JSDoc vs Sphinx
JSDoc
jsdoc.app
Sphinx
sphinx-doc.orgSide by side
| Figure | JSDoc | Sphinx |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Documentation Generators | 7.2 (#27) | 8.2 (#7) |
| Installation | The project README says JSDoc supports stable Node.js versions 8.15.0 and later and can be installed globally or in a project’s `node_modules` folder. | Sphinx is a Python application installable through PyPI, Conda, Linux package managers, Homebrew or MacPorts, Chocolatey, Docker, or from source. |
| Integrations | The project README lists community templates, Grunt and Gulp plugins, a GitHub Action, and a GitBook integration. | Built-in extensions include GitHub Pages publishing, Graphviz graphs, and intersphinx links to other projects’ documentation. |
| License | The JSDoc generator is free software licensed under Apache License 2.0. | The project states that its code is released under the two-clause BSD license. |
| Purpose | JSDoc is an API documentation generator for JavaScript that scans source code comments and generates an HTML documentation website. | Sphinx generates technical documentation from structured text. |
| Support | The project README directs users to the JSDoc Users mailing list and Stack Overflow questions tagged `jsdoc` for help. | The project directs users to Stack Overflow, GitHub Discussions, GitHub Issues, or the sphinx-users mailing list for questions and problem reports. |
Plans
In their own words
Sphinx
Sphinx is a free Python application that generates technical documentation from structured text. Authors can use reStructuredText or MyST Markdown; Markdown requires installing MyST-Parser separately. Built-in builders produce HTML, LaTeX for PDF, ePub, manual pages, Texinfo, and plain text. References can link sections, figures, tables, citations, glossaries, and code objects within one project or across projects. The autodoc extension imports documented modules and includes material from their docstrings. Themes and extensions, both built-in and third-party, add options such as diagrams, doctests, and API documentation. Other built-in extensions provide GitHub Pages publishing, Graphviz graphs, and intersphinx links. Sphinx also supports gettext-based translation and full-text search. It can be installed through Python and platform package managers, Docker, or from source, then deployed to services such as Read the Docs, GitHub Pages, GitLab Pages, Netlify, or self-hosted servers. Its code is released under the two-clause BSD license, and the project is community supported.