The BlueSpice Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about BlueSpice in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
BlueSpice
The Insider’s Guide
Open-source enterprise wiki built on MediaWiki
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among docs and wiki tools, read from BlueSpice’s own pages.
Made by Hallo Welt! GmbH · checked Oct 9, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from BlueSpice’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on BlueSpice’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.4
GPA, above 13 of the 51 other docs and wiki tools we grade
BlueSpice is an enterprise wiki distribution built on MediaWiki by Hallo Welt! GmbH, which was founded in 2007 and has developed BlueSpice since 2010. A free community edition adds a visual editor, search and business extensions to MediaWiki, and the paid pro and farm editions add approvals, workflows, forms with metadata and professional support. Paid editions run in the vendor's cloud in Germany or on the customer's own servers.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about BlueSpice, taken from its own pages and our grades.
- 1
Best for MediaWiki with approvals and vendor support
The free edition is self-hosted only, with community support and no approvals, so small teams should look elsewhere.
- 2
Paid plans start at $135 a month when paid by the year
As its pricing page puts it: $1,620 per year for up to 25 users, cloud-hosted (about $5.40 per user / month).
- 3
There is a free plan
BlueSpice free is a community edition to download and run yourself: MediaWiki plus a visual editor, search and about 100 extensions. It has community support only and no approvals or workflows.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
Visual editor on MediaWiki
Pages are written in a visual editor or in wiki syntax and organized with subpages and hierarchical categories. BlueSpice pro ships with about 180 extensions.
- 6
Approvals and workflows
The pro edition adds drafts and approvals, workflows, read confirmations, reminders and page assignments for keeping controlled documents current.
- 7
Forms and semantic metadata
Structured data is captured through forms with semantic metadata support, which the vendor lists among the pro edition's additions.
- 8
A 2.4 GPA, above 13 of 51
That is against the other docs and wiki tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
The plain part of BlueSpice you could make: wiki, templates and forms. What surrounds it you could not. The 4 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
BlueSpice at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $1,620 per year for up to 25 users, cloud-hosted (about $5.40 per user / month)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial of BlueSpice pro in the cloud, for up to 25 users
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Hallo Welt! GmbH, since 2010
- Category
- Docs & Wikis
- Our grade
- 2.4 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for MediaWiki with approvals and vendor support
BlueSpice is MediaWiki with a visual editor and search, plus approvals, workflows and read confirmations on the paid editions, run on your own servers or in the vendor's cloud in Germany. The smallest cloud tier is 25 users at $1,620 a year, with a $450 setup fee and paid single sign-on on top. The free edition is self-hosted only, with community support and no approvals, so small teams should look elsewhere.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D | Pro in the cloud is $1,620 a year, $135 a month, past the $100 where this category's dearest tenth starts. You buy 25 users whether you have them or not, so ten people pay $13.50 each. On top sits a one-time setup fee listed at $450, single sign-on costs extra in the cloud, and farm is $6,120 a year. |
| Free plan and trial | B | BlueSpice free costs nothing, caps nobody and gives you every MediaWiki feature plus a visual editor, search and about 100 extensions, with no time limit. You are running the server, support is the community, and approvals, workflows, forms and central sign-in are held back. |
| Features | B | Write in a visual editor or wiki syntax, with drafts and approvals, workflows, read confirmations and page assignments on pro. Forms capture structured data, the bookmaker turns pages into manuals, pages export to PDF, XML, CSV and Excel, and draw.io and BPMN diagrams live in the wiki. The job is covered. |
| Ease of use | C | No store rating on record. The paid cloud is hosted for you and the visual editor spares anybody wiki syntax, but the free edition means Docker containers or a virtual machine on your own server, and underneath it's MediaWiki with about 180 extensions to find your way round. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | A web app, either in the vendor's German cloud or delivered as Docker containers or a virtual machine for your own servers. Microsoft Entra ID, Okta and Keycloak handle sign-in, with draw.io, DeepL, Lucidchart, GitHub and Microsoft Teams alongside. No phone or desktop apps are listed. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who BlueSpice is for
- Fits if you want an open-source wiki with a vendor to call when something breaks
- Works for companies that must keep approved, read-confirmed documents on their own servers or in Germany
Who it is not for
- Pricey if you're a small team, because the smallest cloud tier covers 25 users at $1,620 a year
- Skip it if you want a free hosted wiki, as the free edition is one you download and run yourself
- Not for you if you need approvals, workflows, forms or central sign-in without paying, as those start with pro
- Watch out: cloud hosting adds a $450 setup fee, single sign-on costs extra, and farm starts at 50 users for $6,120
- Watch out: the edition page quotes euros, and dollar prices come only from its price configurator
Good to know
Good for
- Organizations that want an open-source wiki with vendor support
- Quality and compliance teams that need approvals and read confirmations
- Companies that must keep documentation on their own servers or in German data centers
- Teams already familiar with MediaWiki
Worth knowing
- The free edition is self-hosted only and lacks approvals, workflows, forms, central authentication and professional support.
- Paid editions are yearly subscriptions sold in user tiers: 25 users is the smallest cloud tier and 50 the smallest for farm.
- Cloud hosting adds a one-time setup fee, listed at $450, and single sign-on costs extra in the cloud.
- The vendor's edition page quotes euros, from 4.50 € per user a month; dollar prices come from its price configurator.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$135
A month to start, paid by the year. There is a free plan too
BlueSpice has a free plan. Paid plans start at $1,620 per year for up to 25 users, cloud-hosted (about $5.40 per user / month).
You are running the server, support is the community, and approvals, workflows, forms and central sign-in are held back.
BlueSpice free
Free
Self-hosted community edition: all MediaWiki features plus a visual editor, search, improved design and security, with community support.
BlueSpice pro
$1,620
per year for up to 25 users, cloud-hosted, before tax
About $5.40 per user a month; $3,240 a year for up to 50 users. Adds approvals, workflows, forms and metadata, the bookmaker and professional support.
BlueSpice farm
$6,120
per year for up to 50 users, before tax
About $10.20 per user a month. Everything in pro plus multiple wikis, search across them, content transfer and multilingual content.
BlueSpice indigo
Custom
Custom offer for non-standard contract and purchasing terms, separate compliance requirements and customer-specific deployments.
The free plan
BlueSpice free is a community edition to download and run yourself: MediaWiki plus a visual editor, search and about 100 extensions. It has community support only and no approvals or workflows.
Trying it first
30-day free trial of BlueSpice pro in the cloud, for up to 25 users
Read from bluespice.com on Oct 9, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Nonprofit
Discount for registered non-profits
The pricing FAQ gives registered non-profit organizations a discount on the software subscription, excluding governmental, academic and commercial bodies. No amount is published.
Stated on bluespice.com
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Open-source enterprise wiki built on MediaWiki. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: open source, self-hostable, AI features, wiki, templates, diagrams, forms.
Write in a visual editor or wiki syntax, with drafts and approvals, workflows, read confirmations and page assignments on pro.
- Visual editor on MediaWiki
- Pages are written in a visual editor or in wiki syntax and organized with subpages and hierarchical categories. BlueSpice pro ships with about 180 extensions.
- Approvals and workflows
- The pro edition adds drafts and approvals, workflows, read confirmations, reminders and page assignments for keeping controlled documents current.
- Forms and semantic metadata
- Structured data is captured through forms with semantic metadata support, which the vendor lists among the pro edition's additions.
- Bookmaker and exports
- The bookmaker compiles wiki pages into manuals or training material. Pages export to PDF with custom templates and to XML, CSV and Excel, and Word files can be imported.
- Process diagrams
- Processes and relationships are drawn inside the wiki with the draw.io extension or modelled as BPMN diagrams.
- Cloud or on-premises
- The cloud version is hosted in Germany with a daily backup kept for 7 days and 99.9% stated availability. On premises it is delivered as Docker containers or a virtual machine.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- draw.io
- DeepL
- Microsoft Entra ID
- Okta
- Keycloak
- Lucidchart
- GitHub
- Microsoft Teams
BlueSpice is made by Hallo Welt! GmbH, and has been around since 2010.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
13/51
Other docs and wiki tools it is graded above
BlueSpice's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 13 of the 51 other docs and wiki tools we grade, and level with 11.
It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 27 of 51) and worst on value for money (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $135 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $16.50 for the category: 39 of the 41 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 11 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 52 docs and wiki tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. BlueSpice’s own letter is outlined.
- DValue for moneyAbove 0 of 51
- BFree plan and trialAbove 27 of 51
- BFeaturesAbove 21 of 51
- CEase of useAbove 9 of 51
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 10 of 51
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 47 docs and wiki tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. BlueSpice is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
The plain part of BlueSpice you could make: wiki, templates and forms. What surrounds it you could not. The 4 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 27 of the 51 other docs and wiki tools grade higher. It costs $1,620 a year. BlueSpice is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could make
- Wiki, templates and forms: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A diagram editor.
- It plugs into other products, draw.io, DeepL and Microsoft Entra ID among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. BlueSpice’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
MediaWiki, XWiki, Confluence, BookStack and Wiki.js
The 5 tools BlueSpice is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.6GPA
MediaWiki
Free
The free wiki software that powers Wikipedia.
- BlueSpice also covers templates, diagrams and forms.
- 3.4GPA
XWiki
Free plan · from €309/yr
Open-source enterprise wiki with structured data and apps.
- BlueSpice also covers templates, diagrams and forms.
- XWiki also covers databases.
- 3.0GPA
Confluence
Free plan · from $6.70/mo
Team wiki and docs workspace from Atlassian, tied to Jira.
- Only Confluence lists iOS and Android apps.
- BlueSpice is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- BlueSpice also covers diagrams and forms.
- 2.8GPA
BookStack
Free plan · from £450/yr
Free self-hosted wiki organized into books, chapters and pages.
- BlueSpice also covers forms.
- BookStack also covers Markdown.
- 2.8GPA
Wiki.js
Free
Open-source wiki software built on Node.js with Git sync.
- BlueSpice also covers templates and forms.
- Wiki.js also covers Markdown.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
14
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is BlueSpice free?
BlueSpice has a free plan. BlueSpice free is a community edition to download and run yourself: MediaWiki plus a visual editor, search and about 100 extensions.
How much does BlueSpice cost?
BlueSpice lists 4 plans. BlueSpice free: Free.
What platforms does BlueSpice work on?
BlueSpice is available on Web.
Does BlueSpice offer any discounts?
BlueSpice publicly lists the following: Discount for registered non-profits.
Does BlueSpice have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 9, 2026. BlueSpice is listed for Web.
Does BlueSpice have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 9, 2026. BlueSpice is listed for Web.
Is BlueSpice open source?
Yes. BlueSpice is open source, according to its own site.
What does BlueSpice integrate with?
BlueSpice's listing names draw.io, DeepL, Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Keycloak, Lucidchart, GitHub and Microsoft Teams.
Does BlueSpice have a free trial?
Yes. 30-day free trial of BlueSpice pro in the cloud, for up to 25 users.
Who makes BlueSpice?
BlueSpice is made by Hallo Welt! GmbH.
What are the alternatives to BlueSpice?
The closest alternatives to BlueSpice in our directory are MediaWiki, XWiki, Confluence, BookStack and Wiki.js.
How does BlueSpice compare with other docs and wiki tools?
BlueSpice's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 13 of the 51 other docs and wiki tools we grade, and level with 11.
Is BlueSpice good value for money?
ToolGPA grades BlueSpice D for value for money. Its paid plans start at $135 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $16.50 for the category: 39 of the 41 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of BlueSpice?
The plain part of BlueSpice you could make: wiki, templates and forms.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from BlueSpice’s own pages on Oct 9, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from BlueSpice's own pages on 9 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-09-20.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Hallo Welt! GmbH. Prices change, so check bluespice.com before you buy.
- bluespice.com/buy/prices/configure-your-price/
- price-configurator.bluespice.com/api/price-config/list
- bluespice.com/products/
- bluespice.com/products/bluespice-pro/
- bluespice.com/products/bluespice-free/
- bluespice.com/trial/
- bluespice.com/buy/faq/prices-discounts/
- bluespice.com/integrations/
- bluespice.com/products/technology/open-source/
- hallowelt.com/en/
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- BlueSpice, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/bluespice
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "BlueSpice: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 9, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/bluespice
Know someone choosing between docs and wiki tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/bluespice/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded docs and wiki tools after BlueSpice, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Docs & Wikis Insider's GuideEvery one of the 52 docs and wiki tools we grade, compared
- Zoho Writer Insider's GuideFree online word processor with AI and document automation3.6 GPA
- Google Docs Insider's GuideBrowser-based word processor, free with a Google Account3.4 GPA
- ONLYOFFICE Insider's GuideOpen-source office suite for documents, sheets, slides and PDFs3.4 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what BlueSpice’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. BlueSpice is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Hallo Welt! GmbH. Prices and plans change: check bluespice.com before you buy.