Wikiwand

Last updated
Wikiwand
Wikiwand Logo V2.jpg
Logo used since 2024
Wikiwand 2.0 light.png
Screenshot depicting Wikipedia's page in Wikiwand
Type of businessPrivately held company
Available inEnglish
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California[ citation needed ]
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s) Lior Grossman, Ilan Lewin
ChairmanSaar Wilf
CEOTomer Lener (2015 — present)
Lior Grossman (2013 — 2015)
Key peopleItay Cohen (COO)
Employees10+
URL wikiwand.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
Launched2013 [1]
Current statusActive

Wikiwand, formerly stylized as WikiWand, [2] is a commercial proprietary interface developed by an Israeli company for viewing Wikipedia articles. [3] [4] [5] Its interface includes a sidebar menu displaying the table of contents, a navigation bar, personalized links to other languages, new typography, access to previews of linked articles, display advertisements, and sponsored articles. [6] [7] The interface is available on Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge as well as via Wikiwand's website.

Contents

History

Wikiwand was founded in 2013 [1] by Lior Grossman and Ilan Lewin. [8] It officially launched in August 2014. [9]

In 2014, Wikiwand was able to raise $600,000 to support the development of the interface. According to Grossman, "It didn't make sense to us that the fifth most popular website in the world, used by half a billion people, has an interface that hasn't been updated in over a decade. We found the Wikipedia interface cluttered, hard to read, hard to navigate, and lacking in terms of usability." [2]

In March 2015, Wikiwand released an iOS app for iPhone and iPad. [10]

In February 2020, an Android app was under development. [11]

In 2021, it was noted that visiting a Wikiwand page made the visitor's device exchange hundreds of requests and several megabytes of data with advertisers. [12]

On January 12, 2023, Wikiwand 2.0 was officially launched with an overhauled interface and new features like text-to-speech and AI-generated summaries collaborated with Wordtune Read. [13] On March 1, a Q&A feature powered by GPT-3 was added to the top of all articles. [14]

Business model

Unlike Wikipedia, Wikiwand is ad-supported. It employs a freemium model that charges for a premium, ad-free plan. A large number of tracking cookies are set. When it started, Wikiwand falsely[ citation needed ] claimed that it would donate 30 percent of its profits to the Wikimedia Foundation. As of 2024, this applies only for user donations, not to subscription or advertising revenue. [15] Per the site's Donation page, donations to Wikiwand are made to the Israeli company Wikipele Ltd. [16]

As of January 24, 2026, Wikiwand is still advertising itself as a 'leading donor' to the Wikimedia Foundation, but neither Wikiwand or Wikipele Ltd. are listed in the Wikimedia Foundation's 'Benefactors' list. [17]

References

  1. 1 2 "Wikiwand - Press". Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Web App WikiWand Raises $600,000 to Give Wikipedia a New Interface". TechCrunch. 7 August 2014. Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Jillian Wong (21 August 2014). "'WikiWand' Gives Wikipedia Clean New Layout For A Better Reading Experience". Taxi. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Shontell, Alyson (11 August 2014). "Wikipedia Gets A New Look Thanks To Israeli Startup Wikiwand". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-08-01. Wikiwand, an interface for Wikipedia, aims to modernize the presentation of Wikipedia's content with significantly improved design, navigation, and usability.
  5. ↑ Lee, Dave (12 August 2014). "Wikiwand: A Slick Redesign for the Wikipedia Addict". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2025-08-01. For those who find Wikipedia's layout clunky, Wikiwand is a well-executed alternative that maintains all the depth of the original, wrapped in a much more appealing package.
  6. ↑ Martin Brinkmann (14 August 2014). "WikiWand is a modernized Wikipedia frontend". ghacks.net. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Honan, Mat (11 August 2014). "Wikiwand Gives Wikipedia a New, Gorgeous Face-Lift". Fast Company. Retrieved 2025-08-01. Wikiwand's redesign addresses many of the criticisms about Wikipedia's usability, offering a cleaner, more modern experience for readers.
  8. ↑ "Wikiwand - About us". Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  9. ↑ Grossman, Lior. "WikiWand is a slick new interface for Wikipedia". Product Hunt: Launches. Archived from the original on 2023-07-01. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  10. ↑ Zach Epstein (18 March 2015). "New free iPhone app transforms Wikipedia into a stunning interactive experience". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Wikiwand for Android". Wikiwand. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  12. ↑ "Wikiwand, oder wie sehen 600K Venturekapital nach acht Jahren aus?" (in German). 2021-04-08.
  13. ↑ "Wikiwand 2.0 is officially here!". Wikiwand. 12 January 2023. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  14. ↑ "#Wikipedia + #gpt3 = 💞📜!". Wikiwand. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  15. ↑ "About Wikiwand". Wikiwand. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  16. ↑ "Wikipele Ltd., Ra'ananna, Israel". www.northdata.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  17. ↑ "Benefactors". Wikimedia Foundation . Archived from the original on 2026-01-24. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
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