head to head · open source
devdocs vs NoteDiscovery
devdocs has 39,596 GitHub stars, 2,656 forks, 196 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NoteDiscovery has 2,867 stars, 248 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. devdocs leads on adoption by 1,281% (39,596 vs 2,867 stars). devdocs is written in Ruby under MPL-2.0; NoteDiscovery is written in JavaScript under MIT. devdocs has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, NoteDiscovery 9%. NoteDiscovery 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 | NoteDiscovery | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 248 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick devdocs if
- You weight community size — 40K 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 NoteDiscovery if
- You want the NoteDiscovery feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and NoteDiscovery fits your workflow better
About devdocs
DevDocs — API Documentation Browser DevDocs combines multiple developer documentations in a clean and organized web UI with instant search, offline support, mobile version, dark theme, keyboard shortcuts, and more. DevDocs was created by Thibaut Courouble and is operated by freeCodeCamp. We are currently searching for maintainers Please reach out to the community on Discord if you would like to join the team! Keep track of development news: Join the contributors chat room on Discord Watch the repository on GitHub Table of Contents: Quick Start · Vision · App · Scraper · Commands · Contributing · Documentation ·…
read the full devdocs overview →
About NoteDiscovery
NoteDiscovery Your Self Hosted Knowledge Base What is NoteDiscovery? NoteDiscovery is a lightweight, self hosted note taking application that puts you in complete control of your knowledge base. Write, organize, and discover your notes with a beautiful, modern interface—all running on your own server. Write · Find · Discover 🎯 Who is it for? Privacy conscious users who want complete control over their data Developers who prefer markdown and local file storage Knowledge workers building a personal wiki or second brain Teams looking for a self hosted alternative to commercial apps Anyone who values simplicity…
read the full NoteDiscovery overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is devdocs or NoteDiscovery more popular?
devdocs has 39,596 GitHub stars and NoteDiscovery has 2,867. devdocs has the larger community by that measure.
Are devdocs and NoteDiscovery free?
Both are open source. devdocs is licensed under MPL-2.0 and NoteDiscovery under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between devdocs and NoteDiscovery?
devdocs is written in Ruby and NoteDiscovery in JavaScript. 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 NoteDiscovery?
Choose devdocs if you want the larger community (39,596 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose NoteDiscovery if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.