head to head · open source
docsify vs zeal
docsify has 31,575 GitHub stars, 5,785 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. zeal has 12,865 stars, 852 forks, 107 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. docsify leads on adoption by 145% (31,575 vs 12,865 stars). docsify is written in JavaScript under MIT; zeal is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. docsify has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, zeal 7%. docsify was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (docs, documentation, documentation-tool), 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 | zeal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 13K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 852 |
| 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 zeal if
- You want the zeal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and zeal 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 zeal
Zeal Zeal is an offline documentation browser: your personal reference library, searchable in an instant and available without a connection. Originally inspired by Dash, it supports the same docset format. Download Binary builds for Windows and other installation options are available on the download page. Windows builds require Windows 10 version 1809 or later. How to use After installing Zeal, go to File → Docset Library , select the docsets you want, and click the Download button. Query and filter docsets Limit the search scope by prefixing your query with a docset name and a colon: cpp:vector To search…
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Frequently asked questions
Is docsify or zeal more popular?
docsify has 31,575 GitHub stars and zeal has 12,865. docsify has the larger community by that measure.
Are docsify and zeal free?
Both are open source. docsify is licensed under MIT and zeal under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docsify and zeal?
docsify is written in JavaScript and zeal in C++. 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 zeal?
Choose docsify if you want the larger community (31,575 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose zeal if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.