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head to head · open source

jsdoc vs NoteDiscovery

jsdoc has 15,465 GitHub stars, 1,492 forks, 459 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. NoteDiscovery has 2,807 stars, 233 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. jsdoc leads on adoption by 451% (15,465 vs 2,807 stars). jsdoc is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; NoteDiscovery is written in JavaScript under MIT. jsdoc has attracted 10% 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.

Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.

jsdoc ★ 15K NoteDiscovery ★ 2.8K category Content & Publishing

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Side by side

jsdoc NoteDiscovery
GitHub stars ★ 15K ★ 2.8K
License Apache-2.0 MIT
Written in JavaScript JavaScript
Last push 2026-09-19 2026-09-19
Forks ⑂ 1.5K ⑂ 233
Self-hosting Yes Yes
Data ownership Your server Your server

pick jsdoc if

  • You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
  • You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
  • Your stack matches JavaScript
  • You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance

full jsdoc profile →

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

full NoteDiscovery profile →

About jsdoc

JSDoc is an API documentation generator for JavaScript that reads annotations in source comments and produces a browsable documentation site, aimed at JavaScript developers and library maintainers who need reference documentation to stay in sync with code.

read the full jsdoc 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 →

More in Content & Publishing

next.js ★ 142K storybook ★ 91K hugo ★ 90K Understand-Anything ★ 83K Strapi ★ 73K nuxt ★ 61K

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More Documentation & Knowledge Base projects

Compare either of these against the rest of the Documentation & Knowledge Base field.

jsdoc vs storybook jsdoc vs Understand-Anything jsdoc vs devdocs jsdoc vs docsify jsdoc vs wiki jsdoc vs mkdocs-material jsdoc vs BookStack jsdoc vs deepwiki-open jsdoc vs Docs jsdoc vs Skill_Seekers jsdoc vs gollum jsdoc vs cheat

Frequently asked questions

Is jsdoc or NoteDiscovery more popular?

jsdoc has 15,465 GitHub stars and NoteDiscovery has 2,807. jsdoc has the larger community by that measure.

Are jsdoc and NoteDiscovery free?

Both are open source. jsdoc is licensed under Apache-2.0 and NoteDiscovery under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.

What is the difference between jsdoc and NoteDiscovery?

jsdoc 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, jsdoc or NoteDiscovery?

Choose jsdoc if you want the larger community (15,465 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose NoteDiscovery if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.