How to Monetize a Game Wiki: Fandom, wiki.gg, Self-Hosted

How do you monetize a game wiki?

You can only monetize a game wiki you run yourself. On Fandom or wiki.gg the host shows the ads and earns the revenue, and editors get an ad-free or ad-light experience, not a share. On a self-hosted MediaWiki you can add display ads, take donations, and offer supporter perks such as ad-free browsing, as long as the game publisher’s fan content policy allows it and your editors agree. Aim to cover hosting costs, and say openly where the money goes.

For gaming blogs and fan sites, see how to monetize a gaming blog or fan site, which covers affiliate programs, memberships and a wider fan content policy comparison. Nothing here is legal advice.

Fandom vs wiki.gg vs self-hosted: who earns what

Where your wiki lives decides who earns from it. Checked on October 29, 2026:

Sources: Fandom’s community creation policy, account help page and customization policy; wiki.gg’s ads page, MediaWiki 1.43 update notes (signed-in ads are opt-in, default off) and customization policy. Hosts change these terms, so read the live pages.

What editors get on Fandom and wiki.gg

On a hosted wiki, the host pays for the servers and earns from the ads. None of the help pages we read on either host describe a revenue share or payment for volunteer editors or admins. What they describe is ad relief:

• Fandom gives signed-in readers an ad-light experience (fewer ads, no video ads, no pop-ups), and recent editors little to no ads.
• wiki.gg hides ads from signed-in users by default. Its ads page also explains that traffic on each game’s wiki is turned into credits for promotions on other wikis, placed with that developer’s approval.

For many communities that is the right trade: nobody has to run a server, patch software or pay a bill.

Moving away from a host

Text on Fandom wikis is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless a wiki says otherwise, so a community can copy its articles elsewhere with attribution. Images and videos are not covered by that license. Moving does not remove the old wiki: the Minecraft Wiki team noted in its move announcement that Fandom does not close wikis that have moved away, so the old copy stays in search results. wiki.gg’s migration page asks that all current active admins want the move, ideally backed by a community vote.

A self-hosted MediaWiki: hosting costs and ads

What it takes to run

MediaWiki’s installation requirements list PHP 8.3 or later for the latest version, plus a database (MariaDB or MySQL recommended, PostgreSQL and SQLite also work). The recommended minimum is 256 MB of RAM and 351 MB of storage, which the page says is not enough for a busy public site or one with uploads. Cheap shared hosts may also disable the external processes MediaWiki uses for image thumbnails, which matters on a wiki full of item icons.

Plan for upgrades too. According to MediaWiki’s version lifecycle, a major release comes out about every six months and a long-term support (LTS) release every two years. On October 29, 2026, version 1.46 is the current stable release (supported until July 2027) and 1.43 is the LTS (supported until December 2027). Staying on the LTS means fewer upgrades.

Adding display ads

MediaWiki has no built-in ad feature. Older ad extensions are mostly unmaintained: the Google AdSense extension page marks it as archived and says it no longer supports recent releases. Most wikis add the ad code in their skin or in a small extension of their own that uses a hook such as SkinAfterContent, which adds HTML after the page content. That also lets you skip ads for signed-in editors and supporters.

Two wiki-specific details matter here:

• Caching. MediaWiki’s file cache serves anonymous visitors only; signed-in users do not get those cached copies. So per-user choices, such as hiding ads for supporters, work naturally, while logged-out readers get fast cached pages with ads.
• Anyone can edit the page next to your ad. Google’s guide to its publisher policies counts user-generated content as part of your page’s content, and violations can lead to ads being blocked or an account being suspended. On an open wiki, a vandal’s edit is your problem until someone reverts it, so patrol recent changes and protect your busiest pages.

Many ad networks have traffic minimums. AdSense alternatives compares networks and other models, and how to monetize a low-traffic website covers what works before you have the numbers. The eCPM and RPM calculator compares what ads pay against your hosting bill.

Fan content rules that apply to wikis

A wiki mixes two kinds of material. The text your editors write is theirs, shared under your wiki’s license. The item icons, maps, screenshots, music and logos belong to the game’s publisher, and the publisher’s fan content policy decides what you may earn while using them. Two official examples, checked on October 29, 2026:

• Riot Games. Riot’s “Legal Jibber Jabber” policy lets projects passively earn from appropriate ads,, with Riot deciding what is inappropriate. It requires a written license for any project that crowdsources any portion of its funding or gates content behind a paywall. For a wiki about a Riot game, that rules out a Patreon to pay the server bill unless Riot agrees in writing. It also asks for a notice that the project was made under the policy and that Riot does not endorse or sponsor it.
• Microsoft. The Game Content Usage Rules (marked “Last Updated: January 2015”) let you post your item on your own site and ask for optional donations, but say you can’t earn compensation from your item, including through ads in it, and need permission to promote a commercial venture, “even just a commercial website”. A wiki built on Microsoft game content should ask before it runs ads. Minecraft is excluded and has its own guidelines.

Three habits keep a wiki on the safe side:

• Put the required notice in the site footer, so it appears on every page, not only on the main page.
• Do not host game files. Documenting game data is one thing; offering game assets, builds or leaked files for download puts your ads and your wiki at risk.
• Ask for an official blessing. wiki.gg’s FAQ suggests contacting the developer or rights holder to see if they will officially endorse the wiki. An official wiki agreement can also settle what the wiki may earn.

Volunteer editors and monetization ethics

A wiki runs on unpaid hours. Editors who feel their work is being sold can leave, and because the text is under a share-alike license, they can take a copy and start again elsewhere. That is the real check on any wiki owner, and a good reason to be open about money.

The RuneScape wikis are one example. Their company, Weird Gloop Ltd, is managed by board members chosen in annual elections and bound by a community constitution. When the Minecraft Wiki left Fandom, its announcement promised no pop-ups or video ads, at most one ad per page, and to be “as transparent as possible about the placement and selection of the ad.”

You do not need a company to follow the same principles:

1. Ask before you add. Post the plan on the community portal or in your Discord, explain the costs, and wait for feedback before any ad or rewards program goes live.
2. Publish the money. A simple page with monthly costs, income and what happens to any surplus answers most complaints before they start.
3. Editors see no ads. Both big hosts already spare active editors, so do at least the same.
4. Never sell influence. Editing rights, admin tools, page protection, tier list rankings and article placement are never for sale, for money or for points.
5. Do not pay per edit. Rewarding edits with points invites rushed, low-quality changes and blurs the line between volunteers and paid writers.

For onboarding and moderation, see how to grow an online forum or community site.

Supporter points on your wiki or its Discord

Few readers donate. A points program gives the rest a way to help: signed-in members earn your wiki’s points by completing offers on an offerwall, such as trying an app or answering a survey, and spend them on supporter perks. You earn per completed offer (what is an offerwall?). This fits only a wiki you own and host, never a hosted wiki.

Perks that fit a wiki

• Ad-free browsing for 30 days. MediaWiki supports user group memberships with an expiry date (version 1.29 and later), so a “supporter” group that expires after 30 days, checked by your ad code, is a natural fit.
• A supporter badge on the user page or in the signature, styled by group.
• A supporter role in the wiki’s Discord, with a colored name or a private channel for chat. The member links their Discord account on your wiki, and your bot assigns the role when they spend points. How to monetize a Discord server covers Discord’s rules.

Keep perks cosmetic or comfort-only. No perk touches editing rights or content, and points have no cash value and cannot be moved between accounts.

Rules for points on a wiki

• Age. Game wikis often have young readers. Sharklio requires end users to be at least 16, with parental permission under 18, so ask for age when members sign up and keep younger members away from the earn page.
• Fan content policy. Keep the earn page on a plain page of your own, away from pages full of the game’s art, and ask the publisher if its policy is unclear about rewards.
• Alt accounts. Free wiki sign-ups make alt accounts easy. Stop multi-accounting and VPN abuse covers the checks.
• Disclose. Say on the earn page and on your funding page that the wiki earns when members complete offers.

How to add Sharklio to your self-hosted game wiki

Once your editors have agreed and your perks are ready, the setup looks like this.

1. Apply as a publisher at sharklio.com. Every application is reviewed by hand, and once you are approved, apps you add are live right away.
2. Add your wiki in the dashboard and set the points name, icon, conversion rate and wall design, with a name that does not look like an official game currency.
3. Build the signed offerwall link on your server for each signed-in member, using their numeric MediaWiki user ID (usernames can change), and show it on an earn page in an iframe or through the floating Earn button. Both load only on https pages of the domain you registered. Build the link in a small extension, never in site-wide JavaScript, which cannot keep your salt secret.
4. Credit points only on your server from the signed postback, and take them back on a reversal.
5. For the wiki’s Discord, add an /earn command that replies privately with a link to the earn page; the user ID stays the wiki account ID, never a Discord ID. How to add an offerwall to a Discord bot shows the code.
6. Run Test your app before launch, then link the earn page from the user menu and your funding page. Offerwall placement has more ideas.

Frequently asked questions