Natural Docs vs TypeDoc

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.

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.