MediaWiki vs. SharePoint vs. Confluence

If you're trying to evaluate the differences between MediaWiki, Confluence, and SharePoint you've come to the right place. All of these platforms do some things well, and as with most things, all of these platforms have their downsides. Below we'll break down the strengths and weaknesses of each option to help you make the right choice for your unique needs.

MediaWiki

An open-source platform created by the Wikimedia Foundation. Get a unique solution designed, tested, and implemented specifically with your organization's goals in mind.

Pros:

• Extension Development
• Custom Skin Design
• Semantic Technologies

Cons:

• Complex to Customize
• Dependency on Extensions
• Periodic Maintenance Needed

Sharepoint

Microsoft's proprietary content manament system that is a highly configurable web-based platform integrated with MS Office for the purpose of storage and file sharing.

Pros:

• Office 365 Integrations
• Various Customization
• Semantic Technologies

Cons:

• Complex to Maintain and Use
• Expensive Implementation and Customization
• Extensive Range of Features can create a Mess

Confluence

Atlassian's proprietary content management system. Confluence is a collaboration tool designed for sharing, storing, and working on many different things.​

Pros:

• Built for Collaboration
• Various Integration
• Analytics

Cons:

• Poor Search Results
• Dependency on Plugins
• Limited Cloud Based Solution

Conclusion

Although all of these platforms have their own pros and cons, MediaWiki brings together the strengths of Confluence and SharePoint, while eliminating some of their weaknesses. MediaWiki is open-source software that can be customized to your specific needs, with no license costs, hosting solutions tailored to your organization's specific needs, and an environment that promotes collaboration. We also have an in-depth comparison of MediaWiki and Confluence, which you can view here. Although MediaWiki has many benefits over its SaaS competitors, it can be tricky to install and configure.