Category:Free MediaWiki wiki farm: Difference between revisions

These are wiki farms (current and former) that are powered by the now ubiquitous MediaWiki (MW) wiki engine software, and importantly, offer permanently free wiki site hosting to users. It should be noted that the services listed below might not offer wiki hosting on solely a free basis; they might also choose to offer additional 'enhanced' wiki hosting options on a paid-for, commercial, or enterprise basis. Please see the parent category at category: MediaWiki wiki farm for other services who offer MW hosting on a non-free paid-for option.

The table below contains direct links to known free MediaWiki wiki farms. They also include the Special:Version link to see which version of the MediaWiki software is being used, along with any additional extensions. The Special:Export can be used by anybody to download the wikitext database for multiple pages. Paste in a list of the page names, or put in just a category name, and have it export the wikitext for all the pages in that category. Administrators on a wiki site are able to use Special:Import to create multiple pages on a wiki site from those exports. Database dumps for a whole wiki are occasionally linked at the bottom of Special:Statistics (standard on Wikia), although you may have to be logged-in to see it. Most free wiki farms use some form of on-wiki advertising for long-term funding. See also the opt-in advertising sections of Wikipedia: Funding Wikipedia through advertisements.

Table last updated: 27 November 2025

For all MediaWiki sites, a list of all wiki sites should also be available via the MediaWiki API (API:Main page) database access facility at /w/api.php?action=query&list=listwikis (or /wiki/api.php?action=query&list=listwikis), and / or the WikiDiscover module at /w/api.php?action=wikidiscover; though some sites do not enable the required API modules, or allow anonymous API read access.

• EditThis.info: — this MediaWiki host is 100% free. However, it appears to have been abandoned by their system administrators (the feature requests page has little to no responses, and the village pump has been blanked and protected). Also, this host is running an ancient version of MediaWiki, and thus is significantly lacking the latest features. However, it remains a valid option as a free wiki host, particularly for those who do not require all of the latest 'bells and whistles' features found on the newer MediaWiki releases.
• Miraheze: — originally seeded from the now defunct Orain wiki farm, this service offers some of the most flexibility of any of the free hosting providers, although they do have a fairly rigorous and strict content policy. An extension was written specifically for Miraheze by its developers that allows on-wiki changes of most configuration, but several settings are still restricted or hidden from said interface completely. As Miraheze was for several years based in the United Kingdom, it was subject to GDPR regulations which forced the platform to delete content or outright ban users, sometimes for little or no apparent reason. Following several internal disputes in 2023, which resulted in a large portion of the staff forking the project, and threats of outright closure, the Miraheze project was taken over by a United States-based nonprofit from its previous British management. As of 2025 the project has continued to expand once again, and several new spin-off services have also been created.
• ShoutWiki: — social tools are one of ShoutWiki's fields of expertise, though before one is allowed to create a wiki site on ShoutWiki, you need to be logged in and be e-mail confirmed. Wikis are by default supported by ads, though a paid removal option is supposedly available (not publicly advertised, must get in touch with staff members). ShoutWiki staff consists of highly experienced MediaWiki developers and editors, however some staff members have the reputation of being rude to users when approached for assistance or requests. Additionally, ShoutWiki restricts access to even some of the standard set of core administrator permissions such as the abuse filter and revision deletion, despite not being privacy-sensitive tools. An extension is used to prevent ShoutWiki staff accounts from being blocked by local admins, even if they break policies, and staff have sometimes interfered in local operations. ShoutWiki offers 15 skins, including some ShoutWiki-developed skins.
• Wikia: — now known as Fandom, this highly commercial behemoth of a host is prolifically advert-spammed, with no paid removal option available, and the staff are not very open to founder configuration control. Relying on a unique and heavily customised (and for a long time, long-outdated version of MediaWiki), there are many features that are available to staff-only, including traditional administrative features such as mass deletion and revision deletion. The same extension that prevents staff accounts from being blocked at ShoutWiki is also used by Wikia. The service operates as a commercial business, not as an organization, with many staff members being paid employees, and many global decisions are made based on the interests of the company rather than the interests of the communities which it hosts, which has led to several wikis moving elsewhere over time. The company was originally founded by Wikipedia co-founder Jimbo Wales.

Former farms (wiki hosts)

• Wikkii: — former British wiki farm which vanished without warning mid-2014.
• Wiki.Wiki: — in early 2017 Wiki.Wiki ceased to offer wiki hosting, although notice was given to all existing editors.
• Referata: — previously operated by MediaWiki developer Yaron Koren, this host specialized in Semantic wikis. In its final years the platform had become a dormant wiki hosting provider, with the feature requests page abandoned for some time, and the recent changes log filed with account creations. The platform's databases were hacked in 2019 which took all wikis offline, and service was never fully restored. A few backups exist for some of the largest wikis but most content was lost. As of 2025 Yaron has indicated that he does not have plans to restore the service at the current time.

External links

• Release notes for versions and their sub-point releases — at MediaWiki.org
• MediaWiki version history — at the English Wikipedia
• Version lifecycle — at MediaWiki.org
• Generators - MediaWiki release timeline, and utilisation by branch — at WikiApiary
• Hosting services - including a sortable table of wiki farms and hosting services — at MediaWiki.org
• Comparison of wiki hosting services — including MediaWiki and other wiki engines, at the English Wikipedia