head to head · open source
docsify vs gollum
docsify has 31,575 GitHub stars, 5,785 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. gollum has 14,338 stars, 1,560 forks, 91 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. docsify leads on adoption by 120% (31,575 vs 14,338 stars). docsify is written in JavaScript under MIT; gollum is written in Ruby under MIT. docsify has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, gollum 11%. docsify was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (documentation, documentation-tool, markdown), 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 | gollum | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2025-11-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 gollum if
- You want the gollum feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and gollum 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 gollum
gollum A git based Wiki Gollum is a simple wiki system built on top of Git. A Gollum Wiki is simply a git repository of a specific nature: A Gollum repository's contents are human editable text or markup files. Pages may be organized into directories any way you choose. Other content can also be included, for example images, PDFs and headers/footers for your pages. Gollum pages: May be written in a variety of markups. Can be edited with your favourite editor (changes will be visible after committing) or with the built in web interface. Can be displayed in all versions, reverted, etc. Gollum strives to be…
read the full gollum overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is docsify or gollum more popular?
docsify has 31,575 GitHub stars and gollum has 14,338. docsify has the larger community by that measure.
Are docsify and gollum free?
Both are open source. docsify is licensed under MIT and gollum under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docsify and gollum?
docsify is written in JavaScript and gollum in Ruby. 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 gollum?
Choose docsify if you want the larger community (31,575 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose gollum if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.