.js | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free and open source under the MIT license; you host it yourself. | The whole application is free and open source under the AGPL-v3 license. The project is supported by sponsors, backers and donations. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | An Otter Wiki | Requarks.io |
| Price read from | otterwiki.com | js.wiki |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
An Otter Wiki
- It is self-hosted only; the site describes no hosted service.
- Embeds are labeled experimental.
- Support is through GitHub issues, per the contributing section.
Wiki.js
- The site offers two ways to run it, self-hosting or a DigitalOcean Marketplace image, and lists no managed hosting plan or paid support.
- It requires a dedicated domain or sub-domain and cannot be mapped to a subfolder of another site.
- MySQL, MariaDB, MS SQL Server and SQLite will not be supported in the next major version, which keeps only PostgreSQL.
- Version 3.0 is still in beta, and several listed modules, such as the WikiText and tabular editors, are marked as coming soon.
Key features
An Otter Wiki
- Git backend
- Full changelog and page history, with an optional Git web server.
- Markdown editor
- Editor tools for Markdown, with tables, footnotes, alerts, formulas and mermaid diagrams.
- Attachments
- Files can be uploaded to pages and images pasted straight into the editor.
- User accounts
- Self-registration and password recovery are supported.
- Embeds
- Experimental embeds include page indexes, data tables, includes and video.
Wiki.js
- Three editors
- Pages can be written in Markdown with a live preview, in a visual WYSIWYG editor meant for non-technical people, or directly in HTML.
- Version tracking
- All content changes are tracked. Two versions of a page can be compared visually, and a page can be reverted to an earlier state or recovered after deletion.
- Authentication modules
- Sign-in can use local accounts, services such as Google, GitHub and Slack, or LDAP, SAML, Okta and Azure AD, with two-factor authentication on supported modules.
- Git and cloud storage sync
- Content can be synchronized or backed up to Git services such as GitHub and GitLab, or to storage such as AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage and Google Cloud Storage.
- Groups, permissions and page rules
- Users are placed in groups with granular permissions, and page rules limit a group's access by exact path, by how a path starts or ends, or by regular expression.
- GraphQL API
- A GraphQL endpoint on each wiki reads and modifies all of its resources, using API tokens with permission scopes that are generated in the administration area.
Plans
An Otter Wiki
Open source$0
The whole wiki under an MIT license, self-hosted.
Wiki.js
Wiki.js$0
The full application, hosted on your own servers or launched from the DigitalOcean Marketplace image, with community help through the project's support channels.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, An Otter Wiki or Wiki.js?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both An Otter Wiki and Wiki.js are free to use.
Which has a free plan, An Otter Wiki or Wiki.js?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both An Otter Wiki and Wiki.js 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.