head to head · open source
docusaurus vs markdoc
docusaurus has 66,641 GitHub stars, 10,125 forks, 430 open issues and last shipped yesterday. markdoc has 8,520 stars, 263 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. docusaurus leads on adoption by 682% (66,641 vs 8,520 stars). docusaurus is written in TypeScript under MIT; markdoc is written in TypeScript under MIT. docusaurus has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, markdoc 3%. docusaurus was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (documentation, react), 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
| docusaurus | markdoc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 67K | ★ 8.5K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 263 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick docusaurus if
- You weight community size — 67K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick markdoc if
- You want the markdoc feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and markdoc fits your workflow better
About docusaurus
Docusaurus Introduction Docusaurus is a project for building, deploying, and maintaining open source project websites easily. Short on time? Check out our 5 minute tutorial ⏱️! Tip : use docusaurus.new to test Docusaurus immediately in a playground. Simple to Start Docusaurus is built in a way so that it can get running in as little time as possible. We've built Docusaurus to handle the website build process so you can focus on your project. Localizable Docusaurus ships with localization support via CrowdIn. Empower and grow your international community by translating your documentation. Customizable While…
read the full docusaurus overview →
About markdoc
A powerful, flexible, Markdown based authoring framework. Markdoc is a Markdown based syntax and toolchain for creating custom documentation sites and experiences. We designed Markdoc to power Stripe's public docs, our largest and most complex content site. Installation To get started with Markdoc, first install the library: or and import it in your app: or if you are using ESM then use Markdoc in your app or tool: Check out our docs for more guidance on how to use Markdoc. TypeScript This is the minimal tsconfig.json required to use Markdoc in your TypeScript project: React If you are using React, install…
read the full markdoc overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is docusaurus or markdoc more popular?
docusaurus has 66,641 GitHub stars and markdoc has 8,520. docusaurus has the larger community by that measure.
Are docusaurus and markdoc free?
Both are open source. docusaurus is licensed under MIT and markdoc under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docusaurus and markdoc?
docusaurus is written in TypeScript and markdoc in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, docusaurus or markdoc?
Choose docusaurus if you want the larger community (66,641 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose markdoc if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.