head to head · open source
Docs vs liam
Docs has 16,965 GitHub stars, 693 forks, 370 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. liam has 5,161 stars, 242 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Docs leads on adoption by 229% (16,965 vs 5,161 stars). Docs is written in TypeScript under MIT; liam is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Docs has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, liam 5%. liam was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (documentation), 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.
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Side by side
| Docs | liam | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 5.2K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 693 | ⑂ 242 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Docs if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick liam if
- You want the liam feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and liam fits your workflow better
About Docs
Chat on Matrix • Documentation • Try Docs • Contact us La Suite Docs: Collaborative Text Editing Docs, where your notes can become knowledge through live collaboration. Docs is an open source collaborative editor that helps teams write, organize, and share knowledge together in real time. What is Docs? Docs is an open source alternative to tools like Notion or Google Docs, focused on: Real time collaboration Clean, structured documents Knowledge organization Data ownership & self hosting Built for public organizations, companies, and open communities. Why use Docs? Writing Rich text & Markdown editing Slash…
About liam
Automatically generates beautiful and easy to read ER diagrams from your database. Website • Documentation • Roadmap What's Liam ERD? Liam ERD generates beautiful, interactive ER diagrams from your database. Whether you're working on public or private repositories, Liam ERD helps you visualize complex schemas with ease. Beautiful UI & Interactive : A clean design and intuitive features (like panning, zooming, and filtering) make it easy to understand even the most complex databases. Simple Reverse Engineering : Seamlessly turn your existing database schemas into clear, readable diagrams. Effortless Setup : Get…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docs or liam more popular?
Docs has 16,965 GitHub stars and liam has 5,161. Docs has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docs and liam free?
Both are open source. Docs is licensed under MIT and liam under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docs and liam?
Docs is written in TypeScript and liam in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Docs or liam?
Choose Docs if you want the larger community (16,965 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose liam if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.