Doxygen vs TypeDoc
Doxygen
doxygen.nlTypeDoc
typedoc.orgSide by side
| Figure | Doxygen | TypeDoc |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Documentation Generators | 7.8 (#11) | 8.0 (#10) |
| Spec score · API Documentation Tools | 8.0 (#9) | 8.0 (#14) |
| Configuration | Doxygen provides more than 100 configurable options for fine-tuning output. | Options can be set through command-line arguments or configuration files. |
| License | Doxygen is licensed under the GNU General Public License and is provided without express or implied warranty. | The TypeDoc repository identifies its license as Apache-2.0. |
| Output formats | Doxygen generates HTML, PDF via LaTeX, Word via RTF and XML documentation. | The default output is HTML, and TypeDoc can also write a JSON model describing the project. |
| Purpose | Doxygen is a documentation generator that creates documentation from source-code comments and parses classes, functions and variables. | TypeDoc converts comments in TypeScript source code into HTML documentation or a JSON model. |
| Support | Users are directed to Stack Overflow and the doxygen users mailing list, while commercial feature or bug-fix support has limited capacity. | The project README invites users to open an issue or pull request on GitHub and points contributors to its contribution guide. |
Plans
In their own words
Doxygen
Doxygen is a free documentation generator that turns source-code comments into reference material, parsing items such as classes, functions and variables. It supports C/C++, Lex, Java, Python, VHDL, PHP IDL, C#, Fortran, Objective-C 2.0 and some D sources. Output can be generated as HTML, PDF through LaTeX, Word through RTF or structured XML for external tools. Graphviz’s dot tool can add include-dependency, collaboration, call, directory-structure and class-hierarchy diagrams. Doxywizard provides a graphical interface for editing settings and running the generator on Windows, Linux and macOS; Doxygen also works on many Unix flavors. It supports HTML Help, docsets, Qt-Help and Eclipse Help, with more than 100 configurable options. The tool runs without registration and does not collect personal or usage data. It is self-hosted and licensed under the GNU General Public License, without express or implied warranty. Help is listed through Stack Overflow and the doxygen users mailing list; commercial feature and bug-fix support has limited capacity.
TypeDoc
TypeDoc is a free TypeScript documentation generator that turns source comments into HTML pages or a JSON model. It builds from project exports and follows re-exports, allowing members declared elsewhere to appear in documentation. TSDoc and JSDoc tags are extracted, Markdown is accepted in comments, and fenced code blocks receive Shiki syntax highlighting. HTML and JSON are built in; Markdown output needs a plugin such as typedoc-plugin-markdown. A default theme is included, while plugins can add themes, alter conversion and symbol organization, or change display. Custom CSS and JavaScript can further adjust generated pages. Configuration can come from an options file, package.json, or tsconfig.json. TypeDoc runs on Node.js, uses the TypeScript compiler, and supports the current Node.js LTS or newer. For npm monorepos, the packages entry-point strategy can combine package documentation into one site. The project is Apache-2.0 licensed. Documentation warns that global installation can separate plugins and themes from the intended TypeDoc installation.