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MediaWiki

The free wiki software that powers Wikipedia

FreeDocs & WikisChecked Oct 5, 2026
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MediaWiki, as pictured on mediawiki.org
How MediaWiki presents itself. Image from mediawiki.org.

What is MediaWiki?

MediaWiki is free, GPL-licensed wiki software, originally written for Wikipedia, that you install on your own web server. Pages are written in wikitext or with the bundled VisualEditor, every revision is kept so changes can be reverted, and extensions add further functions. It was designed for large, open, high-traffic sites, and its own manual warns that it is often not suited to wikis that need to restrict access to part of their content.

MediaWiki is free to use. See every plan

Good for

  • Large public wikis and encyclopedia-style reference sites
  • Organizations with a server administrator to install and update it
  • Communities that already know how to edit Wikipedia

Worth knowing

  • 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.

Key features

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.

MediaWiki pricing

Starts at
Free
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 trial
None listed
MediaWiki$0The full software, downloaded and installed on your own server, with help from the community support desk.

Read from mediawiki.org on Oct 5, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with MediaWiki before you buy.

Pricing in detail

MediaWiki alternatives

All MediaWiki alternatives comparedAll docs and wiki tools

Common questions

Is MediaWiki free?

Yes. MediaWiki is free to use. The software is free of charge and licensed under version 2 or later of the GNU General Public License, with no warranty.

How much does MediaWiki cost?

MediaWiki lists one plan. MediaWiki: $0. Prices were read from mediawiki.org on Oct 5, 2026.

What platforms does MediaWiki work on?

MediaWiki is available on Web.

Does MediaWiki have an Android app?

No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. MediaWiki is listed for Web.

Does MediaWiki have an iPhone app?

No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. MediaWiki is listed for Web.

Is MediaWiki open source?

Yes. MediaWiki is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.

Does MediaWiki have an API?

Yes. MediaWiki offers a public API, according to its own site.

Who makes MediaWiki?

MediaWiki is made by Wikimedia Foundation. It dates from 2003.

What are the alternatives to MediaWiki?

The closest alternatives to MediaWiki in our directory are DokuWiki, XWiki, BookStack, Wiki.js and BlueSpice. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with MediaWiki.

Sources for this page

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 5, 2026.