head to head · open source
devdocs vs persepolis
devdocs has 39,461 GitHub stars, 2,643 forks, 196 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. persepolis has 7,453 stars, 708 forks, 317 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. devdocs leads on adoption by 429% (39,461 vs 7,453 stars). devdocs is written in Ruby under MPL-2.0; persepolis is written in Python under GPL-3.0. devdocs has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, persepolis 9%. 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 | persepolis | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 7.5K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2025-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 708 |
| 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 persepolis if
- You want the persepolis feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and persepolis 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 persepolis
Persepolis is a download manager written in Python and released under the GPL 3.0 license. It ships a graphical interface built with PyQt5 or PySide6 and is developed for GNU/Linux distributions, the BSDs, macOS, and Microsoft Windows. The project has existed for roughly ten years, carries 7,449 stars and 709 forks on GitHub, and uses the Meson build system. It is packaged for Arch Linux through the persepolis git AUR package, and it belongs to the desktop application ecosystem of Python and Qt rather than to any single distribution.
read the full persepolis overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is devdocs or persepolis more popular?
devdocs has 39,461 GitHub stars and persepolis has 7,453. devdocs has the larger community by that measure.
Are devdocs and persepolis free?
Both are open source. devdocs is licensed under MPL-2.0 and persepolis under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between devdocs and persepolis?
devdocs is written in Ruby and persepolis 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 persepolis?
Choose devdocs if you want the larger community (39,461 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose persepolis if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.