0docs vs DocFX

0docs is a free, open-source documentation platform that teams can self-host to create, style, version, and publish documentation. Its MIT-licensed editor arranges content into pages, sections, and blocks such as callouts, steps, code tabs, cards, accordions, and API endpoints. Users can change colors, fonts, sidebar presentation, and individual block styles, then publish documentation snapshots using a custom domain. The “Ask docs” feature answers questions from published documentation and requires an OpenAI API key; an OpenAI-compatible base URL override is documented. AI clients can use a built-in MCP endpoint to read and edit documentation with project tokens or anonymous read-only access. The platform requires PostgreSQL, storing uploaded media there by default or in optional S3-compatible storage. Local installation calls for Node.js 20+ and pnpm, plus Docker Compose or PostgreSQL 14+. The default upload maximum is 20 MB per upload. SMTP is optional, but without it password-reset and invitation links appear in server logs. The self-hosting guide recommends HTTPS, database backups, and production configuration.

DocFX is a free static site generator for technical documentation. It builds documentation from .NET assemblies, XML code comments, REST API Swagger files and Markdown, and can produce rendered HTML pages, JSON models or PDFs. Static HTML output is placed in the `_site` folder for publication to hosting services such as GitHub Pages. DocFX can also be used as a NuGet library through the `Docfx.App` package and .NET APIs. It parses CommonMark-compliant Markdown with Markdig and supports additional extensions. Built-in templates include a modern option with dark mode and customization settings; users can also customize templates with CSS, JavaScript, Mustache templates and metadata. DocFX can generate git links for GitHub, GitLab, Azure Pipelines, AppVeyor, TeamCity and Jenkins. It requires .NET SDK 8.0 or higher. Node.js v20 or higher is optional generally, but required to create PDFs. Native reference documentation generation covers .NET and REST APIs; other languages need a custom API docs converter. PlantUML diagrams use a remote server by default, with local rendering available as a setting.