head to head · open source
docsify vs cheat
docsify has 31,575 GitHub stars, 5,785 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. cheat has 13,486 stars, 851 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. docsify leads on adoption by 134% (31,575 vs 13,486 stars). docsify is written in JavaScript under MIT; cheat is written in Go under MIT. docsify has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, cheat 6%. docsify 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
| docsify | cheat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 13K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-05-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 851 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick docsify if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cheat if
- You want the cheat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and cheat fits your workflow better
About docsify
A magical documentation site generator. Gold Sponsor via Open Collective Docsify turns one or more Markdown files into a Website, with no build process required. Features No statically built HTML files Simple and lightweight Smart full text search plugin Multiple themes Useful plugin API Emoji support Quick Start Get going fast by using a static web server or GitHub Pages with this ready to use Docsify Template, review the quick start tutorial or jump right into a CodeSandbox example site with the button below. Showcase A large collection of showcase projects are included in awesome docsify. Links Documentation…
read the full docsify overview →
About cheat
cheat cheat allows you to create and view interactive cheatsheets on the command line. It was designed to help remind \ nix system administrators of options for commands that they use frequently, but not frequently enough to remember. Use cheat with [cheatsheets][]. Example The next time you're forced to disarm a nuclear weapon without consulting Google, you may run: You will be presented with a cheatsheet resembling the following: Installing For installation and configuration instructions, see [INSTALLING.md][]. Usage To view a cheatsheet: To edit a cheatsheet: To view the configured cheatpaths: To list all…
read the full cheat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is docsify or cheat more popular?
docsify has 31,575 GitHub stars and cheat has 13,486. docsify has the larger community by that measure.
Are docsify and cheat free?
Both are open source. docsify is licensed under MIT and cheat under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docsify and cheat?
docsify is written in JavaScript and cheat in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, docsify or cheat?
Choose docsify if you want the larger community (31,575 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose cheat if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.