Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Confluence VS MediaWiki

Compare Confluence VS MediaWiki and see what are their differences

Confluence logo Confluence

Confluence is content collaboration software that changes how modern teams work

MediaWiki logo MediaWiki

MediaWiki is a free software wiki package written in PHP, originally for use on Wikipedia.
  • Confluence Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-08-12
  • MediaWiki Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-23

Confluence features and specs

  • Integration with Atlassian Ecosystem
    Confluence integrates seamlessly with other Atlassian products like Jira, Bitbucket, and Trello, making it an excellent choice for teams already using these tools.
  • Real-time Collaboration
    Confluence offers real-time collaboration features, including editing, commenting, and task assignments, which enhance team productivity and communication.
  • Document Management
    With version control, easy-to-use templates, and a robust search function, Confluence excels in document management and organization.
  • Customization Options
    It provides numerous customization options including themes, templates, and plugins to suit the specific needs of different teams and projects.
  • Enterprise-Grade Security
    Confluence offers advanced security features such as data encryption, user permissions, and compliance with industry standards, making it suitable for enterprises.

Possible disadvantages of Confluence

  • Complexity for New Users
    The abundance of features can make Confluence overwhelming for new users, creating a steep learning curve.
  • Cost
    Confluence can be expensive, particularly for larger teams or when advanced features and additional plugins are required.
  • Performance Issues
    Users have reported performance issues, such as slow load times, especially with large documents or extensive use of add-ons.
  • Customization Can Be Time-Consuming
    While customization is a strength, it can also be time-consuming to set up and maintain, particularly for non-technical users.
  • Limited Offline Access
    Confluence's functionality is limited without an internet connection, which can be a drawback for teams needing constant access to documents and collaboration tools.

MediaWiki features and specs

  • Open Source
    MediaWiki is free and open-source software, allowing users to modify the source code to fit their specific needs without incurring licensing fees.
  • Scalable
    MediaWiki is designed to handle large-scale projects, making it suitable for enterprise-level documentation as well as large communal knowledge bases like Wikipedia.
  • Version Control
    Each edit in MediaWiki is stored, allowing users to track changes, revert to previous versions, and see the edit history, which is crucial for collaborative environments.
  • Extensive Documentation
    MediaWiki comes with comprehensive documentation, making it easier for developers and users to get started and troubleshoot any issues that arise.
  • Multilingual Support
    MediaWiki supports multiple languages, enabling the creation of content in various languages, useful for global organizations.
  • Extensible
    MediaWiki is highly extensible via plugins and extensions, allowing users to add functionalities tailored to their specific needs.

Possible disadvantages of MediaWiki

  • Complex Setup
    Setting up and configuring MediaWiki can be complex and time-consuming, potentially requiring technical expertise.
  • Maintenance
    MediaWiki requires regular maintenance, including updates, backups, and performance tuning, which can be resource-intensive.
  • Learning Curve
    For users not familiar with wikis or MediaWiki syntax, the learning curve can be steep, requiring training or time to become proficient.
  • Performance
    MediaWiki can become resource-intensive as the database grows, potentially requiring robust server resources to maintain performance.
  • Limited Features Out-of-the-Box
    While highly extensible, the core installation of MediaWiki has limited features, requiring additional plugins to add necessary functionalities.
  • Security Vulnerabilities
    As with any widely-used software, MediaWiki may be targeted for security vulnerabilities, necessitating regular updates and security patches.

Confluence videos

Confluence Cloud Product Demo 2019

More videos:

  • Demo - Atlassian Confluence Demonstration Video
  • Review - (2016) Introduction to Confluence: Create, share, and collaborate on projects in one place

MediaWiki videos

Using A Self Hosted MediaWiki As A Private Documentation Server with Visual Editor

More videos:

  • Review - MediaWiki vs. Confluence

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Confluence and MediaWiki)
Project Management
100 100%
0% 0
WiKis
54 54%
46% 46
Task Management
100 100%
0% 0
Note Taking
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Confluence and MediaWiki. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Confluence and MediaWiki

Confluence Reviews

Top 10 Notion Alternatives for 2025 and Why Teams Are Choosing Ledger
Confluence is great for documentation-heavy teams, especially when paired with other Atlassian products like Jira. But as a standalone collaboration tool, it lacks the fluidity and connected workflows that many modern teams need.
11 Popular Knowledge Management Tools to Consider in 2025 
Confluence is a web-based collaboration tool developed by Atlassian. It allows teams to create, store, and organize information in one place. This can include project documentation, meeting notes, how-to guides, and company policies.
Source: knowmax.ai
Best Gitbook Alternatives You Need to Try in 2023
Confluence is a collaboration tool from Atlassian that focuses on remote-ready teams that need to organize content. It has a built-in editor and allows for version control, making it easy to track changes and collaborate with team members. Confluence also has a wide range of templates and add-ons available, allowing users to add all types of documents for a knowledge base....
Source: www.archbee.com
Best 25 Software Documentation Tools 2023
Confluence is the perfect way to collaborate with your team. Is a web-based team collaboration and documentation tool. It helps teams work together, share information and create documentation in a centralized and organized manner. It's a platform that allows the team to create, edit, and organize content such as documents, pages, blogs and multimedia.
Source: www.uphint.com
Introduction to Doxygen Alternatives In 2021
Confluence is a tool in the innovation stack category of project management. In Confluence, it is easy to capture the details which is often lost in email inboxes and shared network drives due to the fact that it is easy to browse, update, as well as use.
Source: www.webku.net

MediaWiki Reviews

Top 12 Self-hosted Wiki Engines for 2024: A Comprehensive Guide
Released in 2002, MediaWiki replaced the initial UseModWiki software used by Wikipedia. It evolved with Wikipedia's growth, introducing features like namespaces, watchlists, and user talk pages. It's been adopted by many organizations for their wikis due to its robust and scalable nature.
Source: medevel.com
The 10 Best Self-hosted Wiki Software for Linux System
MediaWiki is an outstanding self-hosted Wiki software for editing rich multimedia and developing collaborative projects. It is based on the Open Source Technology Project (OST), which allows the distribution of software modules. The main difference between MediaWiki and other wiki software is that MediaWiki uses a lightweight wiki markup, which is easier to learn in the...
Best 11 Open-source Free Wiki Engines for teams and enterprise in 2022
MediaWiki is an open-source Wiki engine that runs Wikipedia. It is the oldest system in the list and some may consider it the king of Wiki engines. It supports almost all available languages as it is easy to install and use.
Source: medevel.com
The Best 20 Wiki Software For Your Business& Internal Knowledge for 2022
MediaWiki is a free wiki software that runs platforms like Wikipedia and Wiktionary. It helps in collecting and managing knowledge and making it available to your target audience. Customizable and reliable, this wiki tool requires server maintenance and installation. The best part about MediaWiki is that it provides translation services that help you localize the wiki in...
17 open source wiki engine/software
MediaWiki is a free and open source server based wiki engine written in PHP developed by Wikipedia. MediaWiki is an extremely powerful, scalable software and a feature-rich wiki implementation, that uses PHP to process and display data stored in its MySQL database. Pages use MediaWiki’s wiki-text format, so that users without knowledge of XHTML or CSS can edit pages easily...

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Confluence and MediaWiki, you can also consider the following products

Trello - Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It's free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.

DokuWiki - DokuWiki is a simple to use and highly versatile Open Source wiki software that doesn't require a database.

Notion - All-in-one workspace. One tool for your whole team. Write, plan, and get organized.

TiddlyWiki - a non-linear personal web notebook

Slack - A messaging app for teams who see through the Earth!

Wiki.js - An open source, modern and powerful wiki app built on Node.js, Git, and Markdown.