Pages that anyone with rights can edit, link and revise, plus history to undo mistakes, are what a wiki gives a team.
This ranking orders twelve products by the hours needed to run them, the limits or licence terms that appear as a team grows, how pages can leave again, and whether a small independent vendor stands behind the product.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What wiki software does
Wiki software stores linked pages that many people edit in a browser, keeps every revision and sets who may read or change each page, hosted or self-run.
Five tests decide the order: setup effort, real cost, how your data leaves, whether you can walk away, and who the wiki tool was built for. A separate rule reserves the first three places for challengers and moves the household names to place 4 and below. Our how we work page explains the choice of these five and why we give no mark out of ten.
Four yearly plans priced per user, with a 20 percent saving on three-year terms; every plan has a trial button, and open-source projects get cloud hosting at no cost
—
Organisations that want separate sub-wikis and a choice of cloud or on-premise delivery
Single users wanting a permanent free plan to start
Published cloud plans in three headcount bands, each with a trial button; on-premises editions run from a Community Edition at no cost to per-user annual contracts with minimums
—
Teams under 200 people wanting a collaborative editor with AI answers and SSO
Organisations needing over 200 cloud members or an open-source licence
Paris-based wiki sold in four plans, cloud or on-premise
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Self-hostablePricing on requestEurope
Limits rise in steps. Starter holds 25 users, one sub-wiki and 2 GB; Basic reaches 1,000 users and 25 sub-wikis; Business reaches 10,000 users and 50; Enterprise has unlimited users and 100.
Support contacts grow from one to four. The pricing page says Pro and Support cost the same in the cloud or on premises, and the home page mentions an open-source MCP server for teams wiring wikis to assistants.
What stands out
Four plans
Sub-wiki limits
Cloud or on premise
Where it costs you
Per-user amounts were not readable on the pricing page, so a budget needs a quote or a trial first.
Cloud-only Starter has a single sub-wiki, which pushes on-premise delivery up to Basic.
Right for
Organisations that want separate sub-wikis and a choice of cloud or on-premise delivery
Wrong for
Single users wanting a permanent free plan to start
FranceFour yearly plans priced per user, with a 20 percent saving on three-year terms; every plan has a trial button, and open-source projects get cloud hosting at no cost
MediaWiki-based wiki from Regensburg with cloud and on-premises hosting
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Self-hostablePricing on requestEurope
Search reaches texts, titles, files and attachments, and editing is collaborative in real time with templates. Structure comes from subwikis, permissions, versioning, forms and workflows. An AI chatbot connects to Teams, Slack or Rocket.Chat.
Deployment is cloud or on-premises, with a link to the customer's own infrastructure, and the page calls the product software made in Germany. Because it sits on MediaWiki, existing MediaWiki content has a stated migration route.
What stands out
MediaWiki base
Hallo Welt! GmbH
Migration support
Where it costs you
Budgeting requires contact with the vendor, because no price, plan or trial shows up on the pages checked.
As a brand of one company, it leaves the roadmap with Hallo Welt! GmbH rather than an open community.
Right for
Companies leaving Confluence or SharePoint that want a MediaWiki base with migration help
Wrong for
Buyers who need a published price before any contact
GermanyCloud hosting or on-premises deployment connected to your own infrastructure; the pages read show no price tiers
Montréal-made wiki engine that runs on Node.js and PostgreSQL
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Editors are unusually varied: Markdown with live preview, a visual editor, AsciiDoc, Live Notes for real-time collaboration and Excalidraw, with diagrams through Mermaid, PlantUML and Draw.io.
Governance adds granular permissions, an approval workflow, an audit log and version history. An MCP server exists but ships disabled. Operating it falls to you: Node.js, PostgreSQL, and a database upgrade path if search matters.
What stands out
AGPL licence
PostgreSQL
SAML and LDAP
Where it costs you
Search requires PostgreSQL 17 or later, which raises the floor for the database you must run.
No legal entity or imprint appears in the pages read, only a Montréal footer line.
Right for
Technical teams wanting a self-run wiki with SAML, LDAP and approval workflows
Wrong for
Teams without anyone to operate Node.js and a database
CanadaAGPL-licensed software that you host yourself through Docker, Kubernetes or bare metal; the project page lists no paid tiers
Wikipedia's engine, run by a non-profit and extended by add-ons
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Scale is the argument: the project page links the software to Wikipedia as well as thousands upon thousands of sites, and the interface is localised for many languages.
Features beyond the core arrive as extensions, so each team picks and maintains its own set. Its repository names GPL 2 or later. Hosting is optional help rather than a product tier, which leaves installation, upgrades and configuration with you.
What stands out
GPL licence
Extensions
Wikimedia Foundation
Where it costs you
Added functionality comes through extensions, so a working team wiki depends on choosing and maintaining several of them.
Installing and configuring it is the adopter's job, since the page points to download instructions and optional hosting services.
Right for
Groups ready to configure a mature, widely used wiki engine themselves
Wrong for
Anyone expecting a polished editor and a support contract at once
United StatesFree to download under GPL version 2 or later; you install it, and hosting services exist for those without a server
Collaborative wiki with a self-hosted community edition and seat-based Business
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Self-hostablePublished pricingElsewhere
Its community edition is described as free, self-hosted and open-source, with spaces unlimited. A per-seat price billed annually from ten seats applies to Business, and Enterprise is priced by contact, including volume, non-profit and educational discounts.
Payment is by card or bank transfer. Enterprise features live in the packages/ee folder under their own licence, so the AGPL covers the core only. The README also invites readers to try the cloud version.
What stands out
AGPL core
Enterprise licence
Unlimited spaces
Where it costs you
The AGPL covers the core only, because enterprise features come with their own licence.
Business starts at ten seats, which sets a floor for small teams wanting paid features.
Right for
Groups that like an AGPL wiki with unlimited spaces and a paid upgrade path
Wrong for
Teams of fewer than ten needing Business-tier features
Not stated by the vendorCommunity edition at no cost, self-hosted; Business carries a published seat price billed yearly with a ten-seat minimum; Enterprise is custom
Open source wiki, CMS and tracker framework with many built-in modules
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Open sourceSelf-hostablePricing on requestNorth America
Beyond pages, the home page lists trackers with 45 field types, file galleries, articles, blogs, forums, FAQs, spreadsheets, directories, newsletters and Vue.js components. Wiki pages can serve as forms or as output templates for tracker data.
Development is described as largely sponsored by EvoluData.com, and managed hosting is mentioned only through the third party TikiHosting. Installation follows the guide, so upgrades stay with the adopter.
What stands out
Trackers
45 field types
Association-owned
Where it costs you
A procurement team must look elsewhere for the licence, which the home page does not name.
Its scope as a framework implies more configuration than a plain wiki, and the pages show no price for hosted use.
Right for
Groups wanting wiki pages, trackers, forums and file galleries inside one installation
Wrong for
Teams after a simple document editor with little configuration
CanadaOpen source software, self-hosted from the installation guide; managed hosting is sold by a third party, TikiHosting
German-operated wiki workspace of items and canvases with a free plan
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Plans scale by storage and history: Free gives 2 GB in total, Starter 10 GB per user with 30 days of version history, Business 20 GB per user with unlimited history. Starter carries a 14-day trial without a credit card.
Extras listed are the Sidekick AI, canvases, templates, an API with MCP support and integrations. The terms apply German law. Whether the product can run on a customer's own servers is not stated.
What stands out
50-item free plan
Canvas boards
Sidekick AI
Where it costs you
A growing team will outgrow the 50-item, 3-canvas free plan.
Amounts for paid plans could not be read from the pricing page, and hosting beyond the web app is not stated.
Right for
Small teams wanting a lightweight wiki with canvases and a trial needing no card
Wrong for
Buyers needing confirmed control over where the wiki runs
GermanyFree plan capped at 50 items; Starter and Business are billed per user per month, yearly billing saving up to 25 percent; Starter has a 14-day trial
Team wiki with cloud tiers by headcount and on-premises editions
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Self-hostablePublished pricingNorth America
Cloud tiers cover 1-10, 11-100 and 101-200 members, so a team crossing a band faces a step in price instead of a per-seat slope. Included are unlimited documents, version history, commenting, @mentions, AI question answering, 17 languages, SSO, more than 20 integrations, an API and an audit log.
On-premises use starts with a Community Edition of limited features and no support; Business and Enterprise are priced per user, billed annually.
What stands out
Source available
BSL 1.1
Headcount bands
Where it costs you
Reuse rights differ from a standard open-source licence, since the code is under BSL 1.1.
Dollars are the only currency shown, and the cloud tiers stop at 200 members.
Right for
Teams under 200 people wanting a collaborative editor with AI answers and SSO
Wrong for
Organisations needing over 200 cloud members or an open-source licence
United StatesPublished cloud plans in three headcount bands, each with a trial button; on-premises editions run from a Community Edition at no cost to per-user annual contracts with minimums
Version history is the cleanest dividing line: 90 days on the free plan, 365 on Startup and unlimited on Business. Attachment limits climb from 10 MB to 25 MB to 100 MB, and guests per user from three to five.
On Business come three Premium integrations, priority support and an uptime SLA. A 30-day money-back guarantee applies, and prices are shown in dollars only, with the listed rates billed annually.
What stands out
Ten-user free plan
History tiers
Fallacy Labs
Where it costs you
Attachments are capped at 10 MB on the free plan and 100 MB on Business.
Enterprise begins at 100 users, and hosting options were not stated on the home page.
Right for
Teams of ten or fewer wanting a hosted wiki at no cost
Wrong for
Organisations that must choose where the wiki is hosted
United StatesFree for up to ten users; Startup and Business are billed per user per month on annual terms; Enterprise is quoted for 100 or more users
Hosted wiki farm with an ad-supported free tier and yearly Pro plans
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
The free tier is limited to 5 sites, 300 MB for each, and 25 MB files, with advertising set by Wikidot. Pro Lite adds ad control; Pro and Pro+ lift storage to 100 GB and 200 GB.
Extra slots come in packs of five, each with one site and 5 GB. Community Sites get unlimited storage when approved as high quality, and high-traffic sites may be priced individually.
What stands out
Ad-supported tier
Annual euro plans
Community sites
Where it costs you
A monthly price on the home page does not match the yearly euro prices on the plans page.
Ads on free accounts are outside the owner's control, and files stop at 25 MB.
Right for
Hobby, fandom and community projects wanting hosted wikis with no server work
Wrong for
Organisations needing ad control on every site without paying
PolandFree account with five sites and ads; Pro Lite, Pro and Pro+ are sold per twelve months in euros including VAT; community sites by approval
Open sourceSelf-hostablePricing on requestElsewhere
Runtime depends on the interpreter: standard Ruby uses rugged, JRuby uses rjgit and JGit. Additional markup renderers are optional gems, so format support is assembled by whoever installs it.
Because every wiki is a repository, history, cloning and reverting rely on Git itself. Unix-like systems are supported directly. Only the README speaks for the project: it names no organisation, country, hosted offer or support route.
What stands out
MIT licence
Git repository
Ruby or JRuby
Where it costs you
No company, country or support route is named on the pages read.
Windows support requires JRuby, which narrows the runtime choice.
Right for
Developers wanting wiki pages kept as files in their own Git repository
Wrong for
Non-technical teams who expect a hosted service with support
Not stated by the vendorOpen source under the MIT licence, self-hosted through RubyGems, Docker or a Java war file; the repository lists no paid plan
Open-core workspace with AI search, databases and a self-hosted option
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best Wiki Software in 2026.
Free tierSelf-hostablePublished pricingElsewhere
SSO, SCIM, LDAP, MCP, public APIs and a central admin panel make up the enterprise feature list, next to AI search and a knowledge base in the core set.
Hosting can be the vendor's cloud, your own infrastructure or an air-gapped environment, though the pricing page gives no price for it. Guest editors cost nothing on Pro. The older appflowy.io domain redirects to appflowy.com.
What stands out
AGPLv3 open core
Self-hosted option
Databases and forms
Where it costs you
A team wanting only a wiki gets a wider product than it needs, since docs, databases, projects and forms come together.
No legal entity, owner or country is named in the footer, and the self-hosted option has no price listed.
Right for
Users wanting wiki pages beside databases, forms and a self-hostable AGPL core
Wrong for
Anyone wanting a focused wiki from a named owner
Not stated by the vendorFree Personal plan for one workspace owner; Pro is billed per member per month with a lower annual rate; cloud or self-hosted
Wiki software stores linked pages that many people edit in a browser, keeps every revision and sets who may read or change each page, hosted or self-run. Feature lists look alike, so we would settle these points one at a time instead.
01
Work out how much a sales call is worth to you
Prices are public at 7 products (MediaWiki, Docmost, Nuclino, Outline, Slab, Wikidot, AppFlowy) and on request at the remaining 5, so budget time for quotes if your favourite is in that second group.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
Jurisdiction is a buying criterion here. The 12 vendors are spread over 6 countries (North America 5, Europe 4, Elsewhere 3), and the home country determines which disclosure rules bind them.
03
Consider whether you want the source
2 of these are open source: Tiki Wiki, Gollum. Hosting one yourself trades a subscription for maintenance.
Wiki software you must operate: Wiki.js, MediaWiki and Gollum compared
Three entries in this ranking ask you to be the operator. Wiki.js needs Node.js and PostgreSQL, and its search requires PostgreSQL 17 or later, so the database version is part of the purchase decision. MediaWiki gets installed and configured by you, with hosting services as an optional alternative, and extra functions arrive as extensions that someone has to keep compatible.
Gollum is lighter: a Git repository of text files started through RubyGems, Docker or a Java war file, although Windows works only with JRuby. Measure the first ninety days in hours of administration rather than licence cost, and name the person who owns upgrades before the first page is written. Without that name, the wiki is exposed on day one.
Confirm the Node.js, PostgreSQL or Ruby version your server can run
List the MediaWiki extensions you need and who updates them
Restore a Gollum or Wiki.js backup on a clean machine before go-live
Reading XWiki, Nuclino, Outline and Slab plans: the limit that bites first
Each hosted plan in this market stops you at a different point. XWiki Starter is cloud only and allows 25 users with one sub-wiki, while Basic reaches 1,000 users, 25 sub-wikis and on-premise delivery. Nuclino Free ends at 50 items and 3 canvases. Outline sells cloud bands for 1-10, 11-100 and 101-200 members, so a hire can move the whole team up a band.
Slab separates plans by version history, 90 days on Free, 365 on Startup and unlimited on Business. Write down your users, pages and sub-wikis, then compare them with the cap that matters for each product. Where an amount did not render on the pricing page, as at XWiki and Nuclino, ask for it in writing.
Count current users, sub-wikis and pages against each plan cap
Ask what the next band or tier costs before you cross it
Request yearly amounts in writing where the page shows none
BlueSpice, Tiki Wiki and AppFlowy: how much product beyond the wiki do you want
Some tools here are wikis with extras, others are workspaces that include a wiki. BlueSpice builds on MediaWiki and adds real-time editing, workflows, forms, permissions and subwikis, with migration help from Confluence, SharePoint and MediaWiki. Tiki Wiki goes much wider: trackers with 45 field types, forums, blogs, file galleries and spreadsheets in one installation.
AppFlowy treats the wiki as one corner of docs, databases, projects and forms. Breadth saves buying separate tools but costs setup time, and a pages-only team will pay that cost without using the surplus. Decide the list of jobs the system must do in its first quarter, then reject any product whose main feature is a job you do not have. Treat every surplus feature as a cost in attention.
Write the jobs the system must do in its first quarter
Rank each product's extras as needed, optional or unwanted
Pilot one real project in BlueSpice, Tiki Wiki or AppFlowy
Licences in wiki software: GPL at MediaWiki, AGPL at Docmost, BSL at Outline
Licence text decides what you may do with the code, and the wiki market uses several. GPL version 2 or later covers MediaWiki, MIT covers Gollum, and Wiki.js is AGPL-3.0. Docmost has an AGPL-3.0 core, but enterprise features sit under a separate licence in packages/ee. AppFlowy states AGPLv3 and calls itself open core.
Outline uses BSL 1.1, a source available licence, and Tiki's home page does not name its licence at all. If you plan to modify the code or offer the wiki to outside parties, read the licence file in the repository, not the home page, and find out which features fall outside the main licence before you commit. Check each point on the vendor's own pages, because terms change over time.
Open the LICENSE file in each repository you shortlist
Find which features live under a separate enterprise licence
Ask legal whether AGPL or BSL terms fit your planned use
What goes wrong most often when buying wiki software
Picking a Wikidot free account for an internal company wiki, then meeting advertising it cannot steer and a 25 MB file ceiling.
Reading Outline's dollar figures as seat prices, when the cloud tiers are set by member bands of 1-10, 11-100 and 101-200.
Assuming XWiki Starter can run on your own servers, when that plan is cloud only and on-premise delivery begins at Basic.
Installing Tiki Wiki or AppFlowy for plain page editing and then spending setup weeks on trackers, databases and forms nobody asked for.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best wiki software in 2026?
Our ranking of 12 puts XWiki first. XWiki SAS is registered in Paris and sells Starter, Basic, Business and Enterprise, scaled by users, sub-wikis, support contacts and storage.
Starter is cloud only, with 25 users and one sub-wiki, so on-premise delivery begins one step higher. Its home page calls the product independently owned. No permanent free plan is listed, and the trial length is not stated.
Which wiki tools publish their pricing?
7 out of 12 state a price model on their own site:
MediaWiki: Free to download under GPL version 2 or later; you install it, and hosting services exist for those without a server.
Docmost: Community edition at no cost, self-hosted; Business carries a published seat price billed yearly with a ten-seat minimum; Enterprise is custom.
Nuclino: Free plan capped at 50 items; Starter and Business are billed per user per month, yearly billing saving up to 25 percent; Starter has a 14-day trial.
Outline: Published cloud plans in three headcount bands, each with a trial button; on-premises editions run from a Community Edition at no cost to per-user annual contracts with minimums.
Slab: Free for up to ten users; Startup and Business are billed per user per month on annual terms; Enterprise is quoted for 100 or more users.
Wikidot: Free account with five sites and ads; Pro Lite, Pro and Pro+ are sold per twelve months in euros including VAT; community sites by approval.
AppFlowy: Free Personal plan for one workspace owner; Pro is billed per member per month with a lower annual rate; cloud or self-hosted.
The remaining 5 sell by quote.
Is there a free wiki tool?
MediaWiki, Nuclino, Slab, Wikidot, AppFlowy offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these wiki software vendors established?
Across 6 countries (North America 5, Europe 4, Elsewhere 3):
XWiki: France.
BlueSpice: Germany.
Wiki.js: Canada.
MediaWiki: United States.
Docmost: Not stated by the vendor.
Tiki Wiki: Canada.
Nuclino: Germany.
Outline: United States.
Slab: United States.
Wikidot: Poland.
Gollum: Not stated by the vendor.
AppFlowy: Not stated by the vendor.
Which wiki tools are open source?
Tiki Wiki, Gollum.
Which wiki tools can you host yourself?
XWiki, BlueSpice, Docmost, Tiki Wiki, Outline, Gollum, AppFlowy. The other 5 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of XWiki?
The next in line are BlueSpice, aimed at companies leaving Confluence or SharePoint that want a MediaWiki base with migration help, and Wiki.js, aimed at Technical teams wanting a self-run wiki with SAML, LDAP and approval workflows.
Who should not buy XWiki?
Single users wanting a permanent free plan to start. Per-user amounts were not readable on the pricing page, so a budget needs a quote or a trial first..
If a wiki software product of yours deserves a place among these 12, say what it is and who it serves. Inclusion rests with us alone. See software advice for the rules.
