DocFX vs JSDoc
DocFX
dotnet.github.ioJSDoc
jsdoc.appSide by side
| Figure | DocFX | JSDoc |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Documentation Generators | 8.2 (#6) | 7.2 (#27) |
| Customization | Users can customize templates with CSS, JavaScript, Mustache templates, and metadata settings. | Users can edit the default template or create a new template for generated documentation. |
| Markdown | DocFX parses CommonMark-compliant Markdown with Markdig and supports additional Markdown extensions. | JSDoc provides a Markdown plugin that can be enabled through its configuration. |
| Purpose | DocFX builds technical documentation sites from .NET assemblies, XML code comments, REST API Swagger files, and Markdown. | JSDoc is an API documentation generator for JavaScript that scans source code comments and generates an HTML documentation website. |
| Support | The DocFX project is listed as supported by the .NET Foundation. | The project README directs users to the JSDoc Users mailing list and Stack Overflow questions tagged `jsdoc` for help. |
| Templates | DocFX includes built-in templates, and its modern template supports dark mode and customization options. | JSDoc uses a built-in default template and allows users to edit it or create a new template. |
Plans
In their own words
DocFX
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.