head to head · open source
jsdoc vs schemaspy
jsdoc has 15,465 GitHub stars, 1,492 forks, 459 open issues and last shipped yesterday. schemaspy has 3,724 stars, 357 forks, 303 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. jsdoc leads on adoption by 315% (15,465 vs 3,724 stars). jsdoc is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; schemaspy is written in HTML under LGPL-3.0. jsdoc has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, schemaspy 10%. jsdoc was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (documentation), 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
| jsdoc | schemaspy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-03-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 357 |
| 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
pick schemaspy if
- You want the schemaspy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You evaluated both and schemaspy fits your workflow better
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 schemaspy
SchemaSpy is a standalone Java based database metadata analyzer that reverse engineers an existing database schema and produces a browsable HTML report with entity relationship diagrams, for database administrators and developers who need to understand a data model they did not design.
read the full schemaspy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is jsdoc or schemaspy more popular?
jsdoc has 15,465 GitHub stars and schemaspy has 3,724. jsdoc has the larger community by that measure.
Are jsdoc and schemaspy free?
Both are open source. jsdoc is licensed under Apache-2.0 and schemaspy under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between jsdoc and schemaspy?
jsdoc is written in JavaScript and schemaspy in HTML. 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 schemaspy?
Choose jsdoc if you want the larger community (15,465 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose schemaspy if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.