CanvasWiki vs. ikiwiki vs. Instiki vs. Oddmuse vs. Wikidot

General Features CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Version
1.2.101
2.67
0.30.0
2.3.13
Last Release Date
2006-06-15 (19 years ago)
2008-10-17 (17 years ago)
2019-03-01 (7 years ago)
2018-09-04 (7 years ago)
Last Update here
2008-09-01 (17 years ago)
2008-10-28 (17 years ago)
2019-03-04 (7 years ago)
2018-10-27 (7 years ago)
2009-12-09 (16 years ago)
Author
Raymond Camden
Joey Hess and the ikiwiki community
David Heinemeier Hansson, Jacques Distler, Matthias Tarasiewicz
Alex Schroeder
Michal Frackowiak
URL
Free and Open Source
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
License
Apache
GPL
Ruby's
GPL
AGPLv3
Programming Language
ColdFusion
Perl
Ruby on Rails
Perl
Data Storage
Database
Files, RCS
Database
Files
Database
License Cost/ Fee
0
0
0
free
Free / Paid Accounts (starts from $5 per month)
Development status
Mature
Mature
Mature
Mature
Mature
Intended Audience
Mildly technical
Anyone
general, education
family people, hackers
companies, private users, social groups and communities, software developers, tech geeks
Hosting Features CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Storage Quota
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
1500MB for free users, more for Pro accounts
Bandwidth Quota
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
no limit
Other Limits
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
max uploaded file size limit
Topic Restrictions
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
by Terms Of Service
Corporate Branding
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
Own Domain
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
Ads allowed
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
System Requirements CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Operating System
Windows, Linux, Solaris
Any
UNIX, Windows, MacOS X
Anything supported by Perl
Root Access
No
No
No
No
No
Webserver
Apache, IIS
Any, or none
Thin (included), or Apache/NGinx (via Passenger)
Anything supporting CGI scripts
Other Requirements
ColdFusion MX
Ruby 2.0-2.6
Writable data directory
Datastorage CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Text Files
Unknown
Yes
No
Yes
Unknown
MySQL
Yes
No
Yes
No
Unknown
PostgreSQL
Unknown
No
Yes
No
Yes
Oracle
Unknown
No
Plugin
No
Unknown
SQLite
Unknown
No
Yes
No
Unknown
BerkeleyDB
Unknown
No
No
No
Unknown
RCS
Unknown
Yes
No
No
Unknown
Other
Access, SQL Server
Any Rails-compatible back-end datastore can be used.
No
Security/Anti-Spam CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Page Permissions
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ACL
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Authentication Backends
Built-in, HTTP auth, OpenID; extensible via plugins
None (use your web server instead)
Host Blocking
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Mail Encryption
Unknown
Yes
Unknown
No
No
nofollow
Unknown
No
Unknown
No
Yes
Blacklist
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
CAPTCHA
Unknown
No
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Delayed Indexing
Unknown
No
Unknown
No
Yes
Development/Support CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
# of Consultants
Preconfigured Hosting
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Code Repository
Issue Tracker
Mailing List
Support Forum
Chat Channel
Stars on GitHub
N/A
N/A
506 ⭐
88 ⭐
N/A
Common Features CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Preview
Unknown
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Minor Changes
Unknown
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Change Summary
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Page History
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Page Revisions
Unlimited
Unlimited
Restricted by Age
Unlimited
Revision Diffs
Between all
Between all
Between all
Between all
Sitemap
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin System
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Special Features CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Unicode Support
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Right-to-Left Support
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
Interface Languages
0
1
English
1
English
18
Bulgarian, German, Spanish, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Swedish, Ukrainian, Chinese, Chinese Traditional
2
English, Polish
Email notification
Unknown
Yes
No
Plugin
Yes
Comments
Discussion Pages
No
Discussion Pages
Threaded
Categories
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Namespaces
Unknown
Yes
No
Plugin
Yes
Conflict Handling
Conflict Resolution
Page Locking
Conflict Resolution
Page Locking
Concurrent Editing
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
No
Unknown
Search
Full Text
Full Text
Full Text
Full Text
Wiki Farming
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Structured Data
Unknown
Unknown
No
Plugin
Yes
Links CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
CamelCase
Yes
Plugin
Optional
Optional
No
Freelinks
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
Backlinks
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
InterWiki
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
SisterWiki
Unknown
Plugin
No
Plugin
No
Image Links
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Windows Shares
Unknown
Yes
No
Plugin
No
Page Redirects
Unknown
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Yes
Syntax Features CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
HTML Tags
Optional
All
Plugin
None
Math formulas
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Tables
simple + complex
simple + complex
simple + complex
simple + complex
CREOLE support
Unknown
No
No
Plugin
No
Markdown Support
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Plugin
No
Textile Support
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
No
No
BBCode Support
Unknown
No
No
Plugin
No
Emoticon Images
Unknown
Plugin
No
Optional
No
Syntax Highlighting
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Footnotes
Unknown
No
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Quoting
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
Internal Comments
Unknown
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Custom styles
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
FAQ Tags
Unknown
Yes
No
Plugin
No
Scripting
safe subset of HTML::Template supported via template plugin
None
Perl
CSS styles, embeddable JavaScript, reporting language
Content Includes
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Feed Aggregation
Unknown
Plugin
No
Yes
Yes
Usability CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Section Editing
Unknown
No
No
No
Yes
Page Templates
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Double-Click Edit
Unknown
No
No
Plugin
No
Toolbar
Unknown
No
No
Plugin
Yes
WYSIWYG Editing
Unknown
No
No
Plugin
No
Access Keys
Unknown
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Auto Signature
Unknown
No
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Statistics CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Recent Changes
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Wanted Pages
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Orphaned Pages
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Most/Least Popular
Unknown
No
No
No
No
Recent Visitors
Unknown
No
No
Plugin
No
Analysis
Unknown
No
No
No
Yes
Output CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Printer Friendly
Print CSS
Print View
Print CSS
Print View
Mobile Friendly
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
Themes & Skins
Unknown
Yes
No
Optional
Yes
RSS Feeds
Unknown
Plugin
No
Yes
Yes
ATOM Feeds
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
No
Abbreviations
Unknown
No
Yes
Yes
No
Auto-TOC
Unknown
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Raw Export
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
HTML Export
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
XML export
Unknown
No
No
No
No
PDF Export
Unknown
No
No
Plugin
No
Office Export
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
No
Unknown
Media and Files CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
File Attachments
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Optional
Yes
Media Revisions
Unknown
Yes
No
Yes
No
Embedded Flash
Unknown
Optional
No
No
Yes
Embedded Video
Unknown
Optional
Yes
No
Yes
Image Editing
Unknown
No
No
No
No
SVG Editing
Unknown
No
Yes
Plugin
No
MindMap Editing
Unknown
No
No
No
No
Media Search
Filenames only
No
Filenames only
No
Extras CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Calendar
Unknown
Plugin
No
Plugin
Optional
Image Galleries
Unknown
Plugin
No
No
Yes
Presentations
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
No
Unknown
Forums
Unknown
Unknown
No
No
Yes
Blogs
Unknown
Yes
No
Optional
Yes
Ticket System
Unknown
Yes
No
No
Yes
Chat
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
No
Unknown
Syntax Examples CanvasWiki ikiwiki Instiki Oddmuse Wikidot
Internal Link
[[internal]]
[[Some Page]]
[[Some Page|anchor text]]
[[Some Page#anchor]]
[[Some Page#anchor|anchor text]]
optional, default on:
[[page name]]

optional, default off:
PageName
[PageName] → [1]
[[[page name]]] → [1]
[PageName text] → text
[[page name|text]] → text

Depending on plugins:
[text](page) → text
[[[page-name]]] or
[[[page-name|anchor]]]
External Link
[link text](http://example.org)
[another site](http://example.com)
http://example.com/
[http://example.com/] → [1]

optional, default on:
[http://example.com/ text] → text

Depending on plugins:
[text](http://example.com/) → text
http://www.wikimatrix.org or 
[http://www.wikimatrix.org WikiMatrix]
Headlines
Two syntaxes:

# heading 1
## heading 2
### heading 3

heading 1
=========

heading 2
---------
#Level 1#
##Level 2##
###Level 3###
####Level 4####
#####Level 5#####
######Level 6######
Depending on plugins:
## two
### three
== two ==
=== three ==

section
=======

subsection
----------
+++ headline level 3
Bold Format
**bold**
__bold__
**bold**
Depending on plugins:
*bold*
**bold*
'''bold'''
**bold text**
Italics Format
*emphasized*
_emphasized_
_italic_, *italic*
Depending on plugins:
*italic*
/italic/
//italic//
''italic''
//italic text//
Underline Format
via HTML: <u>underlined</u>
underlined
{: style='text-decoration:underlined'}
Depending on plugins:
_underline_
__underline__
__underlined text__
Monospace Format
`inline monospace`

indented block of
monospaced text

tab-indented
block
`monospace`
Depending on plugins:
`mono`
##mono##
[code]mono[/code]
<tt>mono</tt>
<code>mono</code>
{{monospaced text}}
Strikethrough Format
via HTML: <del>deleted</del>
<del>strikethrough</del>
strikethrough
{: style='text-decoration:line-through'}
via bbCode plugin:
[s]strike through[/s]
--strikethrough text--
Superscript Format
via HTML: x<sup>2</sup>
<sup>superscript</sup>
via bbCode plugin:
[sup]superscript[/sup]
^^superscript^^
Subscript Format
via HTML: a<sub>1</sub>
<sub>subscript</sub>
via bbCode plugin:
[sub]subscript[/sub]
,,subscript,,
Images
![alt text](internal/image)
![alt text](http://example.org/external/image)
![alt text](http://ex.com/image.jpg),
[[image.jpg|alt text:pic]]
http://example.com/pic.jpg

Depending on plugins:
[[image:Name|Text|URL]] and variants
![text](URL)
[[image src="..."]]
Aligning Text
p{: style='text-align:left'}
p{: style='text-align:right'}
p{: style='text-align:center'}
p{: style='text-align:justify'}
no example known
= Centered line
Text Indentation
p
{: style='margin-left:3em'}

> blockquote
Depending on plugins:
> text

[quote]
text
[/quote]

: one
:: two
> First level of indentation
>> Second level of indentation.
Bulleted Lists
* item 1
* item 2
* item 2.1
* item 2.2
* Item 1
** Item 1.1
* Item 2
* one
** two
* element 1
* element 2
Numbered Lists
1. item 1
2. item 2
1. item 1.1
42. the value doesn't matter
1. any value works
1. Item 1
1. Item 1.1
2. Item 2
Depending on plugins:
1. one
2. two

# one
## two
# element 1
# element 1
Definition Lists
via HTML:
<dl>
<dt>term</dt>
<dd>definition</dd>
</dl>
term
: definition
Depending on plugins:
; term: definition
: item : description
Horizontal Rule
---
***
___
------------------
Any number > 3
- - - - - - - - - -
spaces don't matter
***
Depending on plugins:
----
----
remove CanvasWiki remove ikiwiki remove Instiki remove Oddmuse remove Wikidot