ExDoc vs RDoc
ExDoc
ex-doc.hexdocs.pmRDoc
ruby.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | ExDoc | RDoc |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Documentation Generators | 7.0 (#30) | 8.1 (#8) |
| License | ExDoc source code is released under the Apache 2 License, while generated contents may have different licenses based on rendering components. | RDoc is free software and may be redistributed under the terms in its license file. |
| Purpose | ExDoc generates documentation for Erlang and Elixir projects. | RDoc produces HTML and command-line documentation for Ruby projects, with `rdoc` and `ri` tools to generate and display it. |
Plans
In their own words
RDoc
RDoc is free software for producing Ruby project documentation as HTML pages and command-line reference output. The `rdoc` command generates documentation, while `ri` displays it. It processes Ruby, C, and RBS source files, plus RDoc markup, Markdown, RD, and TomDoc documents. RBS declarations can describe classes, modules, methods, attributes, and constants, and can add comments or type signatures to matching Ruby source documentation. A local preview server watches source files and refreshes the browser after changes. It uses Ruby’s built-in TCPServer and needs no external gems, but provides neither HTTPS nor HTTP/2 and is intended only for local previews. RDoc reports documentation coverage with `rdoc -C`, or includes parameter names with `rdoc -C1`. Generation can be automated through Rake or the RDoc API. Aliki is the default theme; Darkfish is deprecated. Ruby 3.2.0 or newer is required for the current gem.