head to head · open source
docsify vs NoteDiscovery
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars, 5,789 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NoteDiscovery has 2,807 stars, 233 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. docsify leads on adoption by 1,023% (31,513 vs 2,807 stars). docsify is written in JavaScript under MIT; NoteDiscovery is written in JavaScript under MIT. docsify has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, NoteDiscovery 8%. NoteDiscovery 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 | NoteDiscovery | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 233 |
| 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 NoteDiscovery if
- You want the NoteDiscovery feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and NoteDiscovery 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 NoteDiscovery
NoteDiscovery is a lightweight, self hosted note taking and knowledge base application, written in JavaScript and released under the MIT licence, that stores every note as a plain markdown file in folders on your own server and is aimed at privacy conscious individuals, developers, knowledge workers, and teams who want to own their data.
read the full NoteDiscovery overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is docsify or NoteDiscovery more popular?
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars and NoteDiscovery has 2,807. docsify has the larger community by that measure.
Are docsify and NoteDiscovery free?
Both are open source. docsify is licensed under MIT and NoteDiscovery under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docsify and NoteDiscovery?
docsify is written in JavaScript and NoteDiscovery in JavaScript. 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 NoteDiscovery?
Choose docsify if you want the larger community (31,513 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose NoteDiscovery if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.