head to head · open source
devdocs vs nb
devdocs has 39,461 GitHub stars, 2,643 forks, 196 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. nb has 8,406 stars, 254 forks, 153 open issues and last shipped 23 days ago. devdocs leads on adoption by 369% (39,461 vs 8,406 stars). devdocs is written in Ruby under MPL-2.0; nb is written in Shell under AGPL-3.0. devdocs has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, nb 3%. devdocs was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| devdocs | nb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 8.4K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-08-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 254 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick devdocs if
- You weight community size — 39K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick nb if
- You want the nb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and nb fits your workflow better
About devdocs
DevDocs is an API documentation browser that combines multiple developer documentations into a single, clean and organized web UI with instant search, offline support, a mobile version, a dark theme and keyboard shortcuts, and it is aimed at developers who need to read and search API and reference documentation quickly.
read the full devdocs overview →
About nb
nb is a command line and local web note taking, bookmarking, archiving, and knowledge base application distributed as a single portable shell script, aimed at people who want plain text notes, Git backed history, and local search without a hosted service.
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Frequently asked questions
Is devdocs or nb more popular?
devdocs has 39,461 GitHub stars and nb has 8,406. devdocs has the larger community by that measure.
Are devdocs and nb free?
Both are open source. devdocs is licensed under MPL-2.0 and nb under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between devdocs and nb?
devdocs is written in Ruby and nb in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, devdocs or nb?
Choose devdocs if you want the larger community (39,461 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose nb if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.