Self-host Wiki.js

updated Sep 2026deployed by usprices checked · Jul 2026Install verified on Ubuntu 26.04 · Sep 2026 · how we test

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A Node.js wiki with a modern admin area, Markdown and visual (WYSIWYG) editors, and a wide set of pluggable modules — local, social, and enterprise auth (LDAP, SAML, OIDC, CAS) with optional 2FA are all part of the free AGPL-3.0 build. It brings its own web server but no database: PostgreSQL is the recommended engine, and the other supported engines are slated to be dropped in the next major version.

Key facts

CategoryWiki & docs

LicenseAGPL-3.0

StackNode.js, Vue, PostgreSQL

Min RAM1024 MB

Official imageyes

Measured idle RAM94 MB

Difficulty

Sourcegithub.com/requarks/wiki

Websitejs.wiki

Our recommendation

Pick Wiki.js when you want a Markdown-first wiki with a proper admin area and enterprise login — LDAP, SAML, OIDC, CAS and 2FA are all modules in the free AGPL-3.0 build, not an upsell. It ships as an official image and runs on the documented 1 GB floor, but it brings no database of its own: plan on a PostgreSQL container beside it and a dedicated subdomain in front of it.

Follow the Wiki.js deploy guide →

What you need

Any VPS with at least 1024 MB of RAM
A domain you control — most self-hosted setups need HTTPS in front of them
Under an hour if you've used Docker before

Where to host itaffiliate disclosure

Hetzner Cloudrun it on

From $23.59/mo · 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB · EU + US

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Kamaterafree trial

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DigitalOceanalso works on

From $6/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 25 GB · US + EU + Asia

Deploy on DigitalOcean →

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Install

Run these commands on your server:

# Wiki.js — official image (ghcr.io/requarks/wiki:2) with PostgreSQL, from the docs' compose example
mkdir -p wikijs && cd wikijs
cat > docker-compose.yml <<'EOF'
services:
  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: wiki
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: change-me
      POSTGRES_USER: wikijs
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes: ["db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data"]
  wiki:
    image: ghcr.io/requarks/wiki:2
    depends_on: [db]
    init: true
    environment:
      DB_TYPE: postgres
      DB_HOST: db
      DB_PORT: 5432
      DB_USER: wikijs
      DB_PASS: change-me
      DB_NAME: wiki
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports: ["80:3000"]
volumes:
  db-data:
EOF
docker compose up -d   #  →  http://SERVER_IP  (the first visit runs the setup wizard: admin account + site URL)

deploy guideHow to Deploy Wiki.js on a VPS vps picksBest VPS for self-hostingbenchmarked quarterly · re-priced monthly

What you take on

Wiki.js is easy to run, but three things in its own documentation are worth reading before you commit:

non-negotiableIt has no bundled database engine. PostgreSQL is the recommended one, and the docs say MySQL, MariaDB, MS SQL Server and SQLite will not be supported in the next major version — start on Postgres so the eventual migration is not yours to do.

non-negotiableIt needs its own domain or sub-domain (e.g. wiki.example.com); the docs state it cannot be mapped to a subfolder.

non-negotiableThe 2.x line is the current stable while a 3.0 rewrite is in beta. The requirements page promises an export/import tool for the move, so treat the upgrade as a planned migration rather than an image-tag bump.

non-negotiableThe documented floor is 1 GB of RAM on Linux even though the process itself idles far lower — page rendering and indexing come in bursts.