head to head · open source
docsify vs persepolis
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars, 5,789 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped yesterday. persepolis has 7,453 stars, 708 forks, 317 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. docsify leads on adoption by 323% (31,513 vs 7,453 stars). docsify is written in JavaScript under MIT; persepolis is written in Python under GPL-3.0. docsify has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, persepolis 9%. docsify 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 | persepolis | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 7.5K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2025-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 708 |
| 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 persepolis if
- You want the persepolis feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and persepolis 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 persepolis
Persepolis is a download manager written in Python and released under the GPL 3.0 license. It ships a graphical interface built with PyQt5 or PySide6 and is developed for GNU/Linux distributions, the BSDs, macOS, and Microsoft Windows. The project has existed for roughly ten years, carries 7,449 stars and 709 forks on GitHub, and uses the Meson build system. It is packaged for Arch Linux through the persepolis git AUR package, and it belongs to the desktop application ecosystem of Python and Qt rather than to any single distribution.
read the full persepolis overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is docsify or persepolis more popular?
docsify has 31,513 GitHub stars and persepolis has 7,453. docsify has the larger community by that measure.
Are docsify and persepolis free?
Both are open source. docsify is licensed under MIT and persepolis under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docsify and persepolis?
docsify is written in JavaScript and persepolis in Python. 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 persepolis?
Choose docsify if you want the larger community (31,513 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose persepolis if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.