Sphinx vs Typemill

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.

Typemill is a lightweight, self-hosted flat-file CMS for creating product documentation, software manuals, user guides, websites, and eBooks from Markdown. It provides both a WYSIWYG-style editor with drag-and-drop blocks and a raw Markdown editor. Content can be arranged in hierarchical navigation, divided into separate projects, and published in multiple languages. Its eBook plugin can generate PDFs and EPUBs, while the same content can also be published as a website. Typemill stores content in Markdown files and configuration in YAML, without requiring a database. Roles include Administrator, Editor, Author, and Member, and access can be restricted to a whole site or individual pages. Plugins and themes extend it; the Kixote connector works with OpenAI-compatible services and Anthropic’s Claude API, including ChatGPT, Claude, Ollama, and LM Studio. The maker says installation requires Apache or Nginx and PHP 8.1 or higher. Community is free; Maker costs $22 a year, billed 22 € + VAT/Year, for one instance and production domain.