head to head · open source
docsify vs fern
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars, 5,789 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fern has 3,782 stars, 345 forks, 343 open issues and last shipped yesterday. docsify leads on adoption by 733% (31,513 vs 3,782 stars). docsify is written in JavaScript under MIT; fern is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. docsify has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, fern 9%. fern 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
| docsify | fern | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 345 |
| 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 fern if
- You want the fern 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 fern fits your workflow better
About docsify
Docsify is a client side documentation site generator that turns one or more Markdown files into a website with no build process, aimed at developers and maintainers who want to publish documentation from a static host such as GitHub Pages.
read the full docsify overview →
About fern
Fern is an Apache 2.0 TypeScript project in the API documentation and SDK generation ecosystem. It takes API definitions as input and produces client SDKs and developer documentation. The project centers on the fern api CLI, published on npm, and supports OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, Protobuf, and OpenRPC.
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Frequently asked questions
Is docsify or fern more popular?
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars and fern has 3,782. docsify has the larger community by that measure.
Are docsify and fern free?
Both are open source. docsify is licensed under MIT and fern under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docsify and fern?
docsify is written in JavaScript and fern 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, docsify or fern?
Choose docsify if you want the larger community (31,513 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose fern if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.