head to head · open source
docsify vs wandao
docsify has 31,519 GitHub stars, 5,790 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped today. wandao has 1,160 stars, 136 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. docsify leads on adoption by 2,617% (31,519 vs 1,160 stars). docsify is written in JavaScript under MIT; wandao is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. docsify has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, wandao 12%. docsify was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (markdown), 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 | wandao | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 136 |
| 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 wandao if
- You want the wandao feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and wandao 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 wandao
Wandao (万能导) is a multi platform knowledge base Markdown import and export tool that turns content you have permission to access into local Markdown and pushes local Markdown back into supported platforms, built for people who need to back up, migrate, or study documentation without manual copying and pasting.
read the full wandao overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is docsify or wandao more popular?
docsify has 31,519 GitHub stars and wandao has 1,160. docsify has the larger community by that measure.
Are docsify and wandao free?
Both are open source. docsify is licensed under MIT and wandao under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between docsify and wandao?
docsify is written in JavaScript and wandao 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 wandao?
Choose docsify if you want the larger community (31,519 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose wandao if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.