What is Otterwiki used for?

Otterwiki is a minimalistic wiki built with Python and Flask that stores pages as Markdown in a Git repository and runs easily in Docker. It is a good fit for team documentation with Git-backed history, personal knowledge base on a home server and replacing a heavier wiki for a small group.

Is Otterwiki open source?

Yes. Otterwiki is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at redimp/otterwiki and is written mainly in Python.

Yes. Otterwiki is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Otterwiki?

Yes. Otterwiki can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Otterwiki an alternative to?

Otterwiki is an open-source alternative to Confluence and Nuclino. Other open-source alternatives to Confluence include Wiki.js, LeafWiki and Outline.

Is Otterwiki actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Otterwiki was on 30 September 2026, and the latest release is v2.24.1, published on 8 September 2026. The project has 1.5k stars on GitHub.

Otterwiki: open-source alternative to Confluence, Nuclino

About Otterwiki

An Otter Wiki is a collaborative wiki written in Python with the Flask microframework. Content is written in Markdown and stored in a Git repository, so every change is tracked and the full page history is available, and the interface is deliberately minimalistic with a dark mode option.

The editor highlights Markdown, supports tables and extended syntax such as footnotes, alerts and Mermaid diagrams, and pages can carry attachments. A customizable sidebar can show a menu or page index, user authentication controls who can edit, and an experimental Git HTTP server lets you clone, pull and push the wiki content directly. The first registered account becomes the admin.

Otter Wiki is licensed under MIT and is meant to be self-hosted, with docker-compose recommended and example configurations for nginx, Apache and Caddy in the installation guide. A demo is available online. It suits small teams, personal knowledge bases and project documentation where simple setup and plain-text, Git-backed storage matter more than a heavy feature set.

Key features

Markdown pages stored in Git
Full changelog and page history
Mermaid diagrams and extended Markdown
User authentication and admin settings
Page attachments
Docker Compose installation

Good fit for

→Team documentation with Git-backed history
→Personal knowledge base on a home server
→Replacing a heavier wiki for a small group

Built with: Python
Tags: wiki; markdown; git; python; flask; self-hosted; documentation; docker; knowledge-base

Otterwiki: questions and answers

What is Otterwiki used for?: Otterwiki is a minimalistic wiki built with Python and Flask that stores pages as Markdown in a Git repository and runs easily in Docker. It is a good fit for team documentation with Git-backed history, personal knowledge base on a home server and replacing a heavier wiki for a small group.
Is Otterwiki open source?: Yes. Otterwiki is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at redimp/otterwiki and is written mainly in Python.
Is Otterwiki free?: Yes. Otterwiki is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Otterwiki?: Yes. Otterwiki can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Otterwiki an alternative to?: Otterwiki is an open-source alternative to Confluence and Nuclino. Other open-source alternatives to Confluence include Wiki.js, LeafWiki and Outline.
Is Otterwiki actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Otterwiki was on 30 September 2026, and the latest release is v2.24.1, published on 8 September 2026. The project has 1.5k stars on GitHub.