Compare Outline and MediaWiki on pricing, features, platforms, and ratings — both Knowledge Base tools, Freemium vs Open Source pricing to decide which fits…
At a Glance
Outline
MediaWiki
Primary category
Knowledge Base
Knowledge Base
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Freemium
Open Source
Starting price
Free (self-hosted, open source) or $10/month for the hosted Starter cloud plan
Free
Free plan
Not documented
Not documented
Free trial
Yes
Not documented
Platforms
Web
Web
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Yes
Not documented
Public API
Yes
Yes
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Fast, keyboard-driven editor built specifically for engineering and product teams
Markdown compatibility makes content portable and developer-friendly
Bootstrapped, profitable company with a long track record of stability
Clean, focused feature set compared to broader all-in-one workspace tools
Cons
Fewer all-in-one features (databases, project management) than tools like Notion
Self-hosting requires technical setup and ongoing maintenance
Cloud pricing is per-plan-tier based on team size, which can jump significantly as headcount grows
Smaller integration ecosystem than larger enterprise wiki platforms
Advanced permission and audit features are reserved for higher-priced plans
MediaWiki
Pros
Free and open source with no licensing cost
Proven at massive scale by powering Wikipedia and its sister projects
Extremely mature and extensive extension and skin ecosystem
Strong built-in collaboration features like revision history and discussion pages
Backed by the Wikimedia Foundation and a large, active developer community
Cons
Can be complex to install, configure, and maintain compared to simpler wiki tools
Default visual design feels dated without applying custom skins
Wikitext markup has a learning curve for non-technical users, despite VisualEditor
Self-hosting requires ongoing server maintenance and security updates
No official managed hosting from the MediaWiki project itself
Use Cases
Outline
Engineering documentation — Engineering teams maintain runbooks, architecture docs, and onboarding guides in searchable, version-controlled collections.
Company-wide internal wiki — Organizations centralize policies, meeting notes, and cross-team knowledge in a single searchable workspace.
Self-hosted knowledge base for data-sensitive teams — Teams with strict data residency or compliance requirements self-host Outline on their own infrastructure instead of using a third-party cloud service.
MediaWiki
Public knowledge encyclopedias — MediaWiki powers Wikipedia and its sister projects, serving as the reference implementation for large-scale public wikis.
Internal corporate knowledge bases — Organizations self-host MediaWiki to document internal processes, policies, and technical knowledge collaboratively.
Community and fan wikis — Communities use MediaWiki to build collaboratively edited reference sites around shared interests or topics.