mdBook vs Natural Docs
mdBook
rust-lang.github.ioNatural Docs
naturaldocs.orgSide by side
| Figure | mdBook | Natural Docs |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Documentation Generators | 7.8 (#12) | 7.7 (#15) |
| Customization | Theme files allow users to customize the formatting of the output. | The generated output can be styled with custom CSS and images. |
| Platforms | Precompiled executables are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. | The download page provides a Windows installer and an all-platforms zip, and states Windows requires .NET 3.5 or later while Linux and macOS require Mono 4.0 or later. |
| Purpose | mdBook is a command-line tool for creating books from Markdown, including product or API documentation, tutorials, and course materials. | Natural Docs is an open source documentation generator that scans code comments and creates HTML documentation. |
| Support | The project directs users to its GitHub issue tracker for issues and feature requests and relies on community contributions to fix bugs and add features. | Help is available through the Reddit forum, email to the author, and GitHub issue tracker; businesses can contact the author about commercial support contracts. |
Plans
In their own words
mdBook
mdBook is a free command-line tool for creating books from Markdown, including product and API documentation, tutorials, and course materials. It builds static output files in a book directory that can be transferred to a web service. Integrated search and syntax highlighting for code blocks help readers navigate and read examples, while theme files allow formatting changes. Preprocessors can add custom syntax or modify content; backends can render output to multiple formats. The `mdbook test` command tests Rust code samples in a book. Project documentation describes using GitHub Actions or GitLab CI/CD to test and deploy books automatically. Developers can also import mdBook libraries or use its plugin mechanism to build custom tooling and output backends. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and Markdown is its source input. Building from source requires Rust and Cargo, with Rust 1.88 as the stated minimum. The project directs issues and feature requests to its GitHub issue tracker and relies on community contributions for bug fixes and added features. The free, open-source plan is licensed under MPL-2.0.
Natural Docs
Natural Docs is a command-line documentation generator that scans source-code comments and text files to create HTML documentation, including API references. Its syntax is designed to read like ordinary English in both source code and generated pages. The project says it comes configured for 25 programming languages and can be extended; for certain languages, it can also read Javadoc and Microsoft XML comments without rewrites. Generated pages have three panels, dynamic navigation, search and summaries that appear when readers hover over links. They can be opened from a local hard drive without installed software, and styled with custom CSS and images. Natural Docs runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. It is free and open source under AGPL version 3. The license requires source availability for modified distributions, projects incorporating its source, and services incorporating its functionality; merely documenting a project does not place that project under AGPL. Help is available through a Reddit forum, email and GitHub issues, with commercial support contracts available to businesses.