head to head · open source
devdocs vs pdoc
devdocs has 39,461 GitHub stars, 2,643 forks, 196 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. pdoc has 1,181 stars, 146 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. devdocs leads on adoption by 3,241% (39,461 vs 1,181 stars). devdocs is written in Ruby under MPL-2.0; pdoc is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. devdocs has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, pdoc 12%. devdocs was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (api-documentation, docs, documentation, documentation-tool), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| devdocs | pdoc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-08-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 146 |
| 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 pdoc if
- You want the pdoc feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pdoc 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 pdoc
pdoc is an API documentation generator for Python 3+ projects, published to PyPI as the package pdoc3 and maintained under the AGPL 3.0 license. It lives in the Python ecosystem, and it is itself a Python tool: it accepts a Python module file, a package directory, or an import path, then produces documentation. The project has existed for eight years, carries 1,181 stars and 145 forks, and its own documentation site is generated with pdoc.
More in Content & Publishing
Related comparisons
More Documentation & Knowledge Base projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Documentation & Knowledge Base field.
Frequently asked questions
Is devdocs or pdoc more popular?
devdocs has 39,461 GitHub stars and pdoc has 1,181. devdocs has the larger community by that measure.
Are devdocs and pdoc free?
Both are open source. devdocs is licensed under MPL-2.0 and pdoc under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between devdocs and pdoc?
devdocs is written in Ruby and pdoc in Python. 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 pdoc?
Choose devdocs if you want the larger community (39,461 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose pdoc if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.