A wiki is a collaborative, web-based platform that allows users to publish, edit, and organize content in real time; by using such social technologies, companies can raise the productivity of knowledge workers by 20 to 25 percent. While most people know Wikipedia as the world's most famous wiki, there are many different types, including internal, external, and company-specific wikis. In this guide, we'll define what a wiki is, explore its types, benefits, and use cases, and walk through how to create one.

What is a wiki?

Wiki Definition

A wiki is a collaborative website that allows multiple users to create, edit, and organize content together in real time. The most famous example is Wikipedia, but wikis are used by companies, communities, and individuals to share knowledge and information.

The word 'wiki' comes from the Hawaiian word "wiki wiki," which means "fast." It's a fitting name because one of the key benefits of a wiki is the speed at which it allows teammates to document and share information with each other.

Now that we've defined what a wiki is, let's take a look at how wikis actually work.

How do wikis work?

Wikis work through collaborative editing, allowing multiple users to modify content simultaneously. Key features include:

• Version control: Every change is saved as a new version with full edit history

• Simple editing: No technical skills required to create or modify content

• Permission systems: Administrators control who can view or edit specific pages

• Real-time collaboration: Multiple users can work on the same content simultaneously

What are some examples of wikis?

The first ever wiki was developed in the mid 90s by Ward Cunningham, an American computer programmer who co-wrote the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. The wiki he developed was called WikiWikiWeb and it set the standard for all the wiki software that would follow.

Wikis are used across a variety of settings—from global communities to private teams. Here are some examples:

External Wiki Examples

• Wikipedia: The world's largest online encyclopedia, collaboratively edited by volunteers. It covers virtually every topic imaginable and relies on community contributions.

• iFixit: A community-editable external wiki for repair guides and hardware troubleshooting. It empowers users to fix devices by following crowd-sourced instructions.

• Wikivoyage: A travel wiki providing collaboratively written destination guides. It helps travelers find up-to-date tips and explore new places.

Internal Wiki Examples

• Notion: Popular with startups and tech teams, Notion is used as an internal wiki to manage company documentation and project planning. It allows teams to centralize their processes and collaborate asynchronously.

• Guru: An AI-powered company wiki and Source of Truth that connects all your tools and delivers verified, permission-aware knowledge wherever teams work—Slack, Chrome, or any workflow. It keeps information accurate and accessible in real time, eliminating context switching and outdated docs.

• Confluence: A wiki and collaboration tool from Atlassian, used by many enterprises to organize documentation, SOPs, and team knowledge. It offers robust permissions and version control for larger organizations.

• SharePoint: Often used as an internal wiki and intranet, especially in Microsoft-based enterprise environments. It integrates well with other Microsoft tools and provides flexible content management.

Internal wiki vs external wiki

Wikis fall into two main categories based on access levels:

• Internal wikis: Private, company-owned platforms accessible only to employees or specific team members. Used for sensitive information, SOPs, and internal knowledge sharing.

• External wikis: Public-facing platforms like Wikipedia that anyone can view and often edit. Used for community knowledge, product documentation, and public information sharing.

The key difference is access control—internal wikis restrict who can view and edit content, while external wikis are generally open to the public.

What is a company wiki?

A company wiki is a private platform where internal teams capture, organize, and share knowledge. It serves as a central repository for company information with secure access controls.

Key benefits include:

• Knowledge sharing: Teams collaborate on documentation and procedures

• Improved alignment: Everyone accesses the same information

• Increased productivity: Employees find answers faster

What are the benefits of a wiki?

Company wikis are fast becoming a standard part of the tech stack for most organizations, from small startups to large enterprises. After all, they can solve many universal business problems, with research showing that much of the value from these tools comes from improving collaboration and communication within and across enterprises. Let's look at some of those now.

Find information easily

A wiki makes it easy for employees to find information. Simply put, wikis give every member of a team one place to find the information they need to do their jobs. Whether they're looking for a product release date, an approved company logo, or HR policy, they can find it in their company wiki. And increasingly, some modern wikis are adding integrations that allow employees to search for information directly within whatever app they're working from at a given moment.

Share knowledge quickly

A wiki gives employees a way to share information quickly. With a company wiki, employees have a single location to document the information they want their colleagues to be able to access. Whether it's a project status update, a memo outlining go-to-market strategy, or a standard operating procedure, employees can publish valuable information in their wiki with confidence that it'll be found by teammates who need it.

Reduced app overload

The number of apps the average company uses has grown dramatically, creating information silos and reducing productivity; in fact, a 2023 survey found that nearly seven in ten IT professionals felt overwhelmed trying to keep up with their company's collaboration tools.

Modern AI-powered wikis solve this by:

• Unified search: Find information across multiple sources from one interface

• Smart content adaptation: Customize information for different teams and roles

• Tool consolidation: Replace multiple platforms like intranets with one solution

Increase employee efficiency

A study by McKinsey found that employees spend 20% of their time on average searching for the information they need to do their jobs. That's the equivalent of losing one day every week to a task that's both inefficient … and deeply frustrating! With a company wiki, employees have a single source of truth for information, which is critical when research shows that 32 days are lost per year from employees toggling between applications to find what they need. This drastically reduces the time each employee has to spend searching for information and helps to significantly increase efficiency company-wide.

Improve company culture

Research from Gallup found that U.S. employee engagement fell to its lowest level in a decade in 2024, as workers report feeling disconnected from their teammates and their company's mission. This has a knock-on effect on a team's culture, productivity, and overall performance. However, with a wiki, company leaders can share important updates with their teams more easily and employees can engage with each other's content daily. This can go a long way to helping workers feel more connected to their company and engaged with their work.

Why wikis matter for modern teams

Wikis still play a powerful role in making company knowledge accessible, collaborative, and actionable. But in today’s AI-driven workplace, teams need more than static documentation—they need a system that keeps knowledge accurate, connected, and trusted everywhere work happens.

That’s where Guru, your AI Source of Truth, takes the traditional wiki to the next level. It connects all your tools, delivers cited, permission-aware answers directly in your workflow, and keeps information up to date automatically.

Want to see how an AI-powered wiki really works in practice? Watch our demo to learn how Guru turns everyday documentation into a living, intelligent layer of truth your team can rely on.

‍