head to head · open source
docsify vs nb
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars, 5,789 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nb has 8,406 stars, 254 forks, 153 open issues and last shipped 23 days ago. docsify leads on adoption by 275% (31,513 vs 8,406 stars). docsify is written in JavaScript under MIT; nb is written in Shell under AGPL-3.0. docsify has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, nb 3%. docsify was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | nb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 8.4K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 254 |
| 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 nb if
- You want the nb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and nb 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 nb
nb is a command line and local web note taking, bookmarking, archiving, and knowledge base application distributed as a single portable shell script, aimed at people who want plain text notes, Git backed history, and local search without a hosted service.
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Frequently asked questions
Is docsify or nb more popular?
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars and nb has 8,406. docsify has the larger community by that measure.
Are docsify and nb free?
Both are open source. docsify is licensed under MIT and nb under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docsify and nb?
docsify is written in JavaScript and nb in Shell. 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 nb?
Choose docsify if you want the larger community (31,513 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose nb if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.