Read the Docs vs Writerside
Read the Docs
about.readthedocs.comWriterside
jetbrains.comSide by side
| Figure | Read the Docs | Writerside |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $50/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · Developer Documentation Software | 8.4 (#7) | 7.4 (#21) |
Plans
Read the Docs
- CommunityFree
- Basic$50 a month
- Advanced$150 a month
- Pro$250 a month
- Enterprise$10,000 a year
In their own words
Read the Docs
Read the Docs has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Writerside
Writerside is a tool for authoring, building, testing, and publishing technical documentation. It is now a plugin for JetBrains IDEs, not a standalone IDE; the plugin retains the standalone product's features and adds editor support and validation for supported code samples. Its components include an authoring plugin, a documentation builder, and a frontend for rendering help websites. Writerside supports Markdown and semantic markup, with single sourcing that lets teams reuse topics, sections, markup elements, filters, and variables across outputs. Built-in Git integration can automate builds, testing, and deployment with GitHub or GitLab hosting. A Docker builder can also support CI/CD pipelines, with instructions for GitHub, GitLab, and TeamCity. Writerside can generate PDFs with a table of contents and optional cover, header, and footer, and create API entity references from OpenAPI specifications. Local previews include search; published documentation uses an external search service by default. AI writing actions require the Grazie Pro plugin. The free plugin supports Linux, macOS, and Windows through JetBrains IDEs.